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Seoul in Gold

In November, the whole city turns gold. Six days, one neighborhood a day: the old ginkgo at Sungkyunkwan, matcha on a Bukchon terrace, red maples at the palaces, all the way to a pot of dakhanmari near Dongdaemun. I wasn't chasing check-ins. I was chasing places that let me slow down.

Translated from Jasmine’s original Chinese. The illustrated slides are on the interactive reader.

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1. 01 | Seoul in fall is kind of unfair

   In November, Seoul is gold. This set is my six days, Nov 3–8, and the cover is the old ginkgo at Sungkyunkwan. Standing under it, I knew this trip was going to be a slow one.

2. 02 | Six days, and I wasn't counting check-ins

   Day 1: land and check in around Yongsan. Day 2: Changdeokgung, Sungkyunkwan, Bukchon. Day 3: National Museum of Korea, Hwangsaengga, Samcheong-dong. Day 4: Gyeongbokgung, Seoul Forest, Seongsu. Day 5: Dosan and Cheongdam, Gentle Monster, Nudake. Day 6: DDP, dakhanmari, Amorepacific. Late fall is exactly when I want to slow down and actually feel a place.

3. 03 | First stop: the Sungkyunkwan ginkgo

   Sungkyunkwan was the top academy of the Joseon dynasty, founded in 1398, and Daeseongjeon hall honors Confucius. The two ginkgos in front of Myeongnyundang are a Natural Monument, planted in 1519 according to the records. That makes them about 500 years old, and they still turn the whole courtyard gold right on schedule. Free entry, right next to the Sungkyunkwan University main gate.

4. 04 | The best afternoon in Bukchon is a matcha break

   At Osulloc Bukchon I got an ube matcha latte, a matcha lemonade and a matcha madeleine, then sat on the terrace looking out over Bukchon's rooftops and hills. It's in a 1960s Western-style house, three floors plus an outdoor terrace; the hanok next door is Sulwhasoo's flagship, same parent company. Walk over from Anguk Station, Exit 2.

5. 05 | The palace maples look more fake than any filter

   Gyeonghoeru at Gyeongbokgung sits right on the pond, and the water mirrors the whole pavilion. Red maples, willows, an old palace: fall in Seoul goes soft gold and red.

6. 06 | A ginkgo avenue I'd walk twice

   The ginkgo avenue at Seoul Forest is so gold it looks like a road that glows. Walk in and you slow down without trying. It's right next to Seongsu, so you can stroll straight over after.

7. 07 | Good Korean food doesn't have to be spicy

   Hwangsaengga Kalguksu in Samcheong-dong. On the table: Korean beef suyuk (eat it with the onions and chives), giant mandu soup and beef-bone kalguksu. Clear broth, hand-cut noodles, big fat dumplings. In Seoul this is the kind of food I crave, light and warm all the way through. It's at 78 Bukchon-ro 5-gil; expect a line at peak hours.

8. 08 | This minari soup is worth waiting all day for

   Neungdong Minari's signature is minari gomtang: finely chopped water dropwort covering a whole bowl of clear beef broth. Add the golden jeon and the minari salad on the side and you're set. There are a few branches in Seoul (Sinyongsan, Seongsu, Yeouido), and they all have lines.

9. 09 | Even Seoul's museums are worth it for the architecture

   Walk into the National Museum of Korea and you're in a three-story atrium, with the Gyeongcheonsa ten-story pagoda standing at the end. It's a marble pagoda from 1348, the Goryeo era. It was taken apart and shipped to Japan in 1907, returned in 1918, and put back up inside the museum in 2005. Good luck not looking up.

10. 10 | Matcha, but make it a design show

    Korz in Samgakji: pale wood, warm light, a tiny room. It partners with Style Coffee from Kyoto, the matcha is whisked to order, and the matcha cappuccino is the famous one. Seats are limited, so it's best as a party of two. Walk from Samgakji Station, Exit 5; the address is 40 Baekbeom-ro 99-gil.

11. 11 | Seongsu isn't a street, it's a brand experiment

    The red-brick building right across from Seongsu Station Exit 2 is Olive Young Beauty Mansion, open since June 30, 2026. Four floors: pop-ups on the first, makeup on the second, skincare on the third with skin analysis and consultations, and a fourth-floor lounge with beauty books and vinyl. You don't come here to haul. You come to get diagnosed.

12. 12 | In Seongsu, shopping feels like a museum visit

    Haus Nowhere Seoul is the new headquarters of IICOMBINED, Gentle Monster's parent company, opened in Seongsu in September 2025. The public floors hold their own brands, Gentle Monster, Tamburins, Nudake and more, and between the giant vegetables and the fantasy creatures you'll think you walked into an exhibition. Address: 433 Ttukseom-ro.

13. 13 | In Dosan, the buildings upstage the luxury goods

    Louis Vuitton's Seoul Dosan store relaunched in September 2026 as La Bibliothèque, a library concept with a facade made to look like a row of books standing upright. Inside: books and stationery, Dosan-only sneakers, a station where you stamp your own postcards, and a third-floor café whose desserts look like books. Even if you don't go in, the facade is the view.

14. 14 | Nudake's matcha is art you can eat

    Nudake, down on the basement level of Haus Dosan, is the dessert brand from the Gentle Monster group. The signature Peak is a black cake of squid-ink pastry swirls with matcha cream in the middle, and when you cut in, the matcha slowly flows out. I had it with a matcha latte and a cup of tea. I love desserts designed for your eyes and your mouth at the same time. It's at B1, 50 Apgujeong-ro 46-gil, about a 10-minute walk from Apgujeong Rodeo Station, Exit 5.

15. 15 | On a rainy day, I walked into Seoul's best curves

    Dongdaemun Design Plaza, DDP, was designed by Zaha Hadid and opened in 2014. In the rain that silver, flowing shell gets softer and more sculptural, and the reflections on the ground look like moving light. Inside there are architecture and design exhibitions and creative markets, and it looks even more futuristic lit up at night. Hungry? Tteokbokki and fish cakes are all around.

16. 16 | My kind of Seoul: tea and empty space

    Osulloc 1979 is on the first floor of the Amorepacific headquarters in Yongsan. It's the brand's premium tearoom, named for the year it started clearing land for tea fields on Jeju. It was redone in 2024 in a retro-futurist style: tall shelves lined with decades of tea tins, big speakers built in up top. Order tea and a tray of sweets and give the whole afternoon to aroma, bitterness and texture. Address: 100 Hangang-daero.

17. 17 | Seoul line philosophy: can't get in, go next door

    Not getting into the hot spot is normal in Seoul. My move: just go next door. Near Dongdaemun you'll find a steaming pot of dakhanmari: sweet, clean chicken broth, a whole chicken, and you have to get the chive kimchi, fragrant, spicy, crunchy. On a rainy Seoul day a hot soup is the best kind of healing, and it's perfect after shopping. Real travel, no FOMO.

18. 18 | My six-day route, no backtracking

    The whole trip had one rule: one neighborhood a day. Palaces and Bukchon one day, the museum and Samcheong-dong one day, Gyeongbokgung, Seoul Forest and Seongsu one day, Dosan and Cheongdam one day, and the last day for DDP, Dongdaemun and Yongsan. Smooth route, everything close, no rushing.

19. 19 | I turned the whole trip into a planner you can use

    When I got back, I turned these six days into a site: browse the map, plan a route, save places, then tweak it into your own Seoul trip. The six days we actually did are in there too. jslalaland.com/seoul

20. 20 | Saving Seoul for next fall

    In fall, Bukchon turns its hanok, ginkgo and maples a soft gold. Collect a little gold and gentleness in Seoul's fall, and save the rest for next time.

In this series

• Seoul Autumn Diary

Read it with the slides →

An original JSLALALAND field guide by Jasmine Chang (@jslalaland).