How to complete Myeongdong

With 7 weeks in Seoul, I had the luxury of time and was able to visit Myeongdong a lot! However, for those on a tighter trip, I reckon you could complete Myeongdong in a day.

Myeongdong is most famous for its food market at nighttime which I would highly recommend but there is quite a lot to do whilst you are in the area! The great thing about Myeongdong is it is very close to a lot of other key tourist areas so you can easily just do Myeongdong in the evening but if you are looking to complete it in a day, this is what I'd recommend you do (in no particular order!):

• MASSIVE Daiso: To my UK folk, think Wilko but better AND with 12 floors. So worth going to, if not to admire how much choice there is for literally everything!

• Underground Shopping: Myeongdong has one of my favourite underground shops, you can find souvenirs, clothes, accessories, jewellery and so much more for pretty reasonable prices. Just do watch out because you can get souvenirs cheaper in some other areas. Its a typical case of tourist area up-pricing.

• Myeongdong Kyoja: Michelin recommended restaurant for multiple years and with menu items literally being less than £10, what more could you want? And for those indecisive people when it comes to food, like me, there are literally only 4 menu items to choose from! I've heard from some online that they have had bad experiences there due to staff yelling or being rude to them but I went to this restaurant maybe half a dozen times and never experienced anything negative. Is the service pretty blunt? Yes, but it's because they run a very efficient system. Food arrives to your table only 5 minutes after you order it and they get the tables immediately ready for the next people as soon as you go. For me, it was my favourite restaurant to go to as a solo traveller. I highly recommend the noodles and the Mandu (dumplings). There are 2 locations in Myeongdong so if one looks to be busy, try the other but as one person, I never had to wait for a table to be free as some tables are dedicated for solo diners.

• Shopping Street: If you are looking for lots of choice of beauty brands, Myeongdong is perfect. There are so many beauty stores to choose from and many of them have deals on that allow you to buy things such as face masks in bulk. However, I sometimes found these a little overwhelming, especially since workers call you from the street to go into their shop, which would seem like a big red flag if it were London! For beauty, I stuck to Olive Young but if you are looking for good deals, I've heard good experiences from the Myeongdong shops.

• Views of Namsan: The main Myeongdong street is one of the best places to get pictures of Namsan Tower from afar so don't be surprised, especially around sunset, if you see lots of people taking photos of the tower, and I recommend joining in!

• Night Market: Top tip for this? Come hungry and bring cash! Every kind of street food imaginable is available but majority of the street vendors don't take card. Don't be afraid to shop around a bit before buying, sometimes the same food item is cheaper at a stand on a quieter street than the most busy one so don't be afraid to look at pricing signs. However, the food is definitely street-food style so may not seem as traditional as you expect. For a more 'traditional' market, go to Gwangjang Market, which I will do a separate post about at some point. With Myeongdong market, I recommend going relatively early, you will notice the streets will very quickly get busy as soon as the sun goes down but the stalls won't even appear until 5/6ish so be ready to spot your favourite. Despite how busy it gets, very few stalls actually end up having queues of any kind so don't feel like you'll be waiting around, the stallholders are very efficient.

• Buskers: Most people recommend Hongdae for busking but if you want to see some street performers a little closer to the centre, then you can often find singers, groups, musicians and dancers towards the top of the main Myeongdong street. I once was sat on the stairs with an ice cream by the station entrance listening to a full band of instruments, and it doesn't get too busy either in comparison to Hongdae, in my experience.

If you arrive just before lunchtime, I think you could do all of that in one day but, as I said, I went to Myeongdong quite a few times knowing I could find good food, entertainment and views. Just don't forget to bring cash with you and a relatively empty stomach!