Seoul

Spring (April–May) brings cherry blossoms and mild 12–22°C weather — beautiful but the most crowded window. Autumn (late September–November) is arguably better: crisp air, spectacular foliage in the mountains ringing the city, and marginally thinner crowds. Summer (June–August) is hot, humid, and includes the monsoon (late June–July). Winter (December–February) drops below freezing but is dry, clear, and dramatically cheaper — worth considering if palaces-in-snow appeals more than cherry blossoms.

The Seoul Metro is the backbone of the city — extensive, cheap, spotlessly clean, and signed in English throughout. A T-money card works across subway, bus, and taxi and can be topped up at any convenience store. Taxis are metered and inexpensive by Western standards but drivers rarely speak English — have your destination written in Korean or use a map app to show the address. Walking works well within single neighbourhoods but distances between districts (Gangnam to Jongno, for instance) are genuinely large — take the subway.

Korean food outside Korea barely hints at the range here: beyond barbecue and bibimbap, expect specialised restaurants doing one dish exceptionally well for decades. Gwangjang Market is the essential food-market visit — bindaetteok (mung bean pancakes) and mayak gimbap are the signature orders. Convenience store food (triangle kimbap, instant ramyeon with an egg dropped in) is a legitimate, cheap late-night meal, not a last resort. Myeongdong's street stalls are aimed squarely at tourists — good for photos, less good for quality.

Myeongdong remains the skincare and cosmetics epicentre — multiple floors of Korean beauty brands at prices well below export retail. Gangnam is the industry's actual home turf: SM Town and HYBE Insight offer K-pop exhibition experiences, and the district's underground malls (COEX) are vast. Hongdae has the best street fashion and indie music scene, plus busking performances most weekend evenings. Dongdaemun Design Plaza runs 24-hour wholesale fashion markets that are genuinely worth a 2am visit if jet lag has you awake anyway.