Want to make your trip to South Korea more exciting and memorable? Here are ten really fun things to do in South Korea that will create magical photo moments to share with your friends, families, and followers.
From spicy street eats and café treats to incredible mountain views and muddy festivals, there are so many unique things you can experience in South Korea. The most important thing when traveling to South Korea is to go with the flow, try new things, and try not to be surprised by all the new and fun sights you’ll see.
One of the best things about exploring South Korea is the chance to witness a completely different culture that has its own language, traditional clothes, music, history, art, and way of doing things.
Korea’s unique culture is what makes it a must-visit destination and is responsible for creating some of the weirdest, most fun sights, such as the Poop Café in Seoul and a 2-week long seaside mud festival.
The spectacular nature in Korea, a country surrounded by beach coastline on 3 sides and 70% mountainous on the mainland, allows you to try fun activities like riding on an abandoned train line, zip-lining onto an island, and waking up in a Buddhist temple in the middle of a majestic national park.
If you want to know what fun things you can do in Korea on your next journey, check out these 10 ideas right now, as well as some great Korean travel tips at the end.
1: Wear Traditional Hanbok At Seoul’s Royal Palaces
One of the most fun ways to see Seoul is to dress up in flowing hanbok clothes, Korea’s traditional clothes. You can rent hanbok outside Gyeongbokgung Palace and in Bukchon Hanok Village and tour the royal palaces and historic areas dressed like a member of the Korean nobility. Make sure to add this to your Seoul itinerary.
This will create much more fun photos than your normal clothes and help you really appreciate the majesty of these historic sights. If you visit Seoul in early April to see Korea’s cherry blossoms, Gyeongbokgung Palace is the perfect place to wear a hanbok with blossoms all around in the background.
Another great place to try traditional Korean hanbok is at Jeonju Hanok Village in Jeonju. Dress up and wander around more than 700 hanok houses that are now tea houses, cafes, restaurants, bakeries, culture centers, gift shops, and even hanok guesthouses.
2: Eat Delicious Korean Food At A Traditional Market
Visiting a traditional Korean market is an experience in itself, but even more fun than seeing the packed stalls and screaming market sellers is sitting down on a stool to sample some of Korea’s best market foods. These vendors sell a wide range of snacks and meals from traditional Korean recipes and fusion food with a Korean twist, such as the tornado potato and 30cm long ice creams.
If you like spicy food, you’ll find so many things to get your taste buds zinging, such as tteokbokki (rice cakes in spicy sauce), ramyeon (cup noodles), and maeuntang (spicy fish soup). Even if you’re not a fan of spice, give it a go and see why so many people go crazy for these Korean foods.
For those who prefer less fiery foods, try sweet treats like hotteok (sweet pancakes) or bungeo-ppang (red bean stuffed fish bread), or savory delights like eomuk (fish cake slices) and gyeran-ppang (eggy fried bread). They’re all soul-warming and leave you feeling so good afterwards.
Travelers to Korea in summer can enjoy refreshing desserts like bingsu (shaved ice flakes) and ice creams in all different designs, including ice cream that’s shaped like a rose.
3: Stay Overnight In A Buddhist Temple
Have you ever wondered what Buddhist monks get up to and what the secret areas of a temple look like? If you’re curious about Buddhism, or even if you’re not, a really eye-opening experience that you can try in Korea is an overnight stay in a Korean Buddhist Temple. There are dozens of temples in Korea that offer templestay programs, but the best are in the beautiful Korean national parks, such as Songnisan National Park.
Korea runs an amazing templestay program that allows you to see so many interesting sights that normal visitors to a temple would never be able to experience. Not only is this a great chance to experience sleeping in a traditional Korean hanok house, you also get to eat healthy temple food, join in sacred ceremonies, and chat with the monks.
Spend the afternoon at the temple, learning about the life of the monks and what they do. Stay overnight and wake up for a short walk to see the sunrise over the mountaintops. Finally, enjoy breakfast with the monks, watch Buddhist ceremonies, drink tea with the monks, and leave later feeling spiritually and mentally cleansed.
4: Drink Coffee At An Unusual Theme Cafe
Korea has some weird and wonderful theme cafes that are a lot of fun to visit not only for a relaxing cup of coffee, but for the quirky sights you can see inside. You’ll find plenty of cat cafes in Seoul, which are great places to unwind with a cuddly feline or two. Fans of Harry Potter can have a magical time at 943 King’s Cross or Manhole Coffee, both in Seoul.
If you want to experience something a bit more unusual though, check out the Thanks Nature Sheep Café in Hongdae, Seoul. This café has two fluffy sheep in their own fenced pen that you can stroke and pose with while enjoying a latte and gooey honey toast.
Sheep not weird enough?
Try drinking a rose latte from a toilet-shaped mug or eating curry from a realistic looking squat toilet at the Poop Café in Seoul. This weirdly cute café is actually family-friendly fun, and not as disgusting as it sounds. Poop has a strange place in Korean culture and isn’t always regarded as disgusting. There’s a poop museum you can visit, and one of Korea’s most popular children’s books is about a mole with poop on his head.
5: Explore Korea’s Abandoned Railway Lines
Korea has some of the world’s best high-speed trains that are perfect for whizzing around the country. Because of these modern lines, some of the old railway tracks are no longer needed. Instead of leaving them alone, these abandoned railway lines have become some of Korea’s hottest tourist attractions and make for a fun day out.
In Hongdae, Seoul, you will find the tranquil Gyeongui Line, an abandoned railway line that once ran all the way to North Korea from central Seoul. Now it’s a series of leafy parks that run for miles through the capital, with two of the best parts starting outside Hongik Uni. Station in Hongdae. Check out the Gyeongui Line Forest Line and Book Street for hipster bars, trendy cafes, urban retreats, and restaurants with lovely views.
Other abandoned railway lines have been put to a different use that’s more similar to their original use. These lines have become rail bike parks that you can pedal a carriage down, such as the Gapyeong Rail Park and the Gangchon Rail Bike Park. The family-fun places allow you to ride along scenic routes past lakes and rivers, through hills, and along cliffs in Korea’s pretty countryside.
6: Ride A Cable Car For Incredible Views
Korea has some of the most scenic cable car routes in Asia, including steep routes that take you to mountain peaks, long coastal routes that carry you over the ocean, and a short cruise up to the N Seoul Tower in central Seoul. These are a fun way to see some sights in Korea no matter what the weather and to reach peaks that you would normally have to hike to.
The Mokpo Marine Cable Car on Korea’s south-west coast is the longest and highest cable car in Korea and crosses a length of 3.2km over the historic downtown area of Mokpo, as well as passing by mountains, coastline, and ocean. The Songdo Cable Car in Busan offers a shorter ride, but has great views of Korea’s second-largest city.
In the mountains, ride the cable car in Seoraksan National Park to reach a mountain temple and observatory, offering views of the gorgeous valleys, temples, and all the way out to the coast. This is one of the best cable cars to ride during autumn foliage season. For winter sights, ride the Deogyusan Cable Car from the Muju Ski Resort. It will take you to the peak of Deogyusan Mountain, one of Korea’s highest peaks, which has incredible snow views.
7: Visit One Of Korea’s Wild Festivals
Korea has some amazing, fun festivals you can enjoy all year round, especially in spring and autumn when the cherry blossoms are out and during harvest season. For those who want to experience something a bit more extreme, there are some really fun festivals you can enjoy in summer and winter.
Summer is rainy season in Korea and the perfect time to go outside and play in the mud at the Boryeong Mud Festival. This two-week long festival is one of Korea’s biggest and attracts visitors from around the world who want to take part in the Mud Games. Test your skills at mud wrestling, mud football, mud racing, and lots of other messy events. Another fun festival in summer is the Sinchon Water Gun Festival, where hundreds of people flock to Seoul’s streets to have a massive water gun fight.
For winter fun, visit one of Korea’s cool festivals, such as the Hwacheon Ice Fishing Festival where you can fish for you lunch in the icy rivers, slide on sleds and rubber rings, go ice skating, and walk through an ice maze. The best part is the bare-hand ice fishing competition, where people voluntarily jump into a big pool of icy water to try to catch trout with their bare-hands. Lots of fun.
8: Rock Out At A Korean Noraebang Karaoke Room
One of Korea’s most popular evening pastimes is heading to a noraebang (singing room) and rocking out to their favorite tunes, whether that’s K-Pop, K-Ballads, or international classics. These places have a great selection of songs from around the world, so you should find something to sing along to. Don’t feel shy when you visit a noraebang, everyone will be singing as loud as they like, and the rooms are private, so only your friends will be judging your singing ability.
When you visit Korea, you should definitely experience a night out at a noraebang. It’s more than just singing, the whole atmosphere is electric, especially when you’re with a big group of friends. It’s a cheap night out, too. Cheap drinks and cheap room hire, but a feeling that will leave you rich in memories and probably a sore throat in the morning from singing too much. That’s all part of the experience though.
9: Go Hiking Along Ancient Fortress Walls
A healthy way to see more of Korea’s cities and historic sights is with an afternoon spent walking along the ancient fortress walls that once protected Korea from invaders from afar. There are loads of fortresses and walls still standing in Korea, including walls all through Seoul and a complete fortress wall route in Suwon city south of the capital.
Smaller cities like Buyeo and Gongju have impressive fortresses to explore, and you can also find historic walls to hike at Namhansanseong Fortress near Seoul.
Summer in Korea is hot, so walking Seoul’s fortress walls at night is a popular activity that locals and tourists enjoy. It’s the best way to see the bright lights of Seoul and stunning night views of this electric city. The paths are well lit, and there are cafes and bars to visit in some parts. Naksan Park to Dongdaemun is a great part of the Seoul fortress wall route that’s not too steep and has some of the best views.
10: Zip-Line Onto An Island Paradise
A fun activity in Korea that thrill-seekers will love is zip-lining down from a tall tower, over a river, and onto Nami Island in Gapyeong County. Nami Island is one of the most popular tourist destinations outside of Seoul. It’s a beautiful island paradise that has deer and rabbits wandering through tree-lined pathways and is surrounded by a river.
The normal way to get onto the island is by ferry, but the zip line is a lot more fun and a truly dramatic way to enter the island – zooming down from above. If that’s not fun enough, try out the Geumosan Mountain Zip Wire, Asia’s longest zip line that shoots you down the 3.186km long line at speeds of up to 120km/h while you look out over Korea’s southern coast.
Travel Tips For Visiting South Korea
If you’re a first-time traveler to Korea, here are some really useful Korean travel tips that will help you plan a memorable, fun trip to Korea.
Fun Fact: Did you know that South Korea is one of the countries with working holiday visas for Americans?
1: Visit in spring or autumn.
These are the best times to travel in Korea, and you can see beautiful cherry blossoms (Mar-Apr) and fall foliage (Oct). The weather is warmer, and the skies are clearer than in summer. If you want to see snow, visit in January.
2: Be willing to try something new.
The best way to experience fun things in Korea is to take a chance and try things you wouldn’t normally do (or eat). Korea has a unique culture and cuisine, and some of it might be shocking to you, but you might find that it’s also surprisingly fun and, for Korean foods, delicious.
3: Get a T-Money Card.
This is the essential travel card for traveling in Korea, like an Oyster card in London or Suica in Japan. This card lets you ride on the subway and buses, pays for taxis, and can be used in shops, cafes, and restaurants, too.
4: Don’t pack too much.
Korea is a modern country with a wide range of shops that offer anything from discounted clothes to designer goods. If you find you’re missing something, you can buy it there. But try to avoid packing too much ‘just in case’. Also, you’ll need the space for all the fun snacks and Korean souvenirs you’ll want to bring home.
5: Download a few essential apps.
To make your journey to Korea easier, here are three apps that you’ll definitely want to use in Korea:
- Papago – this is the best Korean translation app. Take a picture of Korean writing and then translate it straight into English.
- Kakao Taxi – hire taxis and set your destination without having to speak a word of Korean. Also shows you how much you should pay so you don’t get ripped-off.
- Naver Maps – the best map app for Korea that will give you live bus times and help you plan your travel routes.
