Seoul Archives - My days in Korea

18/09/201919/09/2019

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!

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

12/07/201912/07/2019

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.

09/05/201909/05/2019

Spring in Korea – 한국 봄 2019

Eventhough the winter of 2018-2019 was not very cold, it was somehow unpleasant. Maybe because days were short and trees were naked without leaves. No flowers were blooming during this time. But suddenly in March I could notice the first signs of spring…

It begann with the magnolia tree I saw in the Yonsei University’s campus. It was full with those little white buds, but not yet opened.

Korea, Spring, Frühling, Reise in Korea, Travel in Korea, Natur, Nature, Flowers, Blumen — Magnolia on Yonsei University’s campus

Some days later, I couldn’t remember anything else than the golden hedges over Seoul. They were colored beautifully by the yellow blooming fosythia.

Blumen, Flowers, Korea, Spring, Frühling, Reise in Korea, Travel in Korea, Natur, Nature — Forsythia over Seoul

20/02/201930/01/2020

Climbing & Bouldering @ Discovery Climbing Square [Incheon]

There are not so many options to survive the winter in Seoul for rock climbers. I mean, while boulder gyms seem to be easy to find, in door rock climbing walls can rarely be found in the city. Unfortunately, K2 gym and the DYNO wall were closed forever ?.

However, if you don’t mind to go to Incheon, I have another good option for you: the Discovery Climbing Square (DCS ICN).

Rock climbing, Seoul, Discovery climbing square Incheon, klettern, bouldern, DCS ICN, Incheon, Gyeonggi, bouldering, indoor, Kletterhalle — One of the bouldering room at DCS ICN

How to find the gym?

Address: Discovery Climbing Square ICN, 70 Wanjeong-ro Seo-gu Incheon

Naver Map: Link

Closest subway station: Majeon Station (Incheon Line2), Exit 1

Operation hours: Mon.-Thu. 10:00~23:00; Fri.: 17:00~23:00; Sat.: 10:00~22:00; Sun. and public holidays: 10:00~19:00

Entrance fee: Day-pass: 20.000₩; monthly pass: 120.000₩; Belay test (once): 2.000₩

Home page: Discovery Climbing square ICN (only in Korean)

06/02/201910/02/2019

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

Tag: Seoul