Seoul | Insa-dong: A quaint cultural and creative food market

🇰🇷Just around the City Hall and Gyeongbokgung Palace, local friends took me on a walk to a famous shopping district nearby - Insadong, also a filming location for Korean movies and dramas.

🏠Insadong: Established during the Joseon Dynasty, this cultural street was mainly used for buying and selling cultural goods. It was a place where government officials and the nobility lived in close proximity during the Joseon Dynasty. It is referred to as "a place where you can buy Korean culture" by travel books and has now become a popular shopping district for young people.

📸Environment:
🌴On a beautiful day, the tall trees and blue sky on both sides of the road make people feel good. The most famous is the Ssamziegil Square with different styles. The stairs leading to the terrace are painted with murals.

🎨Unlike the area around Myeong-dong, here, although it has an old city atmosphere, it is full of various creative small markets and new-style cuisine restaurants. Renting a Hanbok can take many beautiful photos here.

🎬Many unique local shops are located in this area. If you take your time to explore, you can discover many cultural treasures, such as vinyl records and high-end art galleries. There are also occasional exhibitions held here.

🎻Tourists can choose to buy souvenirs from handicraft and handmade shops. Each small shop is decorated very warmly by the owner. Friends who like to buy these little things have already walked too much on the road.

🍽Food recommendation:
🍶Tea culture: One of the famous tea culture places in Korea, you can see a tea house every few minutes, from high-end to affordable. It's nice to take a break and warm up with a cup of hot tea when you're tired of walking.

🍚Red bean porridge: This should be the representative food of each district in Seoul. I had the impression from watching Korean variety shows and came to Insadong to try the famous "Bonjuk" red bean porridge. You can give it a try.

☕️Café: There are many stylish cafés here, where various Korean MVs or dramas are filmed. The café that IU visited before was very popular, and the owners would post photos for people to take pictures and check in.

🍲Korean food: My favorite authentic Korean food can be found here in many lesser-known but delicious restaurants, all recommended by local friends. This place preserves the most traditional culture, so many restaurants only have Korean menus, even Starbucks too.

🥘Just walk into a small restaurant and you can eat kimchi pancakes, army hot pot, spicy rice cakes, pan-fried dumplings, etc. For foodies who love Korean food, it's really full of surprises.

💰Price range: The prices at the restaurant and coffee shops are a bit cheaper than those in the Myeong-dong area, and some of the more famous ones may be a bit more upscale.
🆓Business hours: Open 24 hours.

📍Location: 62 Insadong-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul Special City.
🚇Transportation: Take exit 5 or 6 at the nearby subway station "Anguo Station".
#explorejapankorea