Places to go
– Leeum Museum of Art - this was a highlight, when we were there the main show was by French artist Phillipe Parreno, it was fully immersive and so great, we spent a long time here.
– Arario Gallery - although this was on my list of galleries to visit, I hadn't researched it and was blown away by the impressive international collection of artists including Tracey Emin, Cindy Sherman, Keith Haring and so many more. The gallery itself is a really interesting building with lots of spaces to explore. This is a must see for art lovers!
– National Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art - another amazing building with more exceptional art, also nearby Bukchon Hanok Village. There is another MMCA in Gwacheon but check out what's on before going, unfortunately when we visited, most of it was mostly closed for upcoming exhibitions, but it was serene being outside amongst the sculptures - you will recognise some works here from the movie Past Lives. But don't go here on the weekend, the traffic is insane as there is a zoo & amusement park in the same location.
– Kukje Gallery - a series of interesting buildings again, worth checking what art is showing, but it's near the MMCA so easy to wander there.

Places to eat or get coffee
Coffee is everywhere in Seoul and it's really good coffee! The best coffee we found was at Coffee Nap. For food it was trickier as most places are coffee & dessert and it was hard to find savoury food - I don't eat meat so it was quite challenging. Street food is great, try it all! And the classic things to try are salt bread & mochi - we completely forgot to do this until our very last day and would have done it more if we had realised how good it was.

Standout places for food were:
– 545 for contemporary Korean dining, it had only opened three weeks before we were there and the interior & whole experience was perfect.
– Chum, worth going if you are in the area, a chill bar with good food, run by a really nice guy. I had the seaweed pesto pasta.
– Near the MMCA we found a cute little spot called Dot Blanket, really healthy food, I was in need of a salad!
– While wandering Seongsu Dong we found a cute little spot called Beans & Flour and a cool cafe called Oude - worth checking out if you are in the area.
– Ha House, great interiors, wonderful friendly staff and great drinks and coffee.

Things to see
– I loved all the traditional Hanok style buildings and homes, you can find touches of it in a lot of places and I wish we had gone to more of the Hanok villages.
– On our last couple of days we found some quieter suburbs which we decided we would spend more time in if we go to Seoul again - Yeonnam-Dong & Hapjeong-Dong, both are nearby the hectic Hongdae area and are nice to just wander around, Hapjeong is close to the river too which is nice to walk along.
– We discovered the small Namsangol Hanok village near our hotel in Jung-ju, we visited at night, it was super quiet and you could peek into the traditional interiors, wandering around you just find these special places when you aren't looking for them.

Top 3 Tips
– Get a T money card - this can be used to get on the subway, buses & to pay for some taxis.
– Often online you will see recommendations to get a sim card or wifi egg - you don't really need to do this, roaming works fine or you can get an esim online before you go if you want to avoid roaming.
– Take your passport with you everywhere, a lot of places will give you tax free on the spot.
– Don't go to tourist spots on the weekend, it's hectic! And galleries are not open on Mondays.
– Check what is showing before visiting galleries - we made the mistake of going to a couple that were mostly closed for upcoming shows.

Top 3 Recommendations
– Favorite stores - Addicted, Amomento, Rareraw, Kimhekim & bfd.
– Go up a building to see the huge scale - we went up the Lotte tower but Namsan tower is the main tourist spot (we didn't do this).

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