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South Korea
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Seoul
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Tours & Activities
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Seoul History and Culture Small-Group Tour
3 h
Small Group
Instant confirmation
About this activity
Experience both the urban modernity and historic traces of Seoul on a three-hour walking tour. Meet your local guide and head to Bukchon Hanok village, a residential area dating back to the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897). The village is lined with hundreds of hanoks (traditional Korean houses). Walk along the quiet alleys and admire the latticed windows and patterned brick walls. Today, many of these hanoks operate as cultural centers, restaurants and tea houses, providing an opportunity to become immersed in traditional Korean culture.
Next, visit the Tteok Museum, a unique museum detailing the history, culture and preparation of tteok, the ubiquitous Korean rice cake. Gain insight into the tteok-making process through hands-on programs. Learn about the use of rice cakes in Korean rites of passage, and see displays of the 180 varieties of tteok. Be sure to sample this beloved Korean treat on the first-floor café.
Continue on to Changdeokgung Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The royal palace is renowned for its traditional Korean architecture and garden design. Changdeokgung is one of the famous Five Grand Palaces and a favored palace of many princes of the Joseon Dynasty. (Please note: Due to opening times, tours that fall on a Monday will visit Kyungbokgung Palace instead.)
Visit the Gwangjang Market and browse through a wide selection of high-quality silk, satin and linen bed sheets and apparel. Inside the market, find more than 200 food stalls selling a wide variety of snacks, from spicy Korean rice cakes to bibimbap (mixed rice). Try the gyung dan, sweet Korean rice balls, and hobaak jook, a delicious pumpkin porridge.
Your tour concludes with a visit to Gwangjang Market. You can then use your newfound knowledge of Seoul to continue exploring or return to your favorite spots for another look.
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Next, visit the Tteok Museum, a unique museum detailing the history, culture and preparation of tteok, the ubiquitous Korean rice cake. Gain insight into the tteok-making process through hands-on programs. Learn about the use of rice cakes in Korean rites of passage, and see displays of the 180 varieties of tteok. Be sure to sample this beloved Korean treat on the first-floor café.
Continue on to Changdeokgung Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The royal palace is renowned for its traditional Korean architecture and garden design. Changdeokgung is one of the famous Five Grand Palaces and a favored palace of many princes of the Joseon Dynasty. (Please note: Due to opening times, tours that fall on a Monday will visit Kyungbokgung Palace instead.)
Visit the Gwangjang Market and browse through a wide selection of high-quality silk, satin and linen bed sheets and apparel. Inside the market, find more than 200 food stalls selling a wide variety of snacks, from spicy Korean rice cakes to bibimbap (mixed rice). Try the gyung dan, sweet Korean rice balls, and hobaak jook, a delicious pumpkin porridge.
Your tour concludes with a visit to Gwangjang Market. You can then use your newfound knowledge of Seoul to continue exploring or return to your favorite spots for another look.
Included
- English-speaking guide
- Entry/Admission - Tteok and Kitchen Utensil Museum
Not included
- Food and drinks
- Gratuities
Additional
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- This is a child-friendly tour. Children between the ages of 6 and 11 inclusively are permitted on this tour at the rate listed. Children under the age of 6 are permitted to join this tour free of charge. Please advise at the time of booking if you’ll be bringing a child under the age of 6
- For your Urban Adventure you will be in a small group of a maximum of 12 people.
Features
Tourism
90%
Cultural
85%
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The itinerary of this Tour was great. It covered history and culture. Unfortunately our guide was not up to it. She spoke bad English and wasnt oriented on directions. We had to walk one hour more to get to where we needed to be. The added time was straining considering this tour was already a ealking tour and we are seniors - 64 and 67 years old!
This tour was great and really fun. Our guide was informative!
Get ready to walk! We lucked out, VIP tour due to other people canceled so just my husband, me and Shane, our guide. Waited 30 min for local bus to Bokchon Hanok Village, beautiful houses. Informative tour of Changdeokgung Palace. Gwangjang Market was an experience! Thx Shane for the personal tour!
A lot of walking. If you're not fit to walk for long time, this trip is not suitable for you.
Very informative. Certainly worth taking.
We me and wife took the tour on the first day we landed in Seoul. We went by the recommendations by previous travelers to select this particular tour. We generally consider the walking tours to be more interactive and enjoyable than the driven ones. We took the Metro to the meeting place to meet our guide Sook who took us to the historic village on a shuttle bus 5 minute ride and we walked among the old houses and visited the Changdeokgung Palace before visiting the market. It was fascinating to see people walking in traditional costumes. The palace was in very good shape though without any furniture. We had a nice meal of local food in the market before returning to the hotel by Metro. The entire tour was about 3.5 hours. The guide was very friendly and informed. And, she pointed us the photo-ops on the way. However, the tour fee was too much compared with other tour we had the following day DMZ 6.5 hour tour, which cost us less than the much shorter walking tour.