Itaewon

Itaewon is the most international neighborhood in Korea, and it has been for fifty years. The US base shaped it after the war. Then came the embassies, the working expats, the long-stay foreign students, the chefs from twenty different countries opening one restaurant each. Today the army base is gone — turning into a park bigger than Central Park's southern half — but the neighborhood it shaped is still the place in Seoul where you can hear five languages on one block. This means a few things for someone staying a month or two. You will eat well. There is real Mexican food, real Lebanese, real Nigerian, real Indian, real everything — not interpreted Korean versions. There are bars that open at 10pm and bars that open at 6am. There are cafés that look like they were transplanted from Brooklyn or Copenhagen. There are also tourists, especially on weekends, especially on the main strip — that's the trade-off. Itaewon is loud. The main street stays awake. If you want sleep, look at side streets — Bogwang-dong, Hannam side, the climb up toward Noksapyeong. The hill east of the main strip (Kyungridan-gil, or Gyeongnidan) has become its own quieter scene with smaller restaurants and locals who live there. For mid-stay foreign visitors, Itaewon is the easiest landing spot in Seoul. Everything is in English. Nobody is surprised by you. The trade-off for that ease is texture: it's the neighborhood that does the least to feel Korean. If that's what you want, perfect. If you came here for Seoul-Seoul, stay closer to Hannam, Mangwon, or Seongsu instead.