Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Neighbourhood Top Five
market, where you can buy everything from king crabs to sea cucumbers, and have it
cooked up on the spot.
Learn about the sacrifices made by the first Korean Christians at the
Jeoldusan Mar-
Explore Western Seoul
Home to several major campuses the areas of Hongdae (around Hongik University), Edae
(around Ewha Womans University) and Sinchon (between Yonsei and Sogang Universit-
ies) are - as you'd expect - packed with places for students to be diverted from their stud-
ies. Hongik is Korea's leading art and design institution, so this is a particularly fertile
patch for chaotic creativity and unbridled hedonism; it's also ground central for the K-In-
die scene with scores of live music clubs and dance spots.
Hongdae morphs into Sinchon, another student area with masses of bars and budget
restaurants, not to mention love motels, pool halls and DVD, karaoke and internet rooms.
From Sinchon it's a skip to Edae, where female students are the predominant customers.
French architect Dominique Perrault's stunning redesign of the Ewha campus centre has
put the area on the archi-tour map.
In complete contrast is the no-nonsense business centre of Yeouido. This 3km-long and
2km-wide island on the southern side of the Han River used to be a sandy airfield. It's
now home to skyscrapers housing media, finance and insurance companies, as well as the
National Assembly and stock exchange buildings. It's not entirely devoid of tourist attrac-
tions: the aquarium and observation deck of the gold-tinted 63 City and nearby Noryan-
gjin Fish Market are both impressive. There's also the central Yeouido Park and Yeouido
Hangang Riverside Park, each lovely places to relax or go for a bike ride.
