Rainy day in Seoul: indoor things to do
Seoul gets most of its rain in the monsoon from late June to July, and its coldest days in January, when the palaces are bleak. Both are good days for the indoor city, which is huge: free national museums, malls you can walk between underground, and bathhouses you can spend an afternoon in.
Museums, mostly free
| National Museum of Korea | One of the great museums of Asia, free, in Yongsan: Silla gold crowns, the meditating bodhisattvas in their own dark room, and a whole floor of celadon. Easily a half-day. |
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| The War Memorial of Korea | Free, and the clearest account in English of the Korean War, with aircraft and tanks outside for a dry spell. Two stops from the National Museum. |
| Seoul Museum of History | Free, by Gyeonghuigung: how Joseon Seoul became the modern city, with a vast scale model of the capital. |
| Museum Kimchikan | A small museum of kimchi in Insadong, with a hands-on class if you book. |
Malls, towers and aquariums
- Starfield COEX in Gangnam: the two-storey Starfield Library under a glass roof, the COEX Aquarium, K-pop shops and food courts, all connected underground to the station.
- Lotte World in Jamsil: the indoor theme park, the Lotte World Aquarium and the Seoul Sky observatory, which on a rainy day is often above the cloud. See Everland or Lotte World?
- Underground shopping at Gangnam Station and the Express Bus Terminal’s Goto Mall, kilometres of cheap fashion under the street.
- Dongdaemun Design Plaza for exhibitions, with the fashion malls around it open late.
Slow afternoons
- A jjimjilbang: hours of hot pools, kiln saunas, snacks and sleep. See Korean spas and jjimjilbang.
- A cooking class or a market food tour under Gwangjang Market’s roof. See eating in Korea.
- A café crawl in Seongsu or Ikseon-dong, where many of the cafés are in converted factories and hanok.
- Makgeolli and pancakes: it is what Koreans eat when it rains.
Out of the city
Gwangmyeong Cave, a lit former mine 45 minutes away, is the classic rainy-day trip. See day trips from Seoul.
3 days in SeoulKorea with kidsMuseums & galleriesEverything in Seoul
