Bukchon Hanok Village
Bukchon-ro, Seoul, South Korea
Bukchon Hanok Village is a hillside neighbourhood of 600-year-old traditional Korean hanok houses wedged between two palaces — Gyeongbokgung to the west and Changdeokgung to the east — and it is simultaneously one of Seoul's most photographed attractions and a residential neighbourhood where actual people live, a tension that has made it one of the most debated tourism management challenges in the city.
Changdeokgung Palace & Secret Garden
Yulgok-ro, Seoul, South Korea
Changdeokgung is the most beautiful of Seoul's five palaces and the only one inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site — recognised for the way its architecture adapts to the natural topography rather than imposing a grid on the landscape, as Gyeongbokgung does.
Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP)
Eulji-ro, Seoul, South Korea
The Dongdaemun Design Plaza is Zaha Hadid's silver spaceship — a 86,574-square-metre cultural complex with no straight lines, no right angles, and a flowing neo-futuristic exterior that looks like liquid metal frozen in the process of pouring.
Gangnam Station Area
Gangnam-daero, Seoul, South Korea
Gangnam is the neighbourhood that PSY put on the global map — the flashy, wealthy southern Seoul district that became synonymous with Korean pop culture after 'Gangnam Style' exploded in 2012.
Gyeongbokgung Palace
Sajik-ro, Seoul, South Korea
Gyeongbokgung is the largest and grandest of Seoul's five Joseon dynasty palaces — built in 1395 as the main royal residence and the seat of government for a dynasty that would rule Korea for over 500 years.
Lotte World Tower & Seoul Sky
300 Olympic-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul
Lotte World Tower is the tallest building in Korea and the fifth tallest in the world — a 123-storey, 555-metre glass tower that tapers toward the sky like a ceramic brush used in Korean calligraphy, which is exactly the design metaphor that KPF Architects intended.
Myeongdong
Myeongdong-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul
Myeongdong is Seoul's neon-drenched shopping and street food district — a dense grid of pedestrianised streets lined with K-beauty shops, fashion brands, and food stalls that attracts more visitors per square metre than almost anywhere else in the city.
N Seoul Tower (Namsan)
105 Namsangongwon-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul
N Seoul Tower sits on top of Namsan Mountain in the centre of Seoul — a 236-metre communications and observation tower that has been the city's most recognisable landmark since 1975.
Explore iconic in Seoul
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