Seoul
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital and largest city of South Korea, and the largest city in the whole of Korea.
The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's sixth largest metropolitan economy in 2022, behind New York, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Paris, and London, and hosts more than half of South Korea's population. Although Seoul's population peaked at over 10 million, it has gradually decreased since 2014, standing at about 9.6 million residents as of 2024.
Getting to Seoul
Seoul (SEL IATA for all airports) is served by two airports; Incheon International Airport serves most international flights, while Gimpo Airport mostly serves as Seoul's domestic airport, plus a smattering of international routes to China, Japan and Taiwan. = = Most visitors arrive via
Worth seeing
Seoul is a vast, vibrant cityscape, set against an airy backdrop of mountains. It includes a standout collection of attractions with a blend of old and new. While Seoul today is mostly known as a super-modern mega-city that is home to skyscrapers, malls, and millions of electronic-mad Koreans, the city contains over 2,000 years of history. The city contains
Things to do
Enjoy hiking in the mountains around the city. Up to 800m (3,000 ft) is accessible by public transport, with courses ranging from easy to difficult. There are Bukhansan Mountain, Gwanaksan Mountain, Samseongsan Mountain, Inwangsan Mountain, etc. (Mostly [Seoul/North]). If you don't like mountains, walk along Cheonggyecheon Stream.
Where to eat
Much of Korean social life revolves around food and the city is packed with restaurants, so you would have to be determined to starve to death in Seoul. This fate may still befall you if you insist on English menus and meals consisting only of easily identifiable, familiar ingredients, so see South Korea#Eat for a quick Korean menu reader.
Getting around Seoul the local way
- Get inThere are ferry services to various points in China from the neighboring port city of Incheon.
- Get inNo services run from Japan to Seoul; many Koreans take the coach, KTX or SRT trains to Busan, where several ferry and hydrofoil options are available.
- Go nextMany tour companies offer DMZ tours which is a day trip from Seoul, the highlight of which is a village lying in the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.
From Wikivoyage: Seoul, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Whoisgalt (CC BY-SA 3.0), Wikimedia Commons.
