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„Made in Korea“ souvenirs – what to buy?

During my first trip to South-Korea I was totally overwhelmed by the beautiful and cool things I saw. On one hand, I would love to take them all with me as souvenirs or gift for family and friends. But on the other hand, there were too many choices, that I felt a little bit overburdened.

Based on all my experiences, I’ve written this post with a list of authentic “Made in Korea” items that I would recommend to you as souvenirs. It includes not only cool and very useful things, but also with reasonable price. Don’t forget to check it before you go 😉.

Mitbringsel aus Korea
Results from one of my shopping tours before leaving Korea 😆
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Gwangjang Market – street food paradise in Seoul

Gwangjang market 광장시장 is one of the oldest and largest traditional markets in South-Korea. Since my very first visit it has become my favorite place, where I love to take my friends and visitors to. And every time going there, I always discover new things that I’ve never seen here before. Very impressive!

Food paradise in Seoul
An open market with a lot of food

There are more than 5000 stores on this 42.000 m2 large market with a huge variation of products. But the best thing you can do in Gwangjang market is to taste and try many delicious traditional Korean food.

Many foreign tourists know about Gwangjang Market through the series „Street food” of Netflix. But believe me, the market in real is even much more interesting than that. It’s a real paradise for all food lovers in the heart of Seoul!

1. How to reach Gwangjang Market?

Address: 88, Changgyeonggung-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul

Naver Map: Link

Closest metro station: Jongno 5-ga, Exit 7, 8

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Explore Seoul with the subway – good things to know

After spending a lot of time got stuck in traffic jam in Seoul, I felt it really not funny, sometimes even frustrating, to drive in Seoul 😤. For me, the best way to travel in the city is to take the subway (지하철 metro) and walk. There are a lot of information online for tourists how to use the subway, e.g. from the Seoul Metro site. But here are my additional 5 tipps for you after using the subway multiple times.

Seoul station, traffic, seoul square panorama
Seoul Station – always busy

1. How to plan your route?

You can easily get a subway map everywhere: from your guide book, from a tourist map, google maps, etc. However, the subway network in Seoul is incredibly huge, that’s why you may need a magnifier to read all station names on those maps.

What you would need is “Naver map” – an smartphone app that is available in itunes and google play. Comparing it to other navigation apps such as Google or Apple maps, there are a lot of advantages:

  • Route calculation possible for driving with car, taking subway or busses, riding bicycle or walk
  • You can enter destinations in English or set it via map
  • You can easily share a Naver map link to the destination with your family and friends
  • Routes can be calculated in most case. That sounds strange, but with Google or Apple maps, you may face the problem that the route cannot be calculated
  • Alternative routes are available for you to pick the best
  • While traveling with subway, this map will show you also which entrance and exit should be taken to reach the destination fastest.
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How to celebrate Valentine’s day(s) like a Korean

Tomorrow (February 14th) is the well-known Valentine’s day, day for loving people 💝. Well, do you know how Korean people celebrate this day? Do they also give their beloved chocolates or roses?

That would be too boring for the “crazy” Korean folks, right 😆? Indeed… That’s why they don’t celebrate the day for loving couple only once per year, but once per month 😲. That means 12 Valentine’s days a year! But how? Let’s check it out!

Valentinstag, Valentine's, Festival, Culture, Kultur, Koreanisches Leben, Korean life, Tradition

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Things to do in Seoul’s winter

The winter in Korea is simply cold and windy and it’s going to be even colder. But at least the sun shines everyday. Don’t worry if you already plan to come to Seoul during the winter time. There are a lot of interesting activities to discover the city as well. Here is my list of things to do for you, just in case…

Watching Seoul from an observation deck

I love to go to a higher place and watch over everything moving below. It always amazes me, how beautiful, complicated but also tiny everything looks from above. In Seoul there are many observation decks you should visit, especially when the sky is clear:

Lotte World Tower

The Lotte World Tower is location on the south side of the Han river but you can see it from almost everywhere in Seoul. Because this is the highest building in Korea and the 5th tallest (2018) in the world.

Korea, Autumn, Fall, Herbst, Reisein Korea, Travel in Korea, Natur, Nature, Winter, Aussichtsplattform, Aussicht, Observation deck
Lotte world tower from under
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