Where to shop when you go to Seoul?
Difficult question.
Too many places!
Since several friends are asking me this
question again, I will list down a few options and I hope this helps~
11. If you want something trendy /
cool place to shop without breaking your wallet
a.
Garosu-gil
This was THE hip and trendy place for last 4-5 years and
it’s losing the shine because it’s getting too trendy, but it’s still the place
to go to check out the latest trend and do people watching.
This is actually pretty short street and if you are just
walking straight down, it will take only 5-10 minutes. But, it never happens.
Every time I go there (I go back to Seoul every 3-4 months), there are so many
new shops, cafes and restaurants. So, you can never keep walking without stopping.
So, you will end up spending a couple of hours to walk through this street.
After you are done with the main street, you can explore
small lanes (where the rent is not crazy high yet) at both side of the street
where you can find more small & quirky places.
Shops in this area sell quite reasonably priced clothes,
shoes, accessories. In many shops, they offer discount when you pay in cash,
so, ask them if you are buying with cash.
b.
Samchung-dong
If Garosu-gil is too polished/commercial, you can try
out Samchung-dong.
Buk-chon (where you see clusters of Korean traditional
houses and great view of Seoul) is one of most popular tourist spot these days
in Seoul. After you visit Buk-chon, you can walk down to Samchung-dong and have
a meal or tea break and of course, shopping.
Samchung-dong has very different ‘air’ from Garosu-gil.
Personally, I feel that Samchung-dong has very
interesting mixture of
Old and New Korean culture. In this area, you will find
more stand-alone, independent stores and restaurants rather than big chain
stores. Of course, following the popularity, big coffee chains like Coffee Bean
opened a huge outlet over there, but the overall experience in Samchung-dong is
still quite unique. There are many small cafes which is also design studio or
small workshop making leather items.
When I say that this place has different ‘air’, I think it
can be quite literate as well. When you walk around Samchung-dong, you can see
the mountain and hills. In spring, you will get to see the gorgeous view of
cherry blossom of GaeNaRi (this is yellow flower which will bloom in spring and
when you see this flower, you know spring has come). In autumn, you will walk
along the trees with full yellow leaves.
22.
If you want the most trendy
clothes but at super low price
When I was a student, I
went to Dongdaemoon market. Now, there are several buildings with multi-story
shopping at Dongdaemoon area. You can get all kinds of fashion items at very
low price and if you go at night and buy big q’ty, you can get wholesale price.
However, don’t expect friendly service here. This is mainly for retailers who
come for wholesale purchase.
The other option is
‘Express Bus Terminal (subway ; line 3 / orange line/ Express Bus terminal
station). I still go there because you can buy super trendy stuff at super low
price. For trendy stuff, you wear for one or maximum two season and junk it.
So, for that, the low price is good. This place is huge underground mall which
can be a great option for rainy day.
The mall is mainly for
fashion but one end of the mall is for interior accessories and flowers. In
most of stores here offers small discount cash payment as well. So, if you
want, you can ask them when you pay in cash.
When you get tired of
shopping, you can walk to SinSeGae department store which is connected to this
underground mall.
In SinSeGae department
store, you can expect huge range of cooked food. So, you can have a simple meal
or snack.
If you feel rich, go up to
2 and 3 floor for international brand boutiques~
33.
If you want something trendy /
cool and have no budget to care about
Go to Galleria department
store in Apgujung. Some people say this is ‘has been’ place, but this
department store still have one of the best collection of local and
international fashion stores. There are two buildings (rather blocks), so,
check out both.
This is not crowded mall,
so, you will be able to enjoy very relaxing shopping experience.
If you are hungry, check
out the basement food court (this is very nice food court, one of the nicest so
far, you can have Korean, Japanese, American and many more) or ‘Tasting Kitchen’
on level 5 which offers great salad, flat bread and so on.
From Galleria, you can walk
to ‘Bat Go Dong’ for spicy mini octopus as well. So, many options for your
dinner after shopping.
If what you are looking for is more Korean
traditional items, head to Insa-dong. It’s pretty touristy place but even local
Koreans go there to look for ethnic/traditional items, so, you will not fail to
find some good stuff.
Happy shopping!
