9 Best Things to Do This Winter in Seoul

Gyeongbokgung Palace, which changes its look from season to season, is even more beautiful in winter when the palace is covered with snow. Passing through Heungnyemun Gate guarded by the sumunjang donning their awesome hats, you get a view of Inwangsan Mountain topped with snow unfolding like an ink painting. The maple trees in Hyangwonjeong Garden, which stretch their branches gracefully, stand out against the background of pure white snow. Korean royal palaces feature dancheong (traditional multi-coloured paintwork), which has been traditionally used only for important buildings. This beautiful dancheong design adds to the elegance of the palace. The blue sky and the old palace in the white snow are so perfectly harmonized that you can't help wanting to photograph the scenery. Beyond the snow-covered palace walls, the National Folk Museum and Bukaksan Mountain that surrounds the palace like a folding screen also create an unforgettable view.

Enjoy the beautiful night view of Gyeongbokgung Palace from the rooftop garden of the nearby National Museum of Korean Contemporary History. Don't forget to try some winter delicacies of Korea, such as kalguksu and mandu hot pot, at Iga Myeonok, a gourmet restaurant located on Sejong Village’s Food and Culture Street.

The Olympic Park Skating Rink opens from January to early February every year at Peace Square in the park. It is a place where people of all ages can enjoy skating in the heart of the city. As a representative outdoor skating rink in the Gangnam area, it has become one of the popular winter outing destinations in Seoul. Many citizens visit the rink to ice skate against the backdrop of the colossal World Peace Gate, the iconic structure of Olympic Park. The rink provides a 4-week training program for children and beginners who are new to skating. As the rink is also open at night, many couples visit this place to enjoy skating in a romantic atmosphere created by the lights that illuminate the space.

Have a great date here, like a romantic couple in a movie who happily skate under the starry night sky. It is also recommended to take a tour of the nine main attractions in the park before or after enjoying skating.

Lotte World is made up of two fantastic theme parks: Lotte World Adventure and Magic Island. The Adventure, the second largest indoor theme park in the world, turns into a fairy-tale Santa Village in the winter season. The minute you step into the meeting plaza in the lobby, you will feel like you're in the hometown of Santa Claus. The Dream Castle, which you encounter inside the Adventure, catches your eyes with its splendid lights reminiscent of the Milky Way. The Adventure features numerous rides with different themes from the 1st basement floor to the 4th above ground floor. The Spanish Pirate Ship and Flume Ride are two of the many rides you must try. After enjoying all these thrilling rides, you can take fun pictures at the photo zones on the 4th floor.

On Magic Island, where you can find more dynamic outdoor rides, Lotte World's iconic Magic Castle, decorated with the theme of an ice castle, draws gasps even from adults. Don't miss various cultural performances that you can't see anywhere else: the Christmas Character Fantasia featuring Lotte World's characters and other creative musicals for families. The restaurants and snack bars throughout the park serve a wide selection of winter-themed foods including snowman-shaped brownies, pork cutlet with snowflake cheese, and hot noodles with Santa-shaped fish cakes.

Gwangjang Market is a traditional market famous for textiles and its food street. While maintaining its reputation as a textile wholesaler dealing in wedding dresses, hanbok fabrics, Western-style suit fabrics, curtains, and bedding, the market is also well-known for its food street that serves food loved by locals like bindaetteok, yukhoe, and mayak gimbap. The food street was initially formed to cater to retailers from other regions coming to the market to buy goods early in the morning and market vendors who worked late into the night. In addition to the locals, these days the market attracts many foreigners.

Yukhoe (beef tartare) is a popular dish for its mouth-watering visual appearance and clean taste. Dak hanmari, a tabletop chicken hot pot that you can finish with noodles added to the remaining broth, is another delicacy you must try. To make your market tour more interesting, you can rent a beautiful hanbok at the Hanbok Culture Experience Centre on the second floor.

The Starlight Garden Festival is an annual winter illumination festival held at the Garden of Morning Calm in Gapyeong. It is an exhibition of colourful light installations created based on the trees and sculptures preserved in the garden. This festival, which emphasizes the beauty of nature with artificial lighting, is a popular winter festival featuring light installations themed with love, animals, plants, and a tunnel of light. At the entrance, the spectacular colourful Hometown Garden and the Tunnel of Love covered with pink petals welcome visitors. The path that leads from the Morning Plaza to the Moonlight Garden is reminiscent of the fairy tale "Jack and the Beanstalk."

The white church building with angel statues and unique sculptures including giant teddy bears, mushrooms, and Rudolph the Reindeer pulling a sled make some of the most popular photo zones. The Sunken Garden, which is the main garden in the shape of the Korean Peninsula, is the most impressive attraction of this arboretum. Spend the day admiring all the gardens and enjoy the beautiful Starlight Garden Festival at night. Have a romantic date with your loved one and create happy memories with your family on a winter night.

Elysian Gangchon Ski Resort, adjacent to the Seoul Metropolitan Area, provides the best accessibility to the capital. As the nation's only ski resort that can be reached by subway, the resort is very popular with skiers who want to enjoy skiing for just one day or for a short trip. Equipped with ski slopes, condominiums, and various auxiliary facilities, the resort is a four-season family-friendly healing complex, accommodating many family and company gatherings. The resort provides ski lessons led by professional skiers from the national team, which are immensely popular with beginners and intermediates. There are also ski lessons for children that have gained high satisfaction and trust from parents.

Enjoy thrilling winter sports with your family in the sledding rink provided with tube sleds and at the play areas. After skiing, try jjajangmyeon and jjamppong cooked by a chef from a renowned hotel at the restaurant on the top of the ski slope.

The Snow Park of One Mount, is an urban theme park created with the theme of the Finnish Santa Claus village of Rovaniemi. At the entrance of this snow park, characters from Walt Disney's "Frozen" welcome tourists. The Snow Hill is an indoor sledding slope, but as the temperature is kept very low, you need to bundle up. You can enjoy skating and sledding in the ice rink and ice lake as well. Uniquely shaped sleds such as cart sleds, toilet sleds, bicycle sleds and teddy bear sleds are very popular with children.

The park also features a show that realistically reproduces various natural phenomena in Northern Europe such as auroras, lightning, hail, and large-flake snow, through the use of lasers, fog, and bubbles. The lyrical melody of "Nella Fantasia" played against the backdrop of the auroras allows you to indulge in the unique Nordic beauty. You can also experience the thrill of outdoor sledding at Everslide, boasting a total length of 110 meters.