Landmark
Nature
Market
Night View
Gyeongbokgung Palace
This palace was built in the late 12th century. It was the palace for Choseon Kingdom. (The last kingdom of Korea)
The meaning of Gyeongbok is 'Enjoy the big fortune'.
In this palace, each building was built for different purpose of coronation, ceremony, office and bedroom etc. You can enjoy it wearing Hanbok, the traditional attire. (There are stores near the palace you can rent it)
In front of the palace, there's the gate called Gwanghwamun Gate and the statue of General Yi Sun-shin. You might hear of him for the battle at East sea. He won the fight against 133 battleships of Japan only with 13 battleships.
Insa-dong
Insa-dong is one of the places that you can feel the traditional culture. There are lots of galleries, handicraft class, cafe and restaurant. Also, you can buy some traditional souvenir from here to memorise the experience in Korea.
Bukchon Hanok Village
This is the place where you can see the traditional house style of Korea, 'Hanok'. The meaning of Bukchon is the north. This is a place where people are actually living in, so you should be quiet with proper manner when you visit here.
Seodaemun Prison History Musieum
Korea was colonised by Japan for 35 years at the early 18th. This prison was the place where Japan government incarcerated and tortured lots of people who tried to make Korea independent. You can see how they were treated and tortured by the Japanese government. It's a real sad place where you can feel the pain of history at that time. Strongly recommend you to learn about one of the Asian modern histories.
Seoullo 7017
The meaning of 'lo' in 'Seoullo' is a road. Once it was the overpass built in 1970, but after 40 years, there was a danger of collision because of its life. So the city decided to ban the pass and reconstruct for a public park. Only a pedestrian can walk and there are pots named after a lot of famous Korean entertainer.
Ihwa Mural Village
This village wasn't developed once. So as a campaign to improve the lifestyle here, Many artists and college students participated in drawing wall painting. Now this place is one of the famous places to visit, but like Hanok village, this is also the place where people live in. So visitors shouldn't make too much noise and act politely. It's also connected to Seoul City Wall Trail, so you can visit these two place at one time.
Haneul Park
Haneul(the meaning of sky) Park was a landfill once. But to protect nature and commemorate the 2002 Worldcup, the landfill was restored as one of the parks near the Sangam Worldcup Stadium.
There's a festival called 'Flame Grass Festival' every October. This park is located quite a high place so you can enjoy the view of Seoul.
Imjingak
Imjingak was built for people from North Korea. When there's a big national holiday like 'Lunar New Year' or 'Chusok(harvest festival)', Korean usually go to hometown and gather around with their family. But after 6.25 war, South Korean can't go to North Korea. So for these people who have a hometown at North, Imjingak was built. You can see the land of North Korea when the weather is clear and there's a tour for DMZ walking. DMZ is forbidden except for soldier, so this place is really well-reserved nature place in Asia. There's a lot of endangered species and natural monument like Asiatic black bear, fox and otter etc. For this tour, you need a passport. You can visit the below website for more information.
http://www.letskorail.com/ebizbf/EbizBfAboutDmzTrain.do
Cheonggyecheon
Cheonggyecheon is the stream running through the north area of Seoul. There was an overpass, but because of a safety issue like Seoullo, the city decided to break down and restore the stream. This stream is also near the city hall and 'Deoksugung Palace'. So when you want to take some relax after visiting lots of places, this is one of the good places to rest.
Mongchontoseong Fortress
This fortress was made of earthen in the 3rd century by the kingdom of Baekje. After falling of Baekje, it was forgotten for centuries. Lots of relics were unearthed from this place and some trace found that people lived in there. Now near this fortress, there's an art museum, Olympic park and walking trail.
Namdaemun Market
It's one of the oldest markets in Korea as its history is over 600 years. There are over 10,000 shops and you can buy almost anything from traditional thing to food, accessory and clothes.
One of the famous thing at this market is an alley of cutlassfish. At this alley, you can enjoy braised cutlassfish. Check the below youtube, if you want to try other things too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SKp56q9cCA
Gwangjang Market
This market has been run for 100 years at the centre of Seoul. People visit here to buy some vintage clothes for a bargain. Also, newlyweds buy Hankbok or some sleeping material like pillow and comforter at here.
One of the recommended food to eat is 'yughoe, the beef tarate'. But there are also lots of delicious things you can try, why don't you check it from the below website.
https://chasingaplate.com/gwangjang-market-street-food-guide-seoul/
Dongmyo Outdoor Market
If you're a fan of vintage, it's the place you'd like. It's the place for people who are especially interested in vintage. Here, you can get vintage clothes to shoe, analogue watch and old flip phone for a bargain.
There's also an alley of a toy, so don't miss that if you're a toy collector.
Dongdaemun market
If one of your purposes to visit Korea is for shopping, then it's a place you should visit. You can see the fashion trend in Korea from this market. Fabrics to shoe, hats to other handmade things, you can enjoy spending time at here.
Near this place, there's a famous complexity called DDP, so don't miss this place too.
N Seoul Tower
Every section in this place is really good to visit during the day. But there are also good places to enjoy the night view.
Many Korean usually call it 'Namsan Tower' or 'Seoul Tower', because it's on the Namsan, a mountain, in Seoul. It's working as a TV tower and one of the landmark to enjoy the view of Seoul. You can take in on some laser show like 'flammable grass of light' or 'shower of light' at night. The view from here is really great, so highly recommend to visit here.
Below website provides information on operation hour and ticket.
http://www.nseoultower.co.kr/eng/visit/use.asp
Lotte World Tower
It's the highest building in Korea. It has 123 floors and you can get to the top floor in about 1 minute. On the 117th to 121st floor, there's observatory and glass walk. The building itself is complex, so you can do everything staying to shopping.
Below website provides information on operation hour and ticket.
https://seoulsky.lotteworld.com/en/watch/useInfo.do
Yeouido Hangang Park
Hangang is the river going through the centre of Seoul. It represents Seoul itself and people in Seoul are really proud of this river and like it.
Along the Hangang, there's a trail, biking road and lots of parks and Yeouido Hangang Park is one of them. You can enjoy the sunshine and wind sitting on the lawn and relax drinking some beer and eating chicken. At night, lights on the bridge are on and this is really awesome.
Gangnam
Unlike the place mentioned earlier, this is not a place for enjoying the night view of Seoul. But lots of place in Seoul(almost every main street) has on its neon light at night and because of that, this is added as a night view.
Gangnam is one of the biggest places that lots of people visit during the day and night. If you've never experienced the flashy neon light in the city, this is the place for you. There are restaurants, bar and club and you can enjoy the whole night.
Another recommended place is Hongdae street, it's a little bit far from Gangnam, but you can enjoy a fun night at there too.