Palaces & Night Markets
Gyeongbokgung Palace
Palace · Guard ceremony
Catch the royal guard changing ceremony at 10:00 at Gwanghwamun gate. Rent a hanbok nearby and palace entry is free — and the photos are better.
Bukchon Hanok Village
Walk · Quiet please
Six hundred years of tiled-roof hanoks on a hill — people still live here, so keep voices down. The famous alley view is at Bukchon-ro 11-gil.
Lunch at Gwangjang Market
Lunch · Market stalls
Sit at the bindaetteok (mung-bean pancake) grills and order mayak gimbap — "narcotic rice rolls", named for being unstoppable. Cash makes the ajummas smile.
N Seoul Tower at sunset
Viewpoint · Blue hour
Take the cable car up Namsan for the blue-hour city sprawl — the observatory windows label every district. Skip the padlock terrace crowds and go one level up.
Hongdae night & pocha round
Evening · Late
Street performers, then duck into a pocha (tent bar) for tteokbokki and somaek — beer mixed with soju, and yes, there’s a ritual to pouring it.
Getting around: 10 min walk uphill into Bukchon