First-hand guides to Seoul’s museums, palaces, exhibitions, and cultural attractions.
There is a theatre inside the National Museum of Korea, and almost nobody who visits the museum knows it is there. We found it the way most families do — by accident. We had a morning session booked at the Children’s Museum, and while walking back across the plaza we passed a building on the … Read more
The best children’s museum in Seoul costs nothing to enter. That is the good news. The complication is that you cannot simply turn up — there is no ticket desk, no queue you can join, and if you arrive without a booking on your phone you will be turned away at the door with your … Read more
If you’re spending a day in Hannam-dong, chances are you’ll walk right past Blue Square Seoul — a huge cultural complex sitting between Itaewon and the Han River. Most foreign visitors come to this neighborhood for the Leeum Museum of Art, but Blue Square is worth knowing about too. It’s one of Seoul’s biggest performing-arts venues, and on … Read more
Intro When people think of visiting MMCA Seoul (the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art), they usually picture quiet galleries and serious art lovers. But here’s something most guides won’t tell you: it’s also one of the best museums in Seoul to visit with young children. I went with my own little one, and we ended up … Read more
Intro The Gyeongbokgung Palace is the grandest of Seoul’s five royal palaces and, for most first-time visitors, the single must-see spot in the city. Built in 1395 as the main palace of the Joseon Dynasty, it sits right in the heart of Seoul with the mountains rising dramatically behind it. It’s beautiful, it’s surprisingly walkable, and best … Read more
Intro If you want to understand Korea, not just see it, the War Memorial of Korea in Yongsan is one of the most powerful places to start. It’s part museum, part memorial, and part outdoor park filled with real tanks, fighter jets, and warships you can walk right up to. Best of all, it’s completely … Read more
Written by someone who lives in Seoul — this is the museum I send people to when they want to actually understand the city they’re standing in. Most visitors rush straight from Gyeongbokgung Palace to the next photo spot and never notice the building right next door. That’s a mistake. The Seoul Museum of History tells the … Read more
Intro The Leeum Museum of Art is the one museum I send every visitor to in Seoul — and the surprising part is that a huge portion of it is completely free. If you only have time for one art museum in Seoul, make it the Leeum. Tucked into the quiet, upscale streets of Hannam-dong … Read more