Big City Transit: Seoul

If a think-tank full of the world’s top city planners and developers put their heads together to design a state-of-the-art public transport system, it would probably end up looking a lot like Seoul’s. To be fair, that’s not far from what actually happened. The Seoul of post-war Korea expanded rapidly as people from the surrounding countryside poured in. Those people needed practical and effective infrastructure, and transit solutions that worked. And that’s exactly what they got.

That’s good news for today’s visitors. For all of Seoul’s drab (some would say ‘soulless’) architecture, the city redeems itself with one of the cleanest, most beautifully organized public transport systems in the world. All a visitor needs is a public transit map, a card with the name and address of their Seoul hotel written in Korean and a stored value card (try the Seoul City Pass or T-Money card) and you can get pretty much anywhere you need to go. You’ll end up doing a little bit of walking between stations and your onward destination, but this is nominal. Wherever you are headed, the subway, taxis and buses of Seoul will get you there quickly.

Click to read more ...

worldwide club guide: seoul

The nightlife in South Korea’s capital can be fun but there are some issues to be aware of – apart from in specially designated tourist areas bars and clubs shut their doors at midnight, most public transport stops at 12:30 am, taxis have a 20% surcharge from midnight-4 am and while Korean-style clubs usually don't have a cover charge, they require patrons to buy a minimum amount of drinks or side dishes (anju). If you’re in a large group this is fine, but if you're alone or with only one club buddy, it can be expensive.

Click to read more ...