I’ve been on a Conan O’Brien binge lately and Rick and I started watching Conan Without Borders and one of his episodes was on South Korea. Not gonna lie, I fully expect our eventual visit to South Korea to be as fired up as Conan’s K-Pop video.

Moving on. There are so many cool things to do in South Korea that we could probably stay for weeks and not do it all, but we’re going to start with our top 10 picks for our South Korea bucket list.

10 bucket list things to do in South Korea

1. Go to the top of N Seoul Tower

I’ll definitely want to head to the top of the N Seoul Tower (AKA Seoul Tower or Namsan Tower) for the fantastic panoramic photos of the city below. We can either choose to ride the cable car or hike up the mountain to get to the tower, but I absolutely love shots of cities from above and the tower, dating from 1971, provides the perfect opportunity.

Rick and I can also leave behind our own inscribed padlock on the Locks of Love on the roof terrace of the second floor of the N Plaza. According to a tourism survey, this is one the favorite things to do in Seoul among visitors!

There are also nearby restaurants, shops, and museums to check out while there.

2. Visit Gyeongbokgung Palace & Changdeokgung Palace

The ornate Gyeongbokgung Palace is from 1395 and is the largest palace from the Joseon Dynasty. The Palace’s grounds have 14 buildings like the king’s quarters and the Gyeonghoeru Pavilion for us to check out. There’s a changing of the guard ceremony from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a change on the hour. Rick and I watched the changing of the guard in Monaco so it’d be cool to add a second ceremony to our list.

Changdeokgung Palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was constructed under the Joseon Dynasty, and is also commonly referred to as the East Palace.

At Changdeokgung Palace, we can also tour the Biwon (secret garden) and wander through the 50,000+ trees, from gingko to zelkova trees.

3. Stop in Bukchon Hanok Village

Between our palace visits, we’ll have to stop at Bukchon Hanok Village, home to hundreds, about 800, of traditional Korean homes or hanok. This quaint village has guest houses, restaurants, cafes, and offers plenty to discover. It’s like stepping back in time and seeing the architectural progression of housing styles and seems like a great spot for photos with its winding alleys and opportunities for real-life or cultural shots.

4. Go on a Seoul city tour

Visit Korea lists a few Seoul tours that provide a comprehensive visit to the city. The Downtown/Palace route looks good as we can see:

• Deoksugung Palace
• Namdaemun Market
• The War Memorial of Korea
• Namsan Seoul Tour
• Changdeokgung Palace
• Gyeongbokgung Palace
• National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

A bus tour will be a great option as we can get oriented in the city and decide what we want to see first or what we could maybe skip.

Another option is to sign up for a spot on a free Seoul City Walking Tour. There are 26 walking tours available, classified under six themes: Historic-culture area, traditional cultural area, modern culture area, environmental and ecological restoration area, traditional market area, and themed courses on the weekends.

Reservations have to be made three days in advance and so spots are not guaranteed. These tours are led by volunteers, so availability may differ throughout the year.

I think we’ll want to find a tour that’s more focused on history and hopefully includes a walk along the Old City Wall, built in 1396. Visiting the wall is a free thing to do in Seoul but it’d be nice to have a guide with us to tell us more about its importance and history.

Or, a third option (one I’m partial to as I love, love, love ghost tours) is the Dark Side of Seoul tour! Scandals and scares are shared as we embark on our evening walking tour of Seoul that covers ghosts, hauntings, massacres, and sex scandals.

5. Pop into a free museum

Seoul has a few free museums we can visit to learn more about the history and culture of Korea. We can discover Asian art, sculptures, artifacts, paintings, and so much more, as well as learn about the political and cultural history of the Korean people at these free history museums in Seoul.

Free museums in Seoul:

• Seoul Museum of History
• War Memorial of Korea
• National Folk Museum
• National Museum of Korea

6. Gorge on Korean BBQ & street food

We’ll have to stop at a Korean BBQ restaurant and try all the different plates available. Korean BBQ or gogi-gui (meat roast) is mostly focused on beef, pork, and chicken tough other meats are available. I really want to try beef bulgogi, especially paired with the green onion salad and fresh lettuce.

I’ve also heard the street food in Seoul is to die for! So, I’m sure we’ll be getting our fill as we tour the city and try some of the traditional cuisine.

Our list of must-eat foods in Korea

• Kimchi: A pickled and fermented food, the most traditional food of Korea. It’ll be easy to find as it comes in many varieties.
• Bibimbap: A rice bowl with meat and veggies. This dish is known for being very colorful and flavorful and you can customize your bowl as much as you want.
• Buchimgae/Jeon: A pan-fried pancake-shaped dish with meat, seafood, and veggies mixed with an egg and flour batter. We’ll have to try pajeon, a green onion pancake, and the kimchi jeon, a kimchi pancake
• Hotteok: A chewy pancake filled with sugar and nuts (mostly walnuts or pine nuts), some can be stuffed with veggies and cheese
• Twigim: Deep fried dumpling filled with squid, potatoes, shrimp, and veggies
• Hoppang: A rice flour ball filled with veggies, red bean paste, or even pizza ingredients

7. Tour the temples

South Korea is home to 900 Buddhist Temples, so a visit to at least one of them has to be one of our things to do on our South Korea bucket list! We can see the iconic statues, take a moment to breathe and focus in the meditation halls, and experience a ceremonial tearoom. I’ve got my eye on the Jogyesa Buddhist Temple as it’s near the Gyeongbokgung Palace, making it an easy one to visit!

I’ve also heard great things about the Bongwonsa Temple in Seoul, which has the largest building in Korea that was built without nails!

8. Day trip to Busan

We’ll plan a day exploring outside of Seoul and that includes a day trip to Busan! It’s about a two and a half hour ride on the bullet train, making it an easy day trip option. Here, we can visit the Jagalchi Market, an old-fashioned fish market experience, check out Haeundae Beach, tour Gamcheon Culture Village, see historic temples, like the 1,300-year-old Beomeosa Temple, and sample some more yummy street food. Busan is popular due to its seafood scene, nightlife, beaches, and views of majestic mountains.

9. Day trip to the islands

There are two island visits I have my eye on for our trip to South Korea!

First up is Oedo Botania. It’s a botanic garden built on a little island that use to be just a rocky landscape. The garden also has great Roman-style sculptures and buildings to see. It’ll be easy to add a trip here as a side trip between Seoul and Busan. There is an app we can download to have an English guided tour of the island!

Then, we’re off to the dormant volcanic island of Jeju-si that’s home to a Geopark, Biosphere Reserve, and many UNESCO Cultural Heritage Sites. While there, we can enjoy some hiking on the volcano of Mount Hallasan, relax on the beach, watch haenyo or divers searching for seafood, or just enjoy the scenery of the island.

We can also visit Loveland on Jeju-si, the park filled with statues in various sexual positions and other love-themed sculptures. No being shy on this Korean island that’s affectionately known as “Korea’s Hawaii.”

10. Visit the DMZ and Aggression Tunnel

Another thing we saw on Conan was a visit to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a guarded border where North and South Korea meet. Here, we can look into North Korea from a safe and secure location. We could even go on a tour that takes us to the Blue Room, where we could technically be in both South and North Korea at the same time.

Another option on our DMZ tour is to go to the Mount Odu Observatory where we can enjoy a 360-degree panoramic view of the peninsula.

Another unique facet of this area is the underground tunnels. One of these tunnels is open to tourists and acts like a mini museum talking about the discovery of four of these tunnels.

What did we miss from our South Korea bucket list? Tell us in the comments or share your ideas on Twitter!