Travelling three weeks in South Korea and the biggest part of it in trendy Seoul gave me a fantastic insight into hipster places to hang around, areas full of art to discover as well as an introduction into the Korean way of eating. No need to say that I spend most of my time in trendy Gangnam where bars, cafées and shops keep you busy and attracted around the clock. But I also enjoyed excursions to the suburbs of the city….

I discovered this great hangout by chance when strolling the streets and found the décor extremely inspiring: “Lay Bricks” is bar and café at the same time and once you fall into their chairs, you will never get up again. They roast their own coffee, offer a good selection of craft beer and serve fresh and homemade sandwiches. As they name says the building is made of bricks and old sewing machines as well as vintage furniture give it a cosy living room atmosphere. The place for a lazy afternoon! 555-13 Sinsa-dong, next station: Sinsa

Very surprisingly there is a Corso Como in Seoul! What a great find as I was not aware that it exists outside of Milano. As in its Italian sister it offers a multifunctional blend of art, music, design, cuisines and culture. What started in a converted garage in 1990 by former fashion editor Carla Sozzani and which is named after its street addess in Milano, has laid the basis for todays concept stores. Established 2008 in the South Korean capital, it showcases the countries design aesthetics on several floors in a futuristic and modern landmark building next to Han River. We ended up in their Café Lounge for a superbe Cheese Cake and a glass of wine – certainly an ambiance for a break on a busy day in the city. Make sure you also check out their book store. 79 Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-Gu

A fantastic way to see the city with different eyes is a stroll along the Cheonggyecheon Stream, which is a pleasant walk of 11km length, but no worries, you may only do parts of it and cut the way off wherever you like. The stream was there since centuries, but had been covered by an elevated highway after the Korean War beginning of the sixties and later on looked like a garbage dump. Thank God the city council decided to revitalize and clean up this area and consequently converted it into a wonderful clean little river with trees and walkways on both sides. Benches and big stones invite strollers to take a rest and comes night time it is lit with idyllic lights – a pure place of romance. Best start at the Cheonggye Plaza, make sure you see the sculpture “Spring” by Swedish Pop Art artist Claes Oldenburg, and then head off towards the direction of Dongdaemun Design Plaza (by Zaha Hadid) and Park.

When going out for dinner in Seoul you will quickly realize that most of the time you are cooking your food yourself! Very often you have a sort of oven or barbecue station implemented in your table and it is up to you to play the chef. Of course they will help you if you have no clue about what to do exactly, but it can be sometimes tiring and a bit weird to be surrounded by all the steam and smoke. Apart from the famous Kimchi, which really is not everyone’s tast, we regularly ended up by eating Bulgogi, which is a traditional Korean beef dish. Bulgogi stands for “bul” (fire) and “gog” (meat) as this firemeat was traditionally marinated and cooked on fire – today most Koreans pan-fry this dish. It’s really delicious and comes with spring onions, soja sprouts, Shitake mushrooms, crunchy vegetables, cilantro, pungent herbs and savoury sauces. My second favourite is certainly Bibimbap, which literally translates into “mixed cooked rice”. It’s a bowl of rice, sautéed and seasoned vegetables, seasoned raw beef and a hot pepper paste, but of course exists in a wide range of regional variations.

As everywhere in Asia streetfood and food markets are extremely popular and you will find them in every corner of the city. If you are for shopping in Myeongdong towards the evening you will realize that suddenly the whole area is plastered with food stalls offering the most yammy variety of outstanding little snacks. Try the freshly made egg breads, the Odengs (fish cakes skewered on a stick and left in a broth combined with soy sauce), Tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes in a red pepper sauce) or the Ojingeo Twigim (Fried squids that look like a flower bouquet). My favourite one is more on the sweet side, the Hotteok, a flour dough pancake filled with brown sugar and fried in oil. The ones I had in the harbor city of Busan were the best ones as they are enriched with sunflower seeds and nuts.

Kimchi, Kimchi and more Kimchi! With every dish you order in South Korea you will have some Kimchi to go along and sometimes it can be like an overdose for foreigners. The national dish is made out of fermented chili peppers and vegetables, usually based on cabbage.  Common ingredients also include radish, garlic, spring onion, ginger, salt, fish sauce and sugar and there is a regional and seasonal variety. To reach its full flavor the best tasting kimchi is stored in room temperature for an average of six months.

Garlic is also extremely popular and when you sometimes step your foot into a bus you are blown away from the smell as everyone seems to just have eaten a big portion of garlic. Typical for this part of the world are also the Ginseng roots, a light-colored root with a long stalk and green leaves with an oval shape. It is believed to restore and enhance well-being and has become one of the most popular herbal remedies in the world today. In South-Korean its often used in the famous Ginseng Chicken soup, which helps your body to recover when you don’t feel too well.

Afraid of language barriers? No worries! Provided with some good maps, guide books and a portion of courage you will make it everywhere. The younger generation will be able to help you find your way in the streets in case you get lost with some English knowledge and the older generation will support you with hands and feets. Signs in the city are very often translated with the English word as are indications in the underground. In very popular shopping areas such as Gangnam you will find the girls with the red cowboy hats from the tourist information. They speak fluent English and always have helpful maps of the specific area at hand. Quite some fun to chat with them! 

Art lovers will discover quite some extraordinary places in and around Seoul. If you do not hesitate to take a little longer way (by underground combined with bus), you will be definitely rewarded when reaching the Pyeongchang-dong gallery alley which houses some of Korea’s oldest galleries amidst an idyllic green neighbourhood. Nestled inside Bukhan mountains this art district represents Seoul’s flourishing arts scene. Highlights are the Gana Art Centre, the Kim Chong Yung Museum and the Total Museum of Contemporary Art. The alleys can be quite steep, but make sure to have a coffee on top of the hill of the high-end cafés  and enjoy the scenic and panoramic views.

Get there: From Exit 3 of Gyeongbokgung Station, take bus 1711 or 1020 to Pyeongchang-dong Samsung Apartments.

And of course no visit to Seoul without checking out the famous Leeum Samsung Museum of Art which was sponsored by the Samsung enterprise and created by three famous European designers and architects: Jean Nouvel, Mario Botta and Rem Kohlhaas. Money did certainly not play a role in the construction process! Traditional Korean art, but also contemporary art by world class artists such as Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Georg Baselitz, Ellsworth Kelly, Damien Hirst, Sigmar Polke or Anselm Kiefer is part of the permanent exhibition. As this museum is in the Eastern part of Itaewon, make sure you go for dinner or for a drink to the nearby streets of central Itaewon and try great places such as Plant (vegan), La Ferme (superfood) or Buddha’s Belly (Thai).

When it comes to shopping the list of trendy places in Seoul could be long, but I just would like to recommend one cool shop, that has several outlets in the city: Aland. This multi-brand store focuses on new fashion designers such as Sean makes clothes, Plasma, Sphere, Ethrica, Fieldtrip, Zplish or Fineday Project and sells clothes, shoes, bags as well as stationery items. You may find it in Garosu-Gil, Myeungdong as well as in the famous student’s district Hongdae.

Need a break from the city? Most travelers visiting Seoul will take a day tour to the boarder to North Korea, called DMZ (demilitarized zone) to get an idea of history and the situation between the two countries. Even though I am not a fan of organized tours, in this case you are not able to go by yourself and best would be to talk to the concierge of your hotel. You will be picked up in the morning by bus and have to bring your passport as you will be entering military grounds near the boarder, visit infiltration tunnels, see the no man’s land between the two countries and make a stop at a brand new, modern train station, that was built to connect South and North, but in the end was never used. The train only ran once towards Pyeongyang and then tensions grew again and was abandoned. Really weird! We booked via http://www.koridoor.co.kr

We also choose to fly for a few days to famous Jeju Islands, which is the weekend escape spot for South Koreans. Well, whatever you see in terms of beautiful pictures and what looks like an island paradise – I guess it is not really what Westerners look for. The locals rush there for a two night stay, circle the island in bus groups, stay in hotel silos with 500 rooms and in the evening have dinner in huge halls with neon lights. Entertainment is somehow Disneyland like and it was extremely hard for us to find an accommodation or a diner spot which was not flooded with people and had a little style. We choose Bayhill Pool & Villa a little outside of Seogwipo, which offers stylish suites with pools and offers a fantastic dinner. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful and treated us like VIPs as usually no one stays longer than two nights. Be aware that there is nothing around and you have to have a car to be mobile and to be able to drive to town or around the island for excursions and some entertainment. http://www.bayhill.co.kr

Several times we were quite desperate when searching for a cool place to dine in Seogwipo so we ended up more than once in the Mayb Café to be on the safe side. Nicely and colourful decorated with tables spilling out into the street, this find is a very laid back place, with a good café, nice drinks and tasty food. Next to the café is a flower shop and both are run by mother and daughter. You may go there day or night time – we just loved it!