Adam goes to Hong Kong: Seoul, South Korea - Sunday 4 and Monday 5 October, 2026

I arrived in Seoul from Hong Kong about 7pm on Saturday night. I cleared passport control quite quickly using the APEC lane. I had bought a voucher on KLOOK for the AREX Express. However when I got down to the station, the next one was a 45 minute wait. So I caught the all stops AREX.

I got out at Jongno and walked to my hotel. It is a very lively area. I am staying at the Top Hotel and Residence Insadong. I unpacked and did some washing, then headed out to explore the local area.

I wanted some dinner but most places were Korean BBQ and those aren't really suited to one person. So I found a bar and ordered a fried chicken...

I went back to my hotel for an early night as I only have one full day in Seoul and want to make the most of it.

The next morning I headed out. I picked this area as there are many sights within walking distance. I walked nearly 10km or 12,500 steps before lunch!

First stop was Gyeongbokgung Palace which is the main palace. I had already decided I didn't want to go into this one, but I wanted to see it.

If you hire traditional hanbok clothing, you can get into the palaces for free...

From the outside...

I walked past a couple of nice looking cafes, including a famous one called Onion but the queues were too long. I took this later in the day when the queues had subsided...

I then found this one...

There weren't many food options. I sat upstairs and had a coffee and cookie. The sticky rice crunch cookie was surprisingly good...

I then walked to Changdeokgung Palace and paid the entrance fee. It was quite quiet...

I had paid 3,000 to enter the grounds, but then to go further I had to buy another ticket for 1,000. It's not much money but seems they could have incorporated the two tickets. And they were colour and good quality so would have cost a bit to produce...

The grounds are large and it's very peaceful...

After that I walked towards Jogyesa Temple which was busy with people worshipping...

I then walked down Insadong Cultural Street which was pretty touristy, and then back to my hotel for a rest. This is a typical narrow laneway in my local area...

I stopped for a tea and a snack...

I had planned to do some more walking but I was tired and had a sore back. So I headed to Insadong Spa and Sauna which was close by. I had a body scrub and massage, and spent some time in the warm pool and steam room.

Feeling much better, I headed to Naksan Park Fortress Wall. I caught the subway from Jongno to Hansung University Station and walked to the park. On the way, I stopped at a very local restaurant for lunch...

The noodles were tasty...

These dumplings were very good...

I then headed up a steep street to the park and then went further up.

Sign of the times...

On the way down, I stopped here for a coffee...

I then caught the subway to Cheonggyecheon Stream which used to have a road over it and they removed it several years ago. It's a really nice pace to walk.

There were plenty of carp in the water...

I walked back to the hotel via Gwangjang Market then showered changed and headed to dinner. I went to this craft brew bar near my hotel...

There wasn't a wide selection so I had chicken empanadas...

It was a Sunday night but there's a public holiday tomorrow and the streets were very busy. People having dinner around midnight...

The next morning I wanted to do one more thing, and that was to walk through Bucgkon Hnok Village which was a 20 minute walk away. I stopped for a coffee at a chain called Mega Coffee...

Buchkon Hanok Village is just a couple of hilly streets and is a real residential neighbourhood. It doesn't technically open until 10am but I had to head to the airport so I just walked quietly through and took some photos...