Five tastes of Seoul (walking)

Fixed Date One-Day Trip (Private)

Departure possible from:

Seoul

Group Size

private group

Duration

6 hours

What's included

Included

entrance fee

licensed guide

Not Included

lunch

Experience on This Tour

Walking tour of delicious, beautiful and interesting places in Seoul. Starting from Gwanghwamun Subway Station (not far from the royal palace Gyeongbokgung); Tour ends at Dongdaemun Market.

The route is about 6 km.

The tour starts from the very compositional center of the Korean capital - the intersection of the two major streets - King Sejong the Great Avenue and Chong-ro streets. Monument to Admiral Yi Sun-sin and the king, who gave the name to the avenue - Sejong help us get acquainted with Confucian ideas which still to a great extent form the view of life of many Koreans.

A shor walk, - and we are standing right in front of the royal palace of Gyeongbokgung. In the palace, we will have a talk about the history of foundation and construction of the Seoul, the palace architecture and landscape design. In the "backyard" of the palace, right behind the back gate of it, we will see the residence of the head of the modern Korean state - the presidential palace; we will have a look at it from outside and move forward through a picturesque Bukchon Hanok Village - a small, but vivid, disctrict with lots of old-style tiled houses, - all the way to Insadong.

Insadong is a kind of boutique area where the old Korean houses alternate with trendy galleries and boutiques and souvenir shops. A walk throght Insadong brings us to the 'Bell' street - this is how Chong-ro is translated from Korean.

Taste, sight and smell will require us to enjoy the richness of colors, smells of the Korean food market and taste local specialties: Korean "pizza" and liver sausages, oysters and live squid, wriggling in your plate; hearty soups and stuffed squid; And of course - traditional Korean makgeolli brewed beer or a glass of soju - a stronger (appr. 20%) Korean traditional drink. After a hearty lunch, we walk along the shore of the man-made stream Cheonggyecheon, actually a narrow 5-kilometer-long park, which only was first constructed at the beginning of the 21st century.

The tour ends at one of the largest Seoul Dongdaemun markets, positioning itself in recent years as the center of Korean design. The unusual structure, resembling a flying saucer, is located in the heart of the area; this flying saucer - Dongdaemun Design Plaza by renouned British archetect Zaha Hadid - is our final destination.

Tour Objects

Full

Gyungbokgung Palace

The main palace of the Joseon dynasty — rebuilt more than once, but never lost its grandeur.

Its perfect symmetry, royal guard ceremony, and the chance to wear a hanbok turn your visit into a journey through time.

Cheonggyechon Stream

A blend of nature and urban design, this stream winds through downtown Seoul — though entirely man-made today.
Once a natural river, it was buried after the Korean War and revived in 2005 as a tranquil walkway.
Fountains, illuminated bridges, and the Palgakdam weir make it one of the city’s most beloved evening spots.

DONGDAEMUN market

DONGDAEMUN market district

Ikseondong

Once there was a small Nudongun palace here, a royal estate, so to speak. In the 1920s (the period of Japanese colonization of Korea), the population of Gyeongsong (Seoul) was growing rapidly, and this place was being built up densely with hanoks (Korean houses with a tiled roof). Now it is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the capital of Korea, populated with traditional houses.

Now Iksondon is experiencing a rebirth: it has become a fashionable area of cafes and restaurants, both Korean and European. In some of them, prices a quite expensive; in others, they are quite democratic.