Seoul travel guide

East Asia’s unexplored metropolis

Seoul is a major metropolis that behaves like a smaller city. When a local businessman passes out from a few too many glasses of soju, a fellow citizen will tuck his briefcase under his head, and there it will stay, unmolested, until long after daybreak. It’s the sort of experience you don’t expect to have in a city as sprawling as Seoul, but get used to being surprised. In this urban realm of the unexpected, ancient landmarks rise out of traffic islands, and whole floors of famous marketplaces are filled with nothing but socks. A trip to see the recreated village at the National Folk Museum will give you an idea of what Seoul grew out of, and the risky tricks that young women perform on modified seesaws will amend your beliefs about gravity itself. Dining in Seoul is a delight--provided you have a taste for garlic. Expect to be treated like family in Seoul’s brightly lit restaurants, and if there’s a neon squid in the window, then that’s what you should order. Nightfall means a whirl through Korea’s entertainment district, with its bars and head-swimming abundance of dazzling vertical signage. Don’t worry if you overdo it. You’re in Seoul, so you’re practically family.