Hellobee

We just got back from a two-week trip to Seoul (the Korean capital) and Busan (the second largest city). We visited Seoul last year too, but my mom’s entire side of the family lives in Korea so I love that Charlie and Olive are able to spend time with them every year. Plus living on a remote island, getting to visit bustling cities is always a treat for us. We did completely different things this time around, and now I feel like I have a really good sense of the best things to do in Seoul with kids!

I share many tips and things to do in my previous post about Seoul here. Here is how we spent our 13 fun-filled days this time around!

tripletting at Children’s Grand Park!

Day 1: Land at 8:10pm.
Day 2: Children’s Grand Park, Seoul Children’s Museum
Day 3: Kidzania, TeamLab World, Champion Sports Club
Day 4: Vaunce Trampoline Park
Day 5-8: Busan Aquarium, Mountain Cabin in Yangsan Benegol
Day 9: Godabang Cat Cafe, Shopping in Myeongdong
Day 10: Namdaemun Sijang
Day 11: Young Poong Books, Cheonggyecheon Stream
Day 12: Bau Haus Dog Cafe, Trickeye Museum, Hongdae
Day 13: Insadong

Day 2: Children’s Grand Park, Seoul Children’s Museum

Children’s Grand Park was my kids’ favorite place the last time we visited, so we went back on our first day. It was so incredibly hot and humid that we were almost the only ones there. After riding all the rides the kids were tall enough to ride, we headed to the Seoul Children’s Museum located within the park. It was a very lovely, large, thoughtfully designed museum, and we spent most of our day there. A highly recommended place to visit with kids!

Even though it was summer vacation, the park was virtually empty because it was so hot.

 
Dippin Dots!

Day 3: Kidzania, Teamlab, Champion Sport Club

We were planning on going to the Teddy Bear Zoo in the Lotte World Tower to kill some time before meeting up with friends, but passed by Kidzania and decided to go there instead. It was quite pricey, but a truly unique and incredible experience. There are 90+ “buildings” carefully decorated where kids take 20-30 minute classes on everything from flower arranging, to modeling, to veterinary school. Charlie and Olive opted to do cooking, banking, and fire fighting. That was all we had time to do in the half day pass we purchased, but this is definitely a place I’d return again (they have 24 locations throughout the world). Please note that the explanations are in Korean, so the hands-on classes like cooking are much better for non-Korean speakers. This is best for kids 5+.

They made curry Minion rice rolls!

After Kidzania, we passed by TeamLab and decided to check it out. It only takes about an hour to go through the whole thing, but it is fun for kids and adults alike. This interactive digital light exhibit first opened in Tokyo to great acclaim. There is one exhibit where a picture you draw becomes animated on the wall, and another where icons you select instantly create a projection of things like tracks, similar to Minecraft or Sim City.

We met our friends for a playdate at Champion Sport Club (all three of these things were in the same building), which is a playspace featuring many different kinds of sports. I got to sit and chat with my friend while the kids ran off and had a blast. Seoul is the capital of indoor kid playspaces because of lack of green spaces, pollution, and heat/cold. That said they are always immaculate and thoughtfully designed.

Good friends from America visiting Seoul at the same time!

Day 4: Vaunce Trampoline Park

After having lunch coffee and dessert, we headed with a big group of friends to Vaunce Trampoline Park, a playspace that has trampolines built into the floor. I did see several kids crying, as bouncing can be a recipe for disaster, but none of the 8 kids in our group got hurt and they had a blast bouncing around.

Pricey but you must try a Korean bingsoo. Milk is shaved into the lightest flakiest consistency and topped with all kinds of goodies. Mango on the left, green tea/chocolate/oreo on the right.

Day 5-8: Busan Aquarium, Yangsan Benegol

We took a Train to Busan to visit family and luckily didn’t encounter any zombies! It’s such a quick, comfortable ride just 2.5 hours from Seoul. There isn’t too much to do in Busan for kids other than the beach, but we’ve had more than our fair share of the beach! I’ve also been to Busan before and visited popular tourist attractions like Haeundae Beach, Jagalchi Fish Market, Haedong Yonggung Temple, and Bokcheong-dong Burial Mounds. The Temple was my favorite thing to do!

 

We checked out the Busan Aquarium, which was pretty small, but they had a live mermaid show that Olive loved so much we watched it twice!

Then we headed to the mountains an hour away where my relatives booked a room. It was the perfect escape from the city to recharge our batteries. There were huge rocks to climb, a shallow flowing river due to it being summer, a beautiful waterfall that was a nice hike away, and even nature crafting classes for kids. Charlie and Olive had an incredible time and I would definitely go back!

 

 

Day 9: Godang Cat Cafe, Shopping in Myeongdong

One of the main things we wanted to do in Seoul was visit one of its many animal cafes. For the price of a drink, you get to play with a bunch of cats. Godang Cat Cafe was clean, the cats seemed happy and had plenty of places to sleep and hide, and it wasn’t as super crowded like I was expecting. You can opt to buy treats or wet cat food to feed them as well.

Since the cat cafe was in Myeongdong, we shopped in this area hitting up Zara, H&M, and of course Korean beauty stores.

Day 10: Namdaemun Sijang

Charlie and I needed new glasses and eyeglass shops are plentiful and crazy affordable at Namdaemun Sijang — you can get a pair of glasses for as little as $20! There were so many cute clothes at different price points, but lots of deals to be had.

New glasses and threads from Namdaemun Sijang.

My cousin’s beautiful cat!

Day 11: YoungPoong Books & Cheongyecheon Stream

We were staying a block away from YP Books, the largest bookstore in Korea. We stocked up on children’s books and their awesome selection of adult coloring books. Cheongyecheon Stream runs beside it, so we hung out there with some friends to try to beat the heat.

One of my favorite Korean dishes is this cold noodle soup called kong guksu!

Day 12: Dog Cafe, Trickeye Museum, Hongdae

Visiting a dog cafe was high on our list of things to do and Bauhaus Dog Cafe was one of the most popular ones. There were two rooms, one with small dogs and one with large dogs. We spent more time in the room with the big dogs because the Alaskan Malamut and Golden Retriever were just so friendly. I also appreciated that they had a lot of older dogs (10 years+), and I made sure to feed them treats instead of the popular cute dogs.

 

Afterwards we walked to the Trickeye Museum, which we had been to before in Singapore. Many of the exhibits were similar and it was very crowded even on a rainy Monday, so we could have skipped it. For first timers though it is a lot of fun for kids and adults alike. It is located in the college neighborhood of Hongdae which has lots of shops and restaurants lining its streets.

 

Day 13: Insadong

We spent our last day before our evening flight at Insadong, the place to buy traditional Korean souvenirs.

Korea is hosting the Winter Olympics in 2018 and these are the mascots!

We headed to Ssamzie Gil, where we discovered lots of unique crafts! The kids painted their own set of nesting dolls and made their own candles. There was also making your own cell phone case, nail/string art, woodworking, and more.

   

Up 4 flights and we had coffee at the Poop Cafe!

Right: I’m wearing blue contacts! Colored contacts are affordable and have a huge range of colors in Korea.

the famous poop bread!

We had Charlie and Olive’s caricature drawn, and I love it! They focused on the biggest features on their faces — Charlie’s ears and Olive’s lips — and really captured their spirit.

My aunt and uncle treated us to a last dinner before heading to the airport. This is Korean beef (different than galbi) served with a green onion salad, grilled cabbage, and kimchi.

Afterwards rice and kimchi are cooked together to make kimchi bokkeumbap!

Where to Stay

Seoul is a very big city so where you stay does matter. The first week we stayed with my uncle in Gangnam on the far east of Seoul, which worked out because the adjacent neighborhood Jamsil has so many kid-friendly activities. It’s where Lotte World, the world’s largest indoor amusement park is located. We went last year so didn’t go this time, but we did a lot of activities within the same building Lotte World is located.

The second week we stayed at an airbnb apartment in Myeongdong, which is one of the most centrally located neighborhoods and a hub of shopping, restaurants, and much more. You can walk to many popular attractions like Cheonggyecheon Stream, Insadong, Namsan Tower, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Namdaemun Sijang and much more, which was important to us because Olive gets very carsick. I loved the location and would definitely stay in that area again!

Our cute little studio Airbnb

Tips

– Credit cards are accepted everywhere even for amounts as little as $1 so Koreans usually carry very little cash.

– There are two types of taxis, regular ones and mobum taxis which are nicer black cars and charge you a higher price.

– If you are going to take an SRT or KTX train to travel outside of Seoul, buy your tickets in advance as they can sell out. We got family seats of 4 facing each other with a table in the middle.

– We bought single use subway tickets every time we took the subway because family drove us around or we walked most of the time. Simply enter your final destination into the ticket kiosk and you’ll get a card. When you return the card at a kiosk, you get 500 won (approx 50 cents). The subway map seems daunting at first because there are so many lines, but once you take it a couple of times you’ll see how easy it is. If you’ll be taking the subway daily, you’ll save money by buying a T-Money card at metro stations or convenience stores.

–  Korea has the fastest internet in the world. Even without a wifi plan on your phone, you can usually connect to an open wifi network when you’re out and about. Our airbnb provided us with a wifi egg (many others will as well), which is commonly used throughout Korea. It even works great on the subway!

– You don’t need a visa as an American citizen.

– Some restaurants require you to pay before eating, and others may require you to pay at the counter when you’re finished. But most places also have bells on every table so you can easily call your waitstaff! Many tables also have drawers with all the utensils already there.

– Food is cheaper is nontouristy areas. We actually stayed a 10 minute walk from Myeongdong in a nontouristy area that still had tons of shops and restaurants.

– Wear comfortable shoes because you will be walking a lot.

– There aren’t many places you can haggle — you may be able to a bit at the Namdaemun Sijang. Stores underground in subway stations are a great place to find deals as well as college areas like Hongdae/Ewha/Sinchon.

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If you have any questions about traveling to Korea, please feel free to ask! The next time we go I’d like to check out Jeju Island and spend more time exploring more mountainous and nontouristy areas.