The capital Seoul is the must visit city for first time travelers to South Korea. I was fortunate to be given the chance to visit this popular city and be able to experience and discover so many interesting areas within its walls. Hence, I would like to share some of the popular neighborhoods that one must definitely visit during their trip.

Myeong-dong is definitely one of the most familiar neighborhoods to the ears of most tourists.  This is a popular shopping area and a tourist hotspot. You will see lots of lined up shops of accessories, clothes and skin care brands. This is also a very popular place to visit from late afternoon to night time, to have a taste of South Korea's delicious street foods. Shoppers will definitely love this neighborhood due to the vast variety of choices from branded and local stores around the area. Myeong-dong is also a highly suggested area to book your accommodation given its central location being near to the other tourist spots within Seoul.

Insa-dong is a must see place for those with passion for the arts, both modern and traditional. You will see art galleries all around the area and artsy shops that offers very interesting items. It's also the recommended place to buy souvenirs to bring to your loved ones and friends back home.

I must say that Ikseon-dong is one of the most beautiful places I've seen in Seoul. With it's narrow alleys of traditional houses transformed into interesting cafes with different concepts, this makes Ikseon-dong a must visit place for coffee lovers. It really is a great neighborhood to hang out with your friends and do cafe hopping. To share, Ikseon-dong is even more charming for me during night time.

We can't deny that this neighborhood became even more popular because of the song "Gangnam Style". This is actually considered the most expensive and richest area in Seoul. Apgujeong, the famous shopping street full of high-end fashion stores and home to the most famous fashion brands is also located in this area.

Dongdaemun is another popular area to go for shopping. The Dongdaemun market is actually one of the largest shopping areas in Seoul. There are also several malls within the vicinity offering lots of choices of items and trendy clothes. One of the must visit tourist spot in Seoul is also located here, the very stylish and modern Dongdaemun Design Plaza or popularly called DDP.

 

Bukchon (northern village) may be described as one of the most popular hanok villages visited by tourists given its nearby location to other tourist spots. The Namsan tower is also visible in this village serving as a great backdrop for your photos. Just make sure to be quiet while going around the village since this is an actual residential area.

Eunpyeong is located in northern Seoul and home to my favorite hanok village. The Eunpyeong hanok village is a less popular one with the tourists despite its calmness and beauty. The charm of this hanok village is its location near the foot of the Bukhansan or Bukhan mountain giving you a nice, mesmerizing view of the latter. It is also home to one of the really popular cafes as shown by vloggers, the Cafe 1in1jan.

The size of the city of Seoul is actually comparable to Metro Manila. The neighborhoods that I included here are only the popularly visited by most tourists like me. There are still other interesting areas that are left unheard or unexplored by non-residents. You will really need more than a week to be able to visit all of them. With this, no wonder that Seoul was able to arouse the interest and curiosity of travelers making it one of the most traveled cities in the world.