About Downtown Korea
A friendly guide to experiencing Korean culture the way locals do.
Downtown Korea collects the things we would tell a friend visiting Korea: what to eat, which neighborhoods are buzzing right now, the markets worth getting lost in, palaces and temples with a thousand years of history, and the mountains, valleys and beaches with the best views.
How to use this guide
- New to Korea? Start with the visitor essentials โ arrival, transport, money, etiquette and help.
- Every place and dish shows its Korean name. Show it to a taxi driver or paste it into Naver Map or KakaoMap โ both work far better in Korea than Google Maps. Each page links straight to a search in both apps.
- Use the ํ๊ตญ์ด button at the top of any page to see the same page in Korean โ handy for showing a local.
- Planning by date? See Korea by season.
About our information
- We don't list prices, opening hours or phone numbers because they change often. Please check the official website before you go, or call the 1330 Korea Travel Hotline (24 hours, multilingual).
- We don't promote individual shops. For trending areas we describe the neighborhood and the vibe.
Travel kindly
- Hanok villages like Bukchon are people's homes โ keep your voice down and don't photograph inside private houses.
- Stay on marked trails in national parks; some trails close during fire-prevention seasons.