Korea · city
Seoul stays up to see if you will too.
The river is a black ribbon with bridges like jewelry. Someone is frying something you can smell from the stairs. Seoul is not subtle. It is generous. Let it be.
Day / night split
Palaces and hanbok photos are a morning sport. Save the night for a neighborhood that is allowed to be messy: Ikseon-dong alleys, a Hongdae side street, a hanging-out-in-Seongsu kind of tired. Do not do palaces at 4pm and clubs at 5. You will become soup.
T-money on day one. The city clicks into place the moment the gate says yes.
A week-shaped Seoul
- Two palace/old-town mornings. Not five.
- One mountain or fortress walk if your knees still like you.
- One “just cafés and no agenda” afternoon. This is not laziness. This is research.
When the capital has said its piece, the KTX to Busan is a mood change in a seat. Jeju only if you still have days — see the island rule.