City Guide: Fashion Journal’s Editor shares her favourite spots in Seoul, South Korea

“I basically bought a lifetime supply of Korean sheet masks, a decision I don’t regret one bit.”

Here at Fashion Journal, we launched our City Guide series with the intention of unearthing the hidden spots in Australian cities that only locals know about. There’s no gatekeeping here – this is a breakdown of the best bits of our cities. We want the underrated date spots, favourite restaurants, treasure trove op shops and the bars people will always want to go back to. We also want to sniff out the best spots people find overseas.

This week, we’re deviating from our usual fare and heading overseas to take a look at Seoul, as seen through the eyes of our Editor, Cait Emma Burke. Cait had the (very lucky) experience of travelling to South Korea recently for a week-long press trip with Intrepid Travel.

Interested to hear how others navigate the world? Head to our Life section.

Cait and a group of editors and writers from around the world were there to experience Intrepid Travel’s Essential South Korea trip for 18 to 35-year-olds. Aside from Seoul, they went to South Korea’s second biggest city, Busan, and spent a night staying in a traditional hanok in Jeonju.

“I’ve always wanted to visit Seoul – the food, fashion and K-beauty have always appealed to me – but the reality was so much better than I could have imagined. It’s such a vibrant city, and everyone is dressed impeccably (and I’ve never seen such flawless, luminescent skin in my entire life. The Korean skincare routines are clearly working overtime).

“The shopping and food were the real highlights for me, but it’s definitely a city you want at least a handful of days in. I’d suggest spending a day walking around and taking it all in. Get a Korean beer and fried chicken for lunch, spend the afternoon exploring the city’s plethora of vintage shops and in the evening do some late-night beauty shopping or check out one of the kitschy-themed bars,” says Cait. Read on for her recommendations in Seoul.

Eat and drink

Gwangjang Market

My mouth is watering recalling the food our tour group ate when we visited Seoul’s iconic Gwangjang Market. If you love experiencing a country’s authentic street food, then this place needs to be at the top of your list. Make sure you get cash out, equip yourself with some basic Korean words (or the Google Translate app) and I’d suggest doing a lap of the entire market before deciding what you want.

The standout dishes for me were kimchi, mayak gimbap (pictured above) which is a Korean seaweed rice roll filled with pickled veges, bindaetteok, a deliciously salty, crispy mungbean pancake that would make for the perfect hangover meal, and odeng, a twisted fish cake on a stick that sits in the tastiest broth I’ve ever had in my life.

Find out more here.

Jayeon Shabu Shabu

Korean shabu shabu is similar to Chinese hot pot, except it’s cooked bite by bite over the course of the meal, rather than simmering all of the ingredients together. We all loved eating at Jayeon Shabu Shabu and the restaurant had the most insane array of mushrooms I’ve ever come across. Aside from plates of mushrooms, we were given a variety of other vegetables, some thin slices of raw beef and noodles.

Cooking the food while sinking glasses of beer mixed with soju (a popular drink in South Korea) was a standout experience but make sure you’re onto it with the cooking. Don’t let anything sit too long in the boiling broth – you want it to be tender but never overcooked, something our brilliant tour guide kept reminding us.

Find out more here.

Themed bars

If you’re itching for silly little night out, Seoul is brimming with themed bars. Two favourites for myself and some of the other girlies were Pink’s, a multi-story pink-themed monstrosity with a cursed yet hilarious smoking section, themed drinks with bendy straws, fur-lined walls and a view that overlooked all of Hongdae, and a very funny beach-themed bar that had literal sand all over the floors. Fittingly, it’s called Rooftop Urban Beach. We love commitment to a theme.

Shop

Hongdae’s vintage stores and boutiques

Instead of recommending specific stores, I’m recommending an entire area for shopping: the Hongdae district. Known as the student area because Hongik University is nearby, these streets have a fun, youthful energy. If you like people-watching and impeccable street style, it’s undoubtedly the spot for you. And if you’re after some secondhand finds, there’s an insane amount of vintage, thrift and secondhand shops (the terms are interchangeable in South Korea, so some will have more high-end wares, while others are more like op shops).

There are also a lot of fast fashion boutiques that are very appealing with freakishly good rip-offs of designer bags, shoes and streetwear brands. For obvious reasons, I tried to keep these purchases to a minimum, but goddamn – South Korea makes incredibly appealing fast fashion. I buckled and bought a pair of velvet mary janes and a rip-off of the Cos quilted crossbody bag I’ve seen all over TikTok, but I made sure the majority of my purchases were preloved.

If you’re looking for new sneakers, I found that brands like Nike and Adidas were cheaper in Seoul too. I made an impulse purchase and bought a pair of baby yellow Nike Air Humaras, and was pleased to realise they were $80 cheaper than if I’d bought them back home. They’ve practically not left my feet since returning to Melbourne, so sometimes impulse purchases do work out for the best. The area also has loads of trinket stores, and like a magpie, I was drawn into most of them. These places are great for cutesy little gifts you just wouldn’t find in Australia, like one-of-a-kind phone cases and outlandish keyrings and phone charms. Oh, and make sure you pop into one of the numerous self-service photobooth places while you’re there.

Find out more here.

Olive Young

Referred to as ‘the Sephora of Korea’ Olive Young immediately captured the interest of our entire group – after all, we’re editors and writers working for women’s magazines, so an interest in beauty is practically a prerequisite. If you’re keen to take home some K-beauty at an affordable price, this chain stocks a huge array of beauty, skincare and wellness brands. Myself and a few others on the trip spent up large there one night after having one too many sojus. I basically bought a lifetime supply of Korean sheet masks, a decision I don’t regret one bit.

Find out more here.

Must-do

Gyeongbokgung Palace

If Gyeongbokgung Palace looks familiar to you, it might be because Gucci held its Cruise 2024 runway there last year. Of the five grand palaces built in the Joseon Dynasty (1392 to 1897), this is Seoul’s largest. It really is breathtaking – I was particularly drawn to the intricate, brightly coloured paintings that cover the ceiling. Our tour guide took us there to watch the changing of the guard, and while I’m not usually into more traditional tourist activities like that, the costumes and pageantry set against the backdrop of the palace were definitely worth seeing.

Find out more here.

Su Noraebang

Karaoke has always been a favourite pastime of mine, and Seoul is packed with karaoke joints. Called ‘noraebangs’ in Korea, our tour group went to Su Noraebang in Hongdae on our last night in Seoul. Since opening in 2000, the venue has become famous for its huge glass windows that showcase the front singing rooms to everyone walking by on the streets below.

You can also opt for a more traditional style karaoke room, which is what our group did, which have mirrored walls, rows of couch-like seating, four roving mics and a standing microphone, so ensemble songs are a must (we absolutely slayed ‘Total Eclipse of The Heart’). Amazingly, it’s open 24 hours but not so amazingly for anyone who struggles to belt out a tune sober, they don’t serve alcohol. If you’re in need of some liquid courage before taking the stage, head to a nearby bar like Pink’s to have some soju and beer beforehand.

Find out more here.

Starfield Library

If you’re considering visiting Seoul, you’ve likely seen photos of Starfield Library before. It’s one of the most distinctive libraries in the world, and even if you’re not that big on libraries, you should spend some time here. Located in the centre of COEX Mall in the very chic Gangnam district (yes, the area this song is referring to), it’s expansive, brightly lit, architecturally impressive and spans three floors.

The tall, stacked walls of bookshelves are just made to be photographed, and the triangle-shaped bookshelves are often arranged in such a way that the books create intricate drawings, so when you first look at the bookshelf you almost think it’s a painting. Yet another reminder that Korea’s attention to detail and sense of style is second to none.

Find out more here.

To find out more about Intrepid Travel’s Essential South Korea trip for 18 to 35s, head here.