6 of the 7 Continents For The Budget Traveler: Seoul, South Korea Layover

It was late September of 2024 I was going to be returning from an epic trip in Kazakhstan and Mongolia. The route to Kazakhstan was the most brutal flight path I had ever done, taking 30 hours over a 3 day span with crossing the international date line. I knew I didn't want to do that twice in one trip, so while booking my return flight I saw a layover in Seoul was going to be inevitable.

I had never been to South Korea before so with some shuffling of flights I saw that I could make the layover a full 24 hours, landing Sunday at 5pm and taking off Monday at 5pm. A new city, a new country, a great layover, and thank God breaking up an incredibly long trek back from Mongolia. I didn't need any more convincing. It was time to do a layover trip in Seoul!

Arriving late to my Airbnb

As I always have said, trips never go as planned, so as a budget traveler we must plan on things not going to plan. I was supposed to arrive in Seoul around 5pm for a full 24 hours, after extensive delays I think I landed around 8pm and wasn't at my Airbnb until 9pm or so. But I had done my homework on what would be open and knew I could make it to the Seoul Tower that wouldn't close until 11pm, it was only a mile or so from my apartment, so I would walk there quickly... Or would I? It turns out my research on my layover could have been a little bit more in depth, I still made it, but much later than expected as Google maps doesn't quite work there! That aside, let me break down my tips for your layover in Seoul!

I stayed near the Seoul Station, which definitely was a great point to see the city from, and seemed city center or damn near close enough.
On my Airbnb owners advice I took the bus to the apartment, going home I took the train. Both were fairly easy.
As advised, GOOGLE MAPS DOES NOT WORK! The map itself will open, but directions will not. I am old school, so I went back to Old School to just read the map and direct myself, but the streets on the map didn't account for giant walls, private property, or impassable areas.. So my mile walk was very scenic to say the least, and took me almost two hours. Luckily I made it in time to enjoy a quick tour of Seoul Tower.
Next issue was to get some cash for the 24 hours, and this was the next hard lesson, I had 3 ATM/Credit cards and none would work at the majority of ATMs. Luckily I found one in the train station that got me home. But be aware, local ATMs may not accept your cards. This is widely discussed in forums and definitely had me worried, but in the end I got cash for my train ticket and the country is very very credit card friendly.
After Seoul Tower I was itching for some unique Korean Barbeque, as recommended by all friends that had been, and my Korean extended family members. I grew up in NYC, the city that never sleeps, which isn't true there, and it wasn't going to be true in Seoul either... By 11:30pm I was super hungry, I found some friend chicken place with good WIFI. The chicken was ok, the WIFI was better because it helped me formulate a few options for real Korean Barbeque the next day.
At this point the 21 year old in me wanted to see if I could find some nightlife, the 43 year old in me wanted to sleep. Honestly the streets overall were very very dead, it was also a weekday, the 43 year old won, and I hit the pillows.
I would have loved to do a DMZ Tour, but this is truly a full day tour, so on layover it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to do, maybe next time!
On a layover trip the ideal plan is to wake up at the crack of dawn and do everything I can to jam as much of the culture in as possible, but my homework reported there would be no need as all the sights on my list were not going to be open until 9am or so. I still got up around 7am, which was great to just take in the vibes from my apartment.
The Korean War Museum was closed which was bad, but it made it easier because I would only go North to explore the city, everything seemed reasonable to walk within a few hours. I wanted to be at the airport by 3pm or so, so I left my apartment at 8am and would be back on the train to Seoul Airport by 1:30pm or so.

Good morning Seoul!
Of course stop for local coffee on the walk.
Since the museum was closed, this left the Palaces to be enjoyed. I can't recall the names of all of them but I passed by 1 or 2 and visited 2.
The fun of travel is always the unplanned sights, and South Korea did not disappoint!
I only traveled by foot, my phone was working great with Airalo and I considered Uber which I believe was working, but the distances were short and I just loved the sight seeing and little pieces of cultural immersion I was able to get.
I arrived back at my apartment around 11:30 or noonish, there was still one more mission, Korean Barbeque! Or maybe 2... I don't normally have a mustache... Not my thing.

The meal went down perfectly, it well made up for the late night fried chicken the night before, which really wasn't that bad either. My tummy was full for a long flight back, and more importantly I had gotten a taste of Seoul. This was an important layover as my brother's wife is Korean, and my nephew and niece are of course half. I once made a speech in Korean, but that's for another time, or maybe even another blog.

Seoul wasn't what I expected, I was imagining it to be like many other big Asian Cities I've been to with millions of people, lights everywhere, crazy parties at night, and system/stimulation overload. But walking the streets at night and all morning, I found it more tranquil. Certainly not a suburb, but more like a small city. Just more calm, and more peaceful. I could have opted for the 4 hour layover and hung out in a lounge or at the airport bar, but as with all layover trips I was so much happier to set foot in this country, even if only for 24 hours.