Gangnam & Southern Seoul
As well as being home to Seoul's premier concert halls, this art centre also has three art galleries. Seoul Calligraphy Museum is devoted to hand-drawn…
Must-see attractions in Seoul
Seoul
Jeoldusan means ‘Beheading Hill’ – this is where up to 2000 Korean Catholics were executed in 1866 following a royal decree, most thrown off the high…
War & Women's Human Rights Museum
Seoul
In Korea the survivors of sexual slavery by the Japanese military during WWII (known euphemistically as 'comfort women') are respectfully called halmoni …
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Give yourself at least an hour to do justice to this excellent museum. It has three main exhibition halls, covering the history of the Korean people, the…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Korean business magnate and contemporary-art collector Kam Chang-il has found the perfect home for jewels from his collection at this ivy-clad brick…
Seoul
This interactive museum at the World Cup Stadium & Mall is a must for football fans, despite the steep admission fee. Korean football history and its…
Dongdaemun & Eastern Seoul
The Great East Gate to Seoul’s City Wall has been rebuilt several times in its 700-year history and, after recent renovations, it's looking majestic. It's…
Dongdaemun & Eastern Seoul
With interactive displays and historical artefacts, this modern museum offers an engaging history of the 18.6km-long barrier that has girdled Seoul since…
Myeong-dong & Jung-gu
A good example of Deoksugung's potpourri of contrasting architectural styles, the grand neoclassical-style Seokjojeon was designed by British architect GR…
Myeong-dong & Jung-gu
Head down to City Hall's basement to reach Citizens Hall, a multipurpose space with an interesting mix of multimedia art exhibitions, design shops and a…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
To gain an appreciation of the total transformation of Seoul down the centuries, visit this fascinating museum, which charts the city's history since the…
Seoul
Something very interesting is going on in Mullae-dong, a light-industrial area of the city packed with compact metalwork factories. Artists and designers…
Dongdaemun & Eastern Seoul
To fully comprehend what a mammoth and expensive effort it was to resurrect Cheong-gye-cheon, Seoul’s long buried east–west stream, pay a visit to this…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
The impressive main gate to Seoul's premier palace is flanked by stone carvings of haechi, mythical lion-like creatures traditionally set to protect the…
Myeong-dong & Jung-gu
Within the Deoksugung complex, the interesting fusion-style pavilion Jeonggwanheon was designed by Russian architect Aleksey Seredin-Sabatin as a place…
National Museum of Korean Contemporary History
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
The last century has been a tumultuous time for Korea, the key moments of which are memorialised and celebrated in this museum charting the highs and lows…
Gangnam & Southern Seoul
Seoul's Olympic Museum has been completely updated as an interactive museum to not only show highlights of the 1988 Olympics but also the thrills of the…
National Palace Museum of Korea
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
In a modern building in the southwest corner of Gyeongbokgung's compound, this museum displays royal artefacts that highlight the wonderful artistic…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Walk through the dense woodland at the rear of the main buildings of Changdeokgung and suddenly you come across a serene glade. The Huwon is a beautiful…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
This modern hanok was rebuilt using traditional methods on the site of two older ones to create a home with museum grandeur that gives a rare opportunity…
Gangnam & Southern Seoul
A part of the National Gugak Center, this engaging museum covers gugak (traditional Korean music) with displays of Korean stringed instruments and unique…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
This 10-tier, 12m-high monument in Tapgol Park once graced Wongak-sa, a Buddhist temple that stood here but was destroyed in 1504 on the orders of the…
Gangnam & Southern Seoul
More like a 13m-tall, neon-lit, designer shrine to books than a library, you can't actually take anything away here, but there are desks, sofas and…
Tteok & Kitchen Utensil Museum
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
For those interested in the local sweet culture, this two-room museum at the Institute of Traditional Korean Food offers displays of rice cakes in…
Myeong-dong & Jung-gu
Outside to the left of Deoksugung's main gate, the palace's stone southern wall creates a curved path shaded by 130 trees with benches where locals stop…
Dongdaemun & Eastern Seoul
Literally meaning 'photo warehouse', Sajin Changgo is a rough-and-tumble gallery space showcasing edgy film photography from Korean artists. The works are…
Daelim Contemporary Art Museum
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Daelim specialises in exhibitions on photography, design and fashion. The building, which was originally a family house, was remodelled by French…
Gangnam & Southern Seoul
Spread over three floors, one of which is devoted to selling the latest lines of gadgets, this showroom showcases the technology of the Korean electronics…
Gangnam & Southern Seoul
Bunker-like SOMA features modern and contemporary art in six galleries. Most are special paid exhibitions, covering both local and big-name international…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Kukje's two main gallery spaces are found off the main road, behind its restaurant building, which has the running woman sculpture by Jonathan Borofsky on…
Myeong-dong & Jung-gu
Hosting world-class exhibitions that are always worth a visit, SEMA has ultramodern, bright galleries inside the handsome brick-and-stone facade of the…
Northern Seoul
A great place to see contemporary art, this impressive red-brick complex has a trio of interlinking galleries that house regularly changing, often avant…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Pioneer of the Tongui-dong gallery scene and specialising in representing contemporary Korean and Japanese artists, such as Naru Yoshitomo and Yayoi…
Itaewon & Yongsan-gu
Give your Korean-language skills a brush up with this museum dedicated to hangeul, the much-lauded Korean alphabet and writing system created in the 15th…
Myeong-dong & Jung-gu
Formerly part of Seoul Station, this grand 1925 building with a domed roof has been beautifully restored inside and out and made into a cultural-arts…
Northern Seoul
Surrounded by sculptures, this attractive museum showcases a rotating display of works by Kim Whan-ki (1913–74), a local pioneer of modern abstract art…
Dongdaemun & Eastern Seoul
For panoramic vistas of the Han River and Eastern Seoul, take a short hike up the steps to the pavilion atop Eungbongsan, the verdant hill that makes up…
Northern Seoul
The main hall of Changgyeonggung, Myeongjeongjeon was rebuilt in 1616, making it a valuable example of 17th-century Joseon architecture, and the oldest…
Itaewon & Yongsan-gu
Its twin minarets rising tall and resplendent over 'Halal Hill', Seoul's impressive mosque, which opened in 1976, caters primarily to the Arabic, Asian…
Myeong-dong & Jung-gu
This branch of MMCA is within a grand colonial building inside the Deoksugung complex. It has several galleries exhibiting its permanent modern-art…
