South Korea

[Reachingforthestarshigh]

We are flying to Sydney in August; were planning to stop over in Hong Kong but have decided to do a week in South Korea instead.

Any advice on where to stay? What to see? Etc. 2 teens girls 18 and 15 and 2 adults

Seouls is a fabulous city- great palaces, museums, easy to get around by metro, great shopping for Korean cosmetics if your DD’s are into that, trip to DMZ, insadong area for little craft shops and cafes. My Dd dressed up in a hanbok to wander around Gyeongbokgung palace but your DDs May not share my DD’s enthusiasm for all things Korean!
My other favourite place is Gyeongju - royal tombs, ancient temples and unesco sites.

Thank you. The girls do love Korean stuff and watch lots of Korean shows.

The Holiday Inn Express Seoul Hongdae was good and the area is good for eating out and shopping. Your girls will enjoy the photo booth shops with crazy hats and outfits. Also Yeonnam-Dong is a neighbouring area with more cafés and bars.
Also walking up one of the mountains is definitely worth it! Namsan is the most famous and accessible all on stairs but others like Ansan are lovely too.

Thank you all. Is it safe for the girls to go exploring on their own? I think they are some things they probably want to do alone.

DD1 will be 19 and DD2 15.5. We will be around and have location sharing. Will need to sort out internet for everyone.

Definitely safe. Last time we were there dd was 13 and went shopping with her friend.

That is great to hear.

Seoul is fabulous and very safe. Just be warned that there are a lot of bakeries and the pastries are irresistible!
As pp said, try to visit the DMZ, it's fascinating.

We stayed in Myeongdong, which is very busy, but quite noisy. I think if I returned I'd stay in Gangam. It's a beautiful country with very nice and welcoming people.

Thank you. Looking forward to it now.