10 Reasons To Visit Seoul

1. Meet incredibly nice locals. I think it’s safe to say that Koreans are one of the most polite, well-mannered and friendliest people in Asia!  And they seriously look like perfect dolls walking around the streets. Who cares if many of them do plastic surgery or if men wear make-up. I kept stalking.

2. If you’re into K-pop and Korean dramas, Seoul is the place to be! You can visit many concerts or festivals where celebrities perform. It’s also trendy for celebrities’ parents to own cafes, restaurants, etc, so many groupies would go there hoping to meet one of their idols. During our time in Seoul there weren’t any concerts, but we got lucky and encountered a surprise act of Speed on the streets of Myongdong district which was totally awesome.

 

3. Seoul’s nightlife is something you won’t forget easily. Go out in ‘posh’ Gangnam and witness its upper class nightwalkers who show off their expensive clothing, gadgets and cars.

4. Seoul is seriously one of the safest places on earth, which is probably positive correlated with my very first reason to visit Seoul. Even solo female travelers can wander around late at night without feeling unsafe (use your common sense though and don’t do stupid things).

5. The city has traditional parts like old Seoul with its authentic houses and beautiful temples, but also modern suburbs with lots of art design, making use of the latest technology and huge shopping malls. No time to get bored.

 

6. Affordability; it’s not as cheap as South-East Asia, but also not as expensive as Japan. You will be able to find reasonable accommodation, transportation and good food without spending too much.

7. Korean food! If you ever thought black people like chicken the most, guess again. Koreans just might be the biggest lovers of fried chicken. We had the best Korean fried chicken and we couldn’t get enough. I am drooling again just by looking at the pictures!  If you can have pork and beef, try  Korean barbecue with dozen kinds of side dishes (with Kimchi as my favourite obviously).

 

8. It’s the perfect place to learn Taekwando if you’re into martial arts. If you want to go cheaper, consider finding courses outside Seoul.

9. Seoul has one of the easiest and most convenient public transportation system. Even me, someone who always has issues with maps and masters the ability to get lost everywhere, could find my way around the city easily.

 

10. Youngsters speak pretty good English (apparently Korean parents are obsessed with teaching English to their kids) which makes it easy to communicate and get in touch with them.