SEOUL: the haven for all things cute and spicy

Seoul: the capital of South Korea. A futuristic metropolis, where skyscrapers and K-Pop meet royal palaces and  traditional bustling street markets. Seoul has become the world's 10th-most economically powerful city and the second-largest metropolitan area - it feels like stepping into a parallel universe, where London doesn't exist. Having spent most of my recent adult years in or around the London area, it's easy to think that you are living in the centre of the universe - but I was wrong. The people of Seoul have their own pop culture, fashion, identity, and they don't care so much about the Western world. Before visiting Seoul, I (like a lot of travellers out there) had this pre-conceived notion of Seoul being almost troublesome (thanks to it's northern neighbour). And, whilst that is true in respect to their counterpart, Seoul happens to be one of the safest places I've visited! 

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A Palace and Hanbok fit for a Queen □□⛩ #Seoul #Hanbok

A post shared by Kellie Baldwin (@kellielbaldwin) on Nov 25, 2019 at 12:00pm PST

Bukchon Hanok Village

Bukchon Hanok Village is a traditional Korean village, and a great way to take a step back into time and see what South Korea would have been like centuries ago. It's easily one of the best things to do in Seoul and an area I loved visiting - especially in the Hanboks!
You can pop into one of the local tea houses for a spot of rice tea which is made in the traditional way (Flower Tea was my firm favourite). Even if tea isn't your thing (it's not usually mine either - or any hot drinks, for that matter), I'd still recommend a visit anyway purely for the experience and the peaceful zen you receive from it.
Location-wise, this is in between Gyeongbukgung Palace and the UNESCO World Heritage Changdeokgung Palace, so a trip here is an easy addition to your day trip to these. 

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The old versus the new. â–¡â–¡ Can anyone guess how old this traditional Hanbok Village is? #Seoul #BukchonHanokVillage

A post shared by Kellie Baldwin (@kellielbaldwin) on Nov 26, 2019 at 12:04pm PST

Here's the full itinerary for our trip - we managed to do all of this in 7 days. What's stopping you?

DAY 1:
Lotte world tower, staircase and mall
Starfield library and Coex mall
Common ground containers
Korean folk village

DAY 2:
Jogyesa Temple
Myogaksa Temple
Changdeokgung and Changyeokgung Palaces
Cat Cafe
Insa Dong
Ikseon Dong

DAY 3: 
Bukchon Hanok Village
Ikseon Dong
Gyeongbokgung Palace and Hanboks
Raccoon Cafe
Hongdae

DAY 4:
Style Nanda
Myeongdong Streets
Seoul City Hall
Kwangjang Market

DAY 5:
Raccoon Cafe
Greem Cafe
Hongdae

Head over to my Instagram to see more from the trip, and I'll share more updates on Seoul on the blog and where we stayed soon!