A view of Seoul from the Bukchon Hanok Village in the Jongno District.

South Korea – a place where K-Pop reigns, shopping is abundant ,and the history is both fractured and fascinating. I recently had the pleasure of travelling to Seoul with Heineken, who were there transforming the city’s many unused rooftops into vibrant hubs of social connection (more on that later).

Seoul is obviously just one of the amazing places you can visit in South Korea, but since it’s a sprawling metropolis where over half of the country’s population resides, it is a pretty good place to start when exploring South Korea.

With so much to see and do in Seoul, here are just a few places I recommend checking out, including a day trip if you’re looking to explore beyond the city limits. Plus, some handy tips I’d pass on to anyone looking to visit for the first time!

Ikseon-dong (Hanok Street)

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This was probably my favourite part of Seoul that I visited, on account of how calm, picturesque and tucked away it was. The area is characterised by its charming alleyways and hanok style architecture (a hanok is a traditional Korean house, and they are so gorgeous to behold).

Ikseon-dong is easily accessible via the city’s metro system, and has a variety of cute stores, bakeries and most importantly, cafés – the area is full of them! My favourites include Nakwon (which has a little train track running through it), Rain Report (where you can watch artificial rain falling in the mini........

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