dandan once bubbled...
Hi guys, I am goin backpackin to Seoul next week. Any places of interest that I could visit over there in Seoul? (better still, FOC 
As I had juz blown almost all my savings on a recent dive trip)
I will be staying in Seocho Gu.
Well, what kinds of things do you want to see/do? Parts of Seocho-gu are a bit far from some stuff, but the subway system in Seoul is cheap, efficient, and quite reliable (but often very crowded too) so it isn't hard to get just about anywhere in the city.
It a huge city so there are lots of of options for shopping, dining, sightseeing, etc. I haven't been there for a few years but always enjoyed my time there.
I love Korean food, so going to just about any kind of restaurant is a treat for me. Most foreigners really like Kalbi and Bulgogi, two kinds of barbequed meat. If summer temps/humidity are still in effect, you can try Neng-myun, a cold noodle dish. In general things are pretty spicy!
For shopping, there are a number of very large department stores in the Kangnam area and the business district north of the river. They're kind of fun to browse through if the weather is crappy. But much more interesting is namdaemoon market. IIRC, there is a Namdaemoon stop on the blue subway line. One end of the market is at the Shinsegae dept. store. Just about everything imaginable is for sale there, from bootlegs to fake brand-name goods to pig heads on display. If you wear glasses, this is probably the cheapest place in the world to get a good quality pair of glasses. You can haggle over the price of almost anything.
For sightseeing I'd suggest at least a visit to Kyoungbok palace on the orange subway line (probably Seoul's fanciest subway stop). I actually haven't been there since they demolished the administration building built by the Japanese during the Occupation. I'm sure it looks much grander with that eyesore out of the way. On the palace grounds there is also a cultural museum, and some nice gardens to walk thorugh and relax in.
Another fun thing to see is Seoul Tower, probably best to do when it's dark so you can see all the lights of the cityscape. It's in the middle of Namsan park on top of the mountain. I've always gone there by car, but I think there are buses that go nearby and you can either walk up the rest of the way or take a cable car.
I just realized something about transportation; taxis are really really cheap, so if the weather is bad or you can't figure out how to get somewhere, you can probably take a taxi. You don't tip the driver, just pay what's on the meter. There are two classes of taxi with different pricing stuctures. The expensive ones are usually black and are larger cars. I don't remember how to distinguish between them other than the fact that they have signs (in Korean) indicating that they are "expensive" taxis.
Hope you have a fun time there. Some of my information might be a little out of date, but I think most of it's accurate. Seoul is a really fun place; if you're staying with Korean friends I'm sure they can show you a really good time. If you're staying at a hotel, the staff can often speak English and are usually happy to give suggestions on places to go and things to do.
Good luck, and have a great time!
Chris
arty: From your post, Korea seems so much fun. I think I will definitely enjoy myself over there. I have checked out that diving is in Jeju, which I think I will have to cross out in my schedule, since is not near to the place I am staying. ANyway, still I will have fun in Seoul all the same.
