This is a trip for anyone who wants to understand Seoul as a city shaped by centuries of dynasty, conflict, and reinvention — not just one afternoon in a hanbok for photos. Spread across three days, it moves between the grand and the intimate: a restored Joseon palace in the morning, a lane of tile-roofed hanok houses in the afternoon, a hillside park at dusk where the city spreads out below you. It suits curious travellers who read the plaques, linger over craft stalls, and prefer a soju makgeolli bar in an old alley over a rooftop cocktail lounge.

Start at Gyeongbokgung Palace with enough time to do it properly, then walk northeast into Bukchon Hanok Village before the tour groups arrive in force. Insadong Street is your afternoon — calligraphy shops, traditional tea houses, and the kind of antique dealers who actually know what they're selling. On day two, the Seoul National Museum earns a full morning, followed by the War Memorial of Korea, which is more honest and moving than most military museums anywhere in Asia. End the day climbing Namsan Park to N Seoul Tower at sunset. Weave in a night at the Namsan Hanok Stay to make the cultural immersion literal, and take a day trip to the Korean Folk Village outside the city to see how pre-modern life actually functioned. The Seoul City Tour Bus is genuinely useful here as a connective thread — unfashionable, but practical and well-routed.