The guide to Seoul for solo female travelers

How much does NomadHer recommend Seoul for solo female travelers? (😩 Bad, 😊 Fine, 😍 Amazing).
Our score is: 😍 Amazing

Welcome to Seoul! 🌸

A vibrant mix of traditional and modern, the fast-paced capital of South Korea has been growing stronger and stronger as one of the biggest tourist destinations in the Far East. Bustling with life and endless entertainment opportunities, the city that never sleeps has managed to retain its historic charm amidst the blazing neon lights and karaoke bars. All to the sound of K-pop tunes.

Museums, art galleries, charming traditional districts, riverside parks, spas for every taste, cutting-edge technology, and a culinary culture to remember, you are sure to find something for you in Seoul.

Do’s and  Dont’s

Do’s 👌

🍉 Enjoy a long sauna in a Jjimjilbang. A Jjimjilbang is a traditional Korean sauna. They are sex-segregated and very popular in South Korea. On top of hot saunas, Jjimjilbangs offer many other services, like cafeterias, entertainment rooms, TV lounges, and even sleeping areas with sleeping mats. Boiled eggs and Sikhye (sweet rice drink) are typical Jjimjilbang treats.

🍉 Enjoy endless street foods wherever you go! Some good places to find streetfood are:

• Ewha Womans University and Hongik University - The streets around these universities are full of food stalls!
• Myeongdong - One of Seoul’s major tourist districts with a huge street food scene that will leave you wanting more! It’s full of top-notch food stalls, cafes and restaurants.
• ShinChon - A lively neighbourhood, where many youngsters hang out, it’s full of delicious food that won’t drain your budget!
• Gwangjang Market - The oldest continually functioning market in all of South Korea is one of the ultimate places to experience traditional Korean street food and culture.

Some must-try street foods are Tteokbokki (Korean spicy rice), Bindaetteok (Potato Pancake), and Hotteok (Korean fried pancake). More on the food section below!

🍉 Rent a bicycle at Han River for 1 hour. The Han-River is the symbol of Seoul and it traverses the entire city. You can rent a bicycle for an hour and enjoy a relaxing ride along the river.

🍉 Enjoy Cup-Noodles (Cup-Ramen) at a convenience store.  You can enjoy amazingly delicious cup noodles at convenience stores, which are open 24 hours a day. Cup noodles are instant Korean-style Ramen with different flavours with soup, and South Korean people love to eat them as a late-night snack.

🍉 Buy night snacks and beers, fruit-flavoured Soju at CU, Seven 7 or Emart Convenience stores and enjoy them while sitting outside of the shops. Instead of drinking at bars, Korean people love to buy beers and Korean traditional distilled rice drink Soju, and chill out. Drinking in front of the convenience stores is a really authentic Korean experience. And yes, drinking in public spaces is legal in Korea!

🍉 Go to a Norae-bang (Korean Karaoke) where you can let loose, sing and dance crazily, and even order food and drinks! Why not try dancing to the tunes of the famous Korean band BTS?

🍉 Visit a Korean PC-bang (PC Room), where you will see many people sitting and enjoying online games, or dating in front of computer screens. You can order many different kinds of food here. Try to order Ramen (Korean spicy noodles) or Jja-jang-myoen (Korean black noodles) and, when it is ready, they will bring it in front of your screen!

🍉 Visit and walk around a Korean traditional market, such as Gwang-jang market, and enjoy spending some time looking around different types of fish, and Korean rice cakes (Tteok).

🍉 Prepare for extreme weather. Korea’s weather is quite extreme. In Seoul, it can get up to 40 degrees Celsius in the summer and down to -18 degrees Celsius in the winter. Get your clothes ready: Korea has a long raining season around July and August. If you’re planning to visit Seoul around then, bring a strong umbrella!

🍉 Enjoy a baseball match! Baseball is one of the most popular sports in Korea. What makes Korean baseball special is the cheering culture! The fans sing and dance all together while enjoying Chimaek (fried chicken with beer). It’s like a huge party! The baseball season starts around March and it ends in the autumn. There are 2 baseball stadiums in Seoul and the tickets are very affordable.

Dont’s 👎

⛔ Don’t sit on the seats for the elderly on the subway. In the Korean subway, there are seats specially reserved for the elderly, the handicapped, and pregnant women. It’s better to leave those seats empty for those in need.

⛔ Don’t gulp or talk loud on the subway or public transportation. It can be seen as very impolite to talk in a loud voice or gulp in the subway.

⛔ Don’t say ‘안녕’ to say “Hi”. There are 2 ways to say “Hi” in Korean: “안녕(Annyeong)” and “안녕하세요(Anneyonghaseyo)”. The former (Annyeong) is a very friendly and casual version, whereas the latter (Anneyonghaseyo) is more polite. You should say Anneyonghaseyo to strangers.

⛔ Don’t hesitate to ask for “less spicy” in restaurants. Korean foods are quite spicy in general. If you’re not used to spicy food, just tell them to make it less spicy when you order in restaurants.

⛔ Don’t leave tips. There’s no tipping culture in Korea, so you shouldn’t leave tips at restaurants, for example.

Must-visit

• Bukchon Hanok Village is a traditional Korean village with more than 600 years of history. A Hanok is a traditional Korean house. Once a neighbourhood for the nobility, it’s a great place for you to experience the Korean village environment and see the old wood and stone houses, many of which have now been turned into cafes and tea houses. Many famous K-Dramas were filmed in this village, including “Goblin”.
• Go to Cheonggye Stream, an 11 km-long stream that runs through downtown Seoul. It was created as part of an urban renewal project, and it offers a calm and pleasant place to stroll. Walk around and visit the Kyobo bookstore, the landmark of Seoul, where you will find an endless variety of books.
• DMZ (demilitarized zone). The demilitarized zone is a strip of land that acts as a border and buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea. There are many day tours to DMZ. At the DMZ, you’ll understand more about the Korean war, how Korea got separated into 2 countries and what the relationship between them is like nowadays. The tours usually include a visit to a cave that was dug by North Korean soldiers during the war and an observatory from where you can actually see North Korean territory.
• Hongdae. One of the youngest neighborhoods in Seoul. The streets are full of lively shops, cafes, restaurants, bars and clubs. The streets never sleep. You’ll be surprised to see them alive up to 3 am.

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Must-eat

• Tteokbokki: Tteokbokki is every Korean girl’s soul food. It’s a rice cake, usually sweet and spicy, made with chili sauce. You can also find soy sauce-based tteokbokki, which is not spicy at all.
• Hotteok: You cannot talk about Korean dessert without Hotteok, a flour dough pancake. Hotteok are usually filled with brown sugar and sometimes nuts. This fried sweet dessert is a must for whoever wishes to enjoy true Korean street food.
• Bindaetteok: They are savory mung bean pancakes that are widely enjoyed by Koreans, as they are a very common street food. There are many varieties (with pork, vegetables, kimchi, etc.) and they usually come with a spicy sauce. The best is to eat them fresh when they’re crispy on the outside.

Accommodation

Seoul is consistently ranked among the safest cities in the world, and you will find that most places are safe to walk around during the night without any worries. Some districts, however, can provide more special experiences for female travellers. Here are some of our recommendations of areas to stay:

• Jongro-gu is the heart of Seoul. If you get your accommodation in Jongro-gu, you’ll have easy access to many sightseeing spots such as Gyeongbokgung Palace, Insadong, etc.
• You can try to stay in a Hanok. A Hanok is a traditional Korean house. There are some Hanoks that have been turned into hotels or hostels. They usually have no beds; they offer you a traditional mattress instead.
• Gang-nam, one of the most chic and fancy areas in Seoul with endless high buildings, is the most expensive part of Seoul. Many big corporations are based here, so you can see the real business life.
• Hong-dae& Hap-Jeong is the most popular youth district where you can stop by cute cafes, restaurants, and clubs. Many indie music artists and painters also stay around the district, so here you can feel the “hippie” part of Seoul.
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Transportation

• Uber does not work in South Korea. You can use Kakao-Taxi, which is an app to book taxis. Kakao is one of the two biggest internet companies in South Korea and they provide many different digital services.
• Public Transportation systems, such as the subway and bus systems, are very well developed in Seoul and you can go anywhere with this. Kakao maps will usually show what is the easiest way to get to your destination. Kakao Maps will be more useful than Google Maps in South Korea.
• Express buses and trains are the most widely used intercity transportation. It’s better to make a reservation in advance if you’re planning to travel on the weekend.
• Renting a car in Seoul isn’t advisable. Seoul is a huge metropolis and the traffic is horrible. There are not enough public parking areas either. Unless they have huge baggage, the residents of Seoul also prefer using public transportation.
• There is a public bicycle service called 따릉이(Ddareungi). The rental fee is very affordable! (Less than 1 USD per hour.) You will need to install an app first. The app will show you available bikes around you.
  

Safety

According to The Economist’s Safe Cities Index Ranking 2019, Seoul is ranked as the 9th safest city in the world. Crime rates are very low and you will see police officers almost on every corner. Attitude towards women is respectful and most female travelers say to have felt safe walking around the city even late at night.

That said, Seoul is still a huge city, so take the safety precautions that you would normally take. Avoid dark alleyways and areas you don’t feel good about, and talk to the police if you find yourself in a tight spot. They will be ready to help and, even if they don’t speak your language, they have on-call interpreters for these situations.

As in any tourist city, look out for tourist scammers and jacked-up prices. These things can happen anywhere.

All in all, Seoul is a very safe city for solo female travellers! 😄

Testimonials

What would you like to say about Seoul? Would you recommend Seoul to your friends?

• Seoul is a vibrant city where you can enjoy a rich history, beautiful nature, and modern skyscrapers at the same time. Moreover, Seoul is a very safe city so I recommend it as your first solo travel destination! - Soo Ji OHN

• Seoul is a mix of tradition and modernity. You will find old traditional Korean houses in the middle of the skyscrapers. People are ready to help you out and smile! Enjoy Seoul! - Hyojeong KIM