What to Do in Seoul: $10 and Under Edition!

카공 (cafe + kongbu/studying) is studying in a café, as the name suggests! While my cafe expenses definitely racked up during my study abroad, I truly do think the cafes around Seoul are the best of the best and one of my favorite experiences that doesn’t cost too much at all.

Some cafes limit you to an hour or two per purchase, but most don’t in my experience. Either way, I think lattes were usually about $5 each (6,000 won), so I could easily spend all afternoon between one or two cafes as I studied! And that’s about $10 for my entire afternoon of entertainment! (Rather than, you know, clothes shopping and losing ten times that amount in half the time. No personal experience there or anything…)

Anyway, Seoul literally has thousands upon thousands of cafes, so you never have to go to the same one twice. (Although you’ll want to because they’re all so cute, homey, yummy, etc.!) So, pack your backpack and head to the cute cafes you see everywhere! They’re worth it!

Some of my favorites: The Coffee Bean (chain), Café Byulchae (near Korea University), Sunnyside Coffee (near Korea University), Hey Jude (Mapo), Cinnamoroll Sweet Café (Hongdae), and Check Grow (Mapo).

Ok, I know I’m a nerd, but hear me out: Museums are super cool!! They tend to be free or really cheap, and they have beautiful and often interactive exhibits that anyone can enjoy.

I went to two in Seoul, the National Museum and the Museum of History, and the National Folk Museum in Paju (an hour away from Seoul, pictured above). Each of them had beautiful exhibits that taught me a lot about the nation I was living in for six weeks. It made all the temples, hanoks, and even the roads more meaningful to me. If they’re not free outright, they’re really cheap! So please check them out!

Ok, so I studied abroad during monsoon season, when it rains almost daily. That made me really appreciate every evening there was a break in the rain. Without fail, with each break in the rain I would scurry over to the next park on my bucket list. And I treasured it every time!

There’s an amazing variety of parks in Seoul. Some are located around the Han River, others the mountains scattered throughout Seoul. Both types are amazing, and I always enjoyed exploring these new spaces! And during the summer a bunch of flowers were blooming, making them extra pretty. (Ooh — and, if you’re a cat person, often you can see cats there! One of them modeled for me at Seonyudo Park, pictured above!)

And, of course, they’re free of charge! Here are some of my favorites: Seoul Forest, Ttukseom Hangang Park, Seonyudo Park, Naksan Park, Olympic Park

Whether you’re looking for cute accessories like hair clips or socks, funny little souvenirs like fans or keychains, or yummy street foods like tteokbokki or hotteok, the various markets are the place for you!

There are places like Gwangjang market that will have lots of things you’re looking for, as well as just street markets like around Insadong, Dongmyo, or Busan (which TEAN will take you to) on the weekends! Usually, their goods cost between $1-20 depending on what you’re buying, but typically they’re really cute/interesting things, and wandering from stall to stall is a great way to spend an afternoon!

Busking is common throughout Seoul, and hearing music at random street corners was one of my favorite things as I explored the city. Usually, the buskers come out in the evening, bringing beautiful singing or guitar skills. In Hongdae, they’ll often dance as well!

Dongdaemun is the place to find a deal! There’s lots of huge shopping malls with stalls upon stalls of clothing. There’s also amazing wholesale stores, plus the Dongdaemun Shopping Complex which has multiple floors-worth of shopping supplies!

My friends and I went by Dongdaemun at least weekly looking for cute clothes, as well as prized craft supplies! We bought all the charms and supplies to make a few necklaces at home, plus we made keychains with patches we bought in the shopping complex. Our dorms even had irons so we could make them immediately.

Altogether, the prices at the Shopping Complex and the various wholesale places are reasonable, so it’s worth the visit! And, overall, you could just spend a whole afternoon wandering around all the pretty things.

Seoul has so much to do, so this blog only scratches the surface of budget-friendly things to do in the city! I’ve truly fallen in love with this country and all the exploration you can do here. I’m sure everyone who visits Seoul would make a different list of recommendations!

But, with that, that’s the end of today’s blog.

Thank you to everyone who’s kept up with my study abroad! Happy travels!