Seoul 5 Days 4 Nights (5D4N) Itinerary – What to See, Do, Eat and Seoul Trip Planning Tips
12 August, 2014If you are planning a trip to Seoul, this blog post might help – you will find a downloadable Seoul 5 Day 4 Night (5D4N) Itinerary and a visual guide of the various attractions we visited here.
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You can also download our Jeju 4 Days 3 Nights trip itinerary here.
Scroll down for the pictures we took at these places – for the complete collection, check out PassportChop.com Korea Travel Instagram feed and do follow us too! This is our first trip to Seoul so we tried to do as much sightseeing as possible e.g. the famous Nami Island and the Demilitarised Zone and Joint Security Area through day trips from Seoul. If you are a shopaholic, you might consider dropping one of the day tours and just have one full day exploring Hongdae and Ewha – go in the afternoon after lunch and weekends – that will be when most shops are open.
Seoul Day 1: Myeongdong + Hongdae + Ewha Shopping + Nanta Performance
I recommend staying in Myeongdong – we stayed at J Hill hotel at the heart of the Myeongdong shopping district – affordable and convenient. When in Myeongdong, buy skincare products and as a matter of fact – only buy skincare products in Myeongdong as you will get lots of samples when you buy any amount of facial masks, toner, lotions etc. Remember to print discount coupons from the Visit Korea Committee (VKC) if you are buying skincare products at Myeongdong.
Next up – Shopping at Hongdae Market. Take the MRT from Line 4 Myeongdong station to Line 2 Hongik University station (Exit 6). During weekends, there are interesting markets set up at Hongdae Park e.g. flea market and art market.
Next up – Shopping at Ewha Market. Take a taxi from Hongdae Market to Ewha Market. Both markets are very near and the taxi fare is about S$4-5. While the ladies shop around Ehwa university, I eat – first stop: meat skewers. Takes 20 minutes to prepare from their raw form to tasty BBQ version
Next – popcorn chicken along the street leading to ehwa university; despite being deep fried, the meat tasted tender and not too oily! – Magic of Korean fried chicken!
Head back to Seoul for dinner if you are catching a NANTA performance at Seoul Myeongdong NANTA Theatre. One suggestion for dinner – Yoogane Chicken Galbi fried rice – must try when you are in Seoul
Nanta Cookin’ – a must catch show when you are here in #seoul – one hour of action packed performance!
Egg on top of butter bread – a must try food street snack (1500 krw) when shopping in myeongdong – or post-theatre snack after NANTA.
Seoul Day 2 – Petite France, Nami Island and Dongdaemun Shopping
It is possible to take the MRT + commuter train to Nami Island and Petite France (both at the Gapyeong region). We booked a private driver (about 300 USD) – taking the public transport will be much much cheaper but you will need to coordinate the train and bus schedule and there will be quite some time spent travelling. This is what Nami Island is famous for – the lanes of trees on Nami Island made famous by the show “Winter Sonata”.
There is a statue which re-enacts a key scene from Winter Sonata. Here you find tourists posing in front of the Winter Sonata statues on Nami Island – they looked like they are strangling each other!
Nami island souvenir coins – these are actually legal tender currency on Nami Island!
One of many Nami Island souvenirs – they are supposed to represent the male and female lead in Winter Sonata show.
Merlion spotted at Nami Island – unfortunately a very weird copy!
Next – Petite France – small French-themed village with lots of photo taking opportunities
If you are a fan of the book – “The Little Prince”, then you must visit Petite France from Seoul!
Beautiful little French houses at Petite France – just 1.5 hours from Seoul
Next up – Shopping mania at Dongdaemun shopping complexes – this is called Good Morning City shopping complex – there are at least 4-5 more of such big shopping complex all around Dongdaemun area. It is like Platinum Mall in Bangkok – except much much bigger.
Wholesale sunglasses at Pyoung Hwa Fashion Plaza – also one of the many wholesale markets around Dongdaemun.
One of the long chocolate – vanilla ice cream for sale at Dongdaemun night market – should try at just 2000 krw
Seoul Day 3: Noryangjin Fish Market + Gangnam Beauty Belt + Myeongdong Themed Cafes
Visit Noryangjin Fish Market for the fresh seafood. Here you can buy live seafood from Level 1 – bargain hard for a good price (for the seafood itself + cooking and preparation fees). The seafood stalls works with the restaurants at Level 2 to cook and prepare your purchased seafood for youOne of the many seafood vendors in Noryangjin Fish Market – they will proudly show off their products!
Four abalones for about 10 usd at Noryangjin Fish Market – cooking is charged separately
Moving on to Gangnam from Noryangjin – At #seoul beauty belt – starting from Apgujeong train station, you see lots of before & after plastic surgery ads!
Going back to Myeongdong – we checked out the various themed cafes in Myeongdong – starting with O Sulloc – a green tea themed cafe. Green tea swiss roll at O Sulloc tea house @ Myeongdong #seoul #ktosingapore – expensive at 4500 krw ! Quite nice.
Planning his escape from the Myeongdong Cat Café…
The cat seems to be saying “Can I help you?” :-p @ Myeongdong Cat Cafe
Dinner at Myeongdong Red Sun toppoki feast – mix of ramen, rice cakes, ham, cheese etc in a spicy soup – delicious! 명동 즉석떡볶이 Red Sun
Seoul Day 4: Demilitarized Zone & Joint Security Area Tour with Koridoor + Fish Spa at Myeongdong Cafe
At USO Camp Kim for our trip to the Demilitarised Zone and Joint Security Area! Book your tour with Koridoor early for your DMZ and JSA tour.
At the Joint Security Area – face-off between ROK & US soldiers and North Korean soldiers
One of the remote North Korean outpost….
This is about the only time when you can see South Korean soldier so near a North Korean soldier… 🙂
Back to Seoul: Having a cuppa before getting our feet nibbled by little fishes at a Myeongdong Dr Fish cafe – 10000 krw gets you coffee, brownie and 20 minute Dr fish spa session
After coffee and brownie, time for a soak in the Dr fish spa – feels ticklish but good to know that dead skin on your feet is well taken of by the fishes
Dinner at Myeongdong Gyoza…
Doing tax refunds from all the shopping in #seoul is a breeze at Incheon International Airport
Comments (54)
Elaine chan
13 August, 2014 at 11:39 amGood morning,
Thanks for sharing your itinerary… it is most helpful as I will be going there (first time) soon.
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
31 August, 2014 at 11:48 pm@Elaine – thanks for dropping by 🙂
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arwee
17 October, 2014 at 12:11 amI have been reading your blogs for a few years and it has helped me plan a couple of trips. So thank you!
I just have a question about the transfer between Incheon and Gimpo. I saw from your itinerary that you opted for the train. From what I have heard, the station is quite far from the airport. Is it really the case? How long did it take you to walk from the bus stop to the airport? I’ll be travelling with my parents (68 up) and we will have 2 big suitcases with us. We have only 3 hours between our arrival time at Incheon and the departure time at Gimpo.
Thanks,
Arwee
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
17 October, 2014 at 12:12 amHi Arwee
We had a 4 hour transit time and we even had time for a proper sit-down lunch at Gimpo airport before the flight.
The AREX station is quite far from the airport – I looked at the timestamp of my photos – from the time our plane touched down to the time we purchased our AREX train ticket at the train station – we took about an hour. Our customs clearance was quite ok – not much queue.
It took the train another 30-40 minutes to reach Gimpo station from the Incheon station – be sure to NOT take the Express train as that takes you direct to Seoul central (which is NOT what you want).
So from touchdown to reach Gimpo airport train station is about 1 hr 40 min – based on normal walking speed of a fit middle-aged adult – the oldest person in our group was abt 45 years old.
There is another walk from the Gimpo airport train station to the airport check-in desk – from our photo timestamp, it took us about 10 minutes but still this is normal walking speed so in total we took 1 hr 50 min from touchdown to checking in for our Jeju flight.
There are many other factors to consider e.g. whether there will be a long queue for customs clearance and how long it takes your baggage to arrive and whether there is train delay. For customs clearance, my tip to you is that you can try to see if you can go to the express clearance lane because you have elderly travelling with you but still no guaranteed – it depends on the mood of the customs officer that day.
Hope this helps 🙂
arwee
17 October, 2014 at 12:13 amDear Zhiqiang,
Thank you very much for your prompt reply.
Just one last question, if it’s not too much trouble. What type of card did you use on the AREX: a single-use transportation card, T-money card or an M-pass card?
Thank you.
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
17 October, 2014 at 12:14 amsingle use transportation. You can use T-money card but we didnt had time to figure it out.
Anisa
5 January, 2015 at 9:10 amDear Zhiqiang & Tingyi,
Thank you so much for you post, it’s so easy to understand and really helpful.
I’m planning to visit Korea this February and i read at your post that in your second day in there you use a private driver with price around 300 usd to visit Nami island and petite France. I’m traveling with my parents and i think it’s better to use this kind of transportation. May i know the contact person of private driver that you used? and could you share how the booking process is?
Thank you,
Anisa
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
5 January, 2015 at 8:45 pmWe engaged this driver – Mr Jang Du Suk – his number is 010-8452-692 – he speaks basic English but it might be challenging for you to explain your preferred day tour. If possible, ask for an email address to confirm booking in writing. We arranged our tour through a Korean friend so it wasnt a problem.
Jiayong
5 March, 2015 at 8:56 pmHi, enjoy reading your post on Seoul Korea. Unable to download the itinerary, is it possible to send it via Email to my Address? 🙂
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
5 March, 2015 at 9:14 pmHi Jiayong – you will have to Facebook like the blog post and the link will be available to download. Sometimes when the site is busy, the page might be down – I just checked and it is available for download now. 🙂
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Seoul
29 September, 2015 at 1:35 amGreat post.Love the cat 🙂
Eric Chia
7 October, 2015 at 1:43 pmHi, your post it’s really useful & pack for me.
I’ll be going on March 2016. 5days plan off for Seoul 3days for Bushan.
May I know your suggestion any of each place it’s MUST GO attraction for you at Seoul ?
Thank you.
PS : Free & easy with GF.
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
7 October, 2015 at 11:11 pmI think the itinerary I have uploaded on this post pretty much covers the must go places e.g. Myeongdong shopping places and various eating places you can check out.
Oliver
19 October, 2015 at 10:47 amThanks for detail explanation. Just by looking at the photos, it feels like i’m already at Korea. Dr fish look interesting.
may
10 November, 2015 at 2:14 amHi, we are go to korea for 9 days. Can we help to plan for us the itinerary. I know that in seoul go shopping can take train but the seoul train station had a lot of staircase that my friends leg got problem cannot take it. So we intend to rent car, may I know is it cheap to rent a car at seoul.
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
10 November, 2015 at 8:31 amYou can download the itinerary from this blog post. Renting a car is about S$100+ a day but the expenses can add up with parking cost and fuel cost. Also driving in Seoul is not easy as there are a lot of traffic all the time. I suggest you just take taxis to go all around Seoul instead
JENNY KIM
5 December, 2015 at 10:46 amGood Blog and here’s good deal for transfortation.
Arex Express train is the best way to access from the airport to Seoul station. It is fast(it takes only 43 mins to Seoul station) and clean. Plus, the price is also reasonable. It cost 8,000won and if you take one of these airline;Asiana,KAL,Jeju airline, you get some discount(6,900won). Arex Express train info desk is located between gate no.9 and no.8, desk no.45 on 1st floor in the airport.
T-money card is a prepaid public transportation card which means
you have to load some money on your T-money card before you use it
on subway,taxi or bus. And you can purchase a T-money card ata low price
if you head to Seoul station from Incheon airport. Find the Arex info.desk
on 1st floor at the airport. It located between gate #9 and #8, desk no.45.
They have a special promotion for foreigners; Express train ticket to Seoul station
+ T-money card it costs only 8,900 won. The regular price of
the express train ticket is 8,000 won and T-money card is 3,000 won.
So the promotion is a good deal.
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
5 December, 2015 at 6:25 pmHi Jenny – thanks for sharing
Michelle
23 December, 2015 at 10:26 amHi, I can’t download your Seoul & Jeju itinerary on your website.
Can you send it to my email. Appreciate 🙂
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
23 December, 2015 at 5:10 pmWhat was the error you received – you have to like the post to be able to get the download link.
Andrea
29 February, 2016 at 2:07 pmHi! From J Hill hotel what transport did you take going back to Incheon Airport? Is the Limo Bus available in that area? Thanks!!
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
29 February, 2016 at 11:09 pmtaxi. limo bus is in the area but you need to walk a bit – pls check in with J Hill hotel directly on location of bus stop
blc
8 May, 2016 at 2:26 ammay I know, how long did u spend at Nami Island and Petite France including travelling time? we are getting private trsf too due to parents. so want to plan the itinerary abit. how was the travel sequence like to Nami Island by private trsf?TIA!
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
21 May, 2016 at 4:08 pmWe spent about 6 hours at both places. Our private transfer drove us to Nami Island ferry terminal where we took a ferry over (while driver waited in carpark) and then after that, drove to Petite France ad then back to Seoul
Kelly
11 June, 2016 at 7:48 amHi planning our first trip to Seoul now for July. Just wanted to ask will language will be a problem there as we don’t speak any Korean? Thanks.
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
11 June, 2016 at 8:55 amthe key challenge is with taxi drivers – just write your destination in Korean (ask your hotel staff to write it) and you should be fine. Most shops and restaurants have price tags and menus in English.
AREX
12 June, 2016 at 12:55 pmHi there, so nice writing about traveling to Korea. I hope my information will be helpful for you. In ICN, from travel center(located in B1), you can purchase some good and reasonable transportation pacakges. There are ‘express train and T-money card’, ‘express train and international taxi’ and ‘express train and EG sim card’. With express train, you can go to Seoul station with reserved convenient seat directly and express train will be the best and fastest options when you are going to Seoul area. And you can choose between other three options what you need. T-money card is transportation card in Korea and if you have many and heavy lugguges, I recommend you to take a second options(express train and taxi). Lastly, if you need a simcard, you can choose third option. If you are interested in these all, please visit to ‘travel center’. Thank you.
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Joyce
17 September, 2016 at 9:50 amHi, I am unable to downlaod your itinerary for Seoul and Jeju even though I’ve liked your FB page, appreciate it if you could send it to my email please? Thank you. Great blog by the way!
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
8 October, 2016 at 9:14 pmit should be ok now – you should like this blog post to be able to access it
bc
19 September, 2016 at 11:10 pmDear Zhiqiang & Tingyi,
Thank you for sharing so much valuable info in your blog.
May I have your advice : should I buy the domestic flight ticket from GMP-CJU upon arrival in GMP or should I buy online in advance?
Thanks
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
8 October, 2016 at 9:14 pmYou should definitely buy online in advance – sometimes they have online promotion fare. The Seoul to Jeju flights are popular ones and you may not be able to get the timing you want if you buy on the spot.
therese jean
11 October, 2016 at 10:21 amhello good day! i just want to ask how much budget do we need for 5days 4 nights tour in seoul. thanks a lot!
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
12 October, 2016 at 11:06 pmexcluding hotel and shopping, about US$100 per day shld be sufficient for meals and getting around
Cariston Cheong
21 October, 2016 at 2:30 amHi there, my fiancée and me Will be Gg Seoul on the 8 Nov but kinda stress right now cause I don’t know how to get from
One place to the next.
Like say from this mrt station, how do I get to this restaurant or cafe, using google
Map. Cause when I key in the name of the restaurant or cafe, no results.. also the address for the restaurant and cafe, I not sure how do I type in the google map app.
Do u have a better way ?
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
25 October, 2016 at 9:11 pmwe didnt have a issue with google maps – usually the name of the restaurant or cafe can be found (if it is well known). alternatively go to a tourist office and get a physical map and ask for help from the staff to mark it in your map.
doedoeda
8 November, 2016 at 8:35 amHi there
I cant seem to view your pictures be it from ipad, desktop, laptop or android phone. i have liked your FB pg though. What should I do to unlock it? Thanks
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
15 November, 2016 at 9:43 pmu have to like this post to unlock the download.
cytotec
6 December, 2016 at 7:52 pmThank you very much for sharing information that will be much helpful for making coursework my effective.
rose
31 December, 2016 at 2:22 ampls help organized our itinerary for 6days/5nights. staying at kpop residence at myeongdong on april, 2017.
day 1 arrive icn 7:30 am. check n at k-pop residence., rest/freshen up then brunch nearby restaurant. any recommended place to start our tour?
day 2: gyeongbokgung palace, changing guard, join tour to palace
national folk museum
samcheongdong
blue house
bukchon village (advised take taxi to insadong)
myeongdong shop
day 3 nami island and petite france tour by tracey tour
,myeongdong
day 4 coexmall, dongdaemun, leum Samsung museum, Gangnam,
day 5 gwanghwamun, cheongdeokgung palace, cheogyrvhron stream , lotte mart, myeongdong
day 6 trick museum, nanta theater, last shopping at lotte and myeongdong
train to Incheon 9:30 pm flight to manila
insadong/ssamziegil
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
31 December, 2016 at 10:03 amyour itinerary sounds good. just explore ewha and myeongdong for shopping on day 1 – keep day 1 light to rest from your early flight arrival.
move your nanta theatre to day 1 or else day 6 might be too cramped for you unless your nanta performance is early afternoon.
Rose
15 February, 2017 at 11:34 amHi, can you help organized my above itinerary On day 4: starting from myengdong station which destination to visit first and last in order to avoid riding back and forth.(coexmall, leum Samsung museum, Gangnam, dongdaemun. Not interested in shopping, I’m more of taking pictures. Should I drop coexmall and Samsung museum? Any recommendation.
Day 3: visiting nami, petite France and Seoul tower.
Day 6: do last minute shopping in myeongdong and lotte mart.
Thank you, rose
natasya
17 February, 2017 at 5:00 pmHi , i want to going there (korea) for 5 days but im still confuse how to arrange the itenerary ,bcos this is my 1time planning go there. any advise ? thank you
Jessie Ho
21 March, 2017 at 6:28 pmHi, I am unable to downlaod your itinerary for Seoul and Jeju even though I’ve liked your FB page and its liked on google, seems that the dropbox no longer is in service!
would really appreciate if we could get it on email somehow since it looks super informative!!! thank you
Leslie
12 May, 2017 at 5:52 pmhi! can you also help me organize my itinerary? Day1 Petite France+Nami island+Garden of Morning Calm
and Naksan Park and Seoul Fortress Wall. Is this possible for 1 day? thanks
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
12 May, 2017 at 10:56 pmSorry i cant help as i have not been to most of those places
Nasser
28 May, 2017 at 3:53 pmThanks for your personal marvelous posting!
I truly enjoyed reading it, you’re a great author.I will be
sure to bookmark your blog and will come back down the road.
I want to encourage you to continue your great job,
have a nicce holiday weekend!
Angel Lum
30 June, 2017 at 11:31 amThanks for sharing, good info. Especially for us, 1st timer to travel. It’s really help.
I cant download your itinerary Seoul & Jeju. Possible to email to me. (angel7105@gmail.com)
Thank you.
Leon
14 August, 2017 at 9:07 amHi, this post is amazing, the photo looks really beautiful and professional. Thanks for sharing. My friend and I are planning to travel to Seoul Thanks.
Amy
20 September, 2017 at 9:35 pmHi, thanks for sharing. Would you mind sharing your itinerary? It seemed to be removed. Thanks!