Seoul is a place I’d written about a lot for work, but never actually visited myself. So when we started planning our recent trip to Japan, I knew I wanted to take a two-centre trip and see Seoul at the same time!

We ended up spending 6 nights in Seoul followed by 2 weeks in Tokyo. We flew with Korea Air (you can read my review of their economy class service here) and we loved every minute of it. Seoul is a fun and vibrant city that’s incredibly child-friendly. We also found the main sights in the city were close together and that the city was compact enough not to feel overwhelming.

So what should you do in Seoul with kids? This day-by-day itinerary is based on what we actually did. Our real experience of travelling in Seoul with kids (the good, the bad, and the ugly!) It includes the city’s must see attractions and some of the boys favourite activities too.

I’ve also added a section on things we wish we’d done but just didn’t have time, so that if you have more time in Seoul than we did, you can bulk up your itinerary and add some extra activities.

So let’s dive in to our Seoul itinerary with kids:

1. Day 1: Pororo Playground and Neon Nights
2. Day 2: Hanbok and Palace Adventures
3. Day 3: Lotte World
4. Day 4: DMZ Day Tour
5. Day 5: Our Final Day in Korea
6. What We Missed in Seoul (But You Shouldn’t!)
7. FAQs
   1. What documents do I need to travel to Seoul from the UK?
   2. Is Seoul a Family-Friendly destination?
   3. Is the DMZ tour suitable for kids?
   4. Can Children Rent Hanbok in Seoul Too?
   5. Where Should We Stay in Seoul as a Family?

Heads up! This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click and make a purchase, I might earn a very small commission – at no extra cost to you. This helps to keep the blog going. Thanks for the support!

Day 1: Pororo Playground and Neon Nights

We were planning to explore Seoul’s palaces on our first day in the city but the heavens opened and it was one of the rainiest days I have ever experienced anywhere. So instead we switched our plans for day 1 and day 2, and actually i’m glad we did. Having a slower day on day 1 meant that we were able to get over our jet leg.

Our youngest son is obsessed with Pororo, so our first stop was a Pororo indoor playground. This was a great place for kids to let off steam, and was a real trip highlight for H who got to dance and enjoy a show with Pororo and his friends.

This is just a small soft play/play area for small kids. The whole park is best suited to children aged 8 and under. But the main attraction is that absolutely everything is themed around Pororo and friends. So if you have younger kids who need to let off some steam (or are Pororo fanatics like mine) this is a great place to stop.

Read more in this blog post here: Pororo Park in Seoul: Everything You Need To Know.

We then visited the huge Lotte World Duty Free department store – an amazing place to visit if you love shopping, and a great place to get out of the rain. There was a section here with Pororo goodies for the youngest, and the Duty Free skincare here was excellent too.

We then spent the evening in Myeongdong, which is where the Lotte World Duty Free store is located. This place really comes alive at night, and this is the best time to visit if you can. Because it was still raining we opted for a sit down restaurant over the famous street food (we’ll have this later in the week).

We went to Myeongdong Pizza because i’d read rave reviews on social media and the pizza really lived up to expectations. The volcano cheese pizza had a mountain of melting, liquid cheese and it truly tasted incredible. I couldn’t recommend it more.

For dessert we went to the Hello Kitty Apple Cafe. I’m a huge Hello Kitty fan so this was a real treat for me. You can read my full review of it here.

We also had our portraits drawn at Acorn Cariacture, which is another iconic attraction and something that’s well-publicised on social media. Our pictures turned out great, and they’re now hanging on our living room wall. This was my favourite souvinier from the trip: you can read more about this here.

Day 2: Hanbok and Palace Adventures

I’m not going to lie, the itinerary for day 2 was set up with my needs in mind more than the kids, but my boys do love historic attractions and exploring old palaces, so it ended up being the perfect day for all of us.

I’d seen pictures online of people wearing hanbok in Seoul’s Gyeongbokgung Palace and I really wanted to try it for myself. So our first stop was to collect the hanbok that i’d pre-ordered from just outside the palace. I got this from Daehan Hanbok because they offered a huge selection and were incredibly size inclusive. I wear a UK size 16 (US size 12) and there were tonnes of options available for me!

I paid £9.39 for a 2 hour rental, but thanks to an offer this allowed me to wear the hanbok for the whole day!

👉 Click here to check availability and book Hanbok hire in Seoul

SAVE FOR LATER: Copy and paste my Klook code THATMUMTRAVEL5KLOOK to get 5% off all of the prices listed here. This will work for all of these activities, and all other activities you might want to try in Klook too!

We then headed into the Gyeongbokgung Palace. The boys and Mike had to pay admission to enter (you do this on the gate and it only cost around £2 each) but because I was wearing hanbok I didn’t have to pay to get in or queue to get in either: there is a specific entry line (like a fast track lane) for those in traditional dress.

The palace is both huge and beautiful. We spent a couple of hours exploring its buildings and stunning grounds (this was enough for the boys) but we could have spent much longer.

From here we walked to the Bukchon Hanok village. A Hanok is a traditional Korean house and this village is one of the most famous: dozens of beautiful traditional homes juxtaposed against the modern city that surrounds them. It’s well worth exploring and is around a 15 minute walk from the palace.

On the way to the village we stopped for lunch: there are plenty of cafes and restaurants along the route. Because it was such a hot day we opted for bingsu: a korean shaved ice dessert. These were huge and loaded with ingredients like chopped fruit, condensed milk and the boys had an especially delicious version loaded with chocolate.

After what had been a lot of walking and exploring in the heat, we then decided to return to our hotel. The hotel we’d chosen was the ENA Suite Hotel Namdaemun (review here) which had a great location and also boasted a pool. So we ate mountains of Korean fried chicken in the restaurant next door to our hotel, and then the boys spend the evening swimming, relaxing, and cooling down.

I definitely recommend building some down time into your week like this, especially if you’re travelling with kids. They need the rest, and this did them the world of good.

Day 3: Lotte World

If prancing around in a hanbok on day 2 was designed with me in mind, day 3 was all about the boys. We were visiting Lotte World for their Pokemon Spring Camp takeover so the boys could enjoy their two great loves. Theme parks and pokemon!

Lotte World Seoul is officially the world’s largest indoor theme park. Which is confusing, as it also has a huge outdoor section, which is called Lotte World Adventure.

When buying Lotte World tickets, you get access to both parks with the same ticket, and you can move between the indoor and outdoor sections of the park freely, and as often as you like!

This is a great theme park in terms of the sheer number of rides available but the highlight for the boys was definitely the Pokemon take over. This was so well done, and it wasn’t just a few decorations: there were Pokemon everywhere and even some of the rides had been given Pokemon overlays. Not to mention the unique Pokemon snacks and merchandise. The boys were in heaven!

I recommend arriving at the park as it opens (usually between 9-10am but check the official website for your visit date) to make the most of the rides without huge lines.

You should buy your Lotte World tickets in advance to avoid disappointment. You can get a standard one-day entry ticket. These are priced at £21.79, and you can buy these here.

👉 Click here to book your Lotte World tickets BEFORE you arrive in Seoul

For an extra couple of pounds (£3.26 each to be precise), you can get a standard one-day entry ticket AND entry to the Lotte World Aquarium. This is a special Klook offer. That’s what we did, because getting the extra activity for such a small sum of money was such great value. These tickets are priced at £25.05 and you can buy these here.

You can read more about our Lotte World experience here.

Because we had these two attraction tickets at around 5pm we left Lotte World and headed to the Lotte World aquarium. This is around a 10 minute walk, so it’s very easy and convenient to do both on the same day.

This is a big aquarium: spread over 3 floors, each with an abundance of sea life. In fact one of our favourite experiences here was riding an escalator between floors surrounded by glass walls as seals swam around us.

I would allow around 2 hours to explore the aquarium, but longer if your kids are sealife enthusiasts, if you want to take a leisurely place, or stop to enjoy the cafes.

There were some things I really liked about the aquarium and some that I found questionable. I know that some people struggle with the ethics of some practices at the Lotte World aquarium and that’s certainly something I considered during our visit too.

You can read my full post about visiting the Lotte World Aquarium in Seoul here.

Right next to the aquarium is Jamsil Hangang park, which is a beautiful open space that especially comes to life during the cherry blossom season. The sheer number of cherry trees here, along the river, is spectacular.

So we grabbed a picnic dinner and enjoyed it in the park as the sun was setting (alongside other families, after hours office workers and couples on dates). It was a lovely place to be, gave a real feeling of what it would be like to live in the city, and a great experience I definitely recommend.

Day 4: DMZ Day Tour

This was the highlight of our trip to Korea for all four of us. We took a DMZ tour led by someone who was born and spent their early years living in North Korea before the war. We took Klook’s “DMZ Tour from Seoul with Local Expert Guide”. Other guides who lead this tour are defectors from North Korea, and I think the quality of the guide you’re given can really enhance your trip: we got a great one!

My boys are real history buffs (especially the oldest, who read half a dozen books about Korean history before our trip) and they were like sponges, soaking up all of the facts and new information.

I know a lot of people ask can kids go on a DMZ tour and, more importantly, is it appropriate for kids. The tour was sombre, labour intensive in parts, and full of recent history. But my boys (who are 9 and 12) loved every minute.

We were picked up by a branded coach from the centre of Seoul and travelled around 50 km (31 miles) to the DMZ but the journey took less than an hour. We made 4 stops on our tour:

• Stop 1 – The Imjingak Park
• Stop 2 – The Third Infiltration Tunnel
• Stop 3 – The Dora Observatory
• Stop 4 – The Unification Village

Our tour cost £38.65 per person (with reduced rates of £24.75 for children aged between 3-10) and then we paid an additional £3.80 per person at the point of booking to ride the Peace Gondola in Imjingak Park. 

👉 You can book the exact tour we took here, and if you use the code THATMUMTRAVEL5KLOOK you’ll can an additional 5% off these prices.

You can read my complete guide to visiting the DMZ in South Korea with kids here.

This day trip will have you back in Seoul by around 2pm and the drop off point for the coaches is very close to Myeongdong. So this is the perfect opportunity to explore this bustling and famous part of the city.

We did plenty of shopping (iconic face masks and skin care products for me, Seoul-exclusive surf wear from Quiksilver, Vans, and Converse for the boys) and then for dinner we made it our mission to try all of the street food we could get our hands on.

To make sure we could try as much of the delicious offerings as possible, we ordered just one portion and shared it between us. This meant the boys didn’t feel pressure to eat anything they didn’t like, and also meant that we got to try so much more than we would if we were eating a whole portion each.

SAVE FOR LATER: Copy and paste my Klook code THATMUMTRAVEL5KLOOK to get 5% off all of the prices listed here. This will work for all of these activities, and all other activities you might want to try in Klook too!

Day 5: Our Final Day in Korea

We had a late flight out of Seoul to Tokyo, meaning that we could explore the city until around 4pm on our last day in Seoul. Because our pick up was from our hotel (and all our luggage was there too) we stayed close to the hotel, but its central location meant we still had plenty of options.

We went to the Sungnyemun, also known as Namdaemun, Gate which is considered a symbol of the city. This was a less than 5 minute walk from our hotel.

From here we walked to the Deoksugung Palace, just in time to see the changing of the guards which was one of the most vibrant and visually stunning things we saw during our whole trip. Again, you pay to enter the Palace on the day and at the gate, and this costs only a few pounds per person.

We spend a couple of hours exploring the Palace, which also has several museums in the grounds and some beautiful cherry blossom trees.

Our final stop? To the Korean BBQ we visited on the night we arrived in the city. It was so good we had to visit again before we left! If you only eat one meal in Seoul, I would say make it a Korean BBQ and the meat we ate there will live rent-free in my head for a long time to come!

What We Missed in Seoul (But You Shouldn’t!)

If you’ve got any extra time, or there are things in our itinerary that just don’t suit your family (I know that the Pororo Playground is an aquired taste, for example!) then don’t worry!

Here’s a list of things we’d researched and missed in Seoul because we just didn’t have time, but that you could consider adding to your own itinerary:

• Noryangjin Fish Market – this is supposed to be a fun, chaotic sensory adventure and it looks amazing on the videos i’ve seen. But this wasn’t something that appealed to my kids, so we gave it a miss.
• COEX Mall and Starfield Library – It was on my bucket list to visit this library, but time simply wasn’t on our side.
• National Museum of Korea – Another place we intended to visit but ran out of time. This museum is free to enter and is considered the flagship museum of all things Korean history.

FAQs

What documents do I need to travel to Seoul from the UK?

Of course you’ll need a valid passport to travel to Seoul, but for the rest of 2025 Britons are eligible for visa -free entry into South Korea. You will however need to secure an e-arrival card. You can read my full post about this here.

Is Seoul a Family-Friendly destination?

Absolutely! Kids aren’t just tolerated here they’re welcomed and we had a great experience exploring the city with the boys. Everywhere seemed buggy friendly, and there are plenty of child-friendly attractions throughout the city too.

Is the DMZ tour suitable for kids?

This is the question we get asked the most about our time in Korea. My answer is yes, but this really depends on your children and their temprements. My boys are aged 9 and 12 and they found it very interesting. Younger children might struggle with the walk down into the tunnel and with the length of the tour. The nature of war also means some of the stories told by the tour guide might not suit children with a sensitive disposition.

Can Children Rent Hanbok in Seoul Too?

Yes! There were so many kids walking around all dressed up and they looked so cute! My boys didn’t like the look of the hanbok/traditional dress for men, so they chose not to dress up. But there was plenty of opportunities for them to do so if they wanted to. It would have made for really cute photos if they had!

Where Should We Stay in Seoul as a Family?

I recommend being central and close to the attractions you want to visit. Look for accomodation near Myeongdong, Dongdaemun, or Jamsil. It was easy to walk to many of the places we wanted to visit, and there were loads of great food options available too.

Are you planning a trip to Korea with your kids? Or have you already visited and done something in Seoul that we didn’t and should add to the itinerary for our next trip? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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Heads up! This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click and make a purchase, I might earn a very small commission – at no extra cost to you. This helps to keep the blog going. Thanks for the support!