If you are in Seoul for only one night, spend at least the first three hours of your evening in Myeongdong. Stroll the alleys, stop for a cup of coffee, have dinner in any of the busy restaurants, enter a pub for beers, then consider moving on to one of the other areas mentioned below.
Apgujeong-dong
If you're the type who feels at ease only in a city's most exclusive district, take a cab, or better yet, the city's amazing subway system (from Myeongdong, one stop east to Chungmuro, transfer to the Orange Line, five stops south) to Apgujeong. It's Seoul's Beverly Hills, complete with a Rodeo Drive of its own. It's surrounded by city's biggest and newest apartments enjoying northward riverside views of the picturesque older half of Seoul.
Apgujeong-dong boasts the priciest clubs and bars outside the deluxe hotels. It's where you're most likely to see the most beautiful people. Some lively spots for upscale people-watching and dancing include Spin Club, the nearby Rock and Roll Bar, the Sugar Bar, The Garden and The Underground. Or go to nearby Sinsa-dong and check out Platinum, a pub offering beers from American microbreweries.
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A view of a street in the Hongdae area, including Club Halabuge. The Seoul club scene has evolved to its trendiest in the Hongdae area in the northwestern edge of downtown Seoul.
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Gangnam
For a younger, looser crowd, try the Gangnam area (not to be confused with the more general use of the name to mean the entire area south of the Han River). From Myeongdong, take the subway south nine stops to Sadang, transfer to the Green Line, then ride four stops east to Gangnam. It's one of the newer areas on the South side of the Han River, about a mile south of Apgujeong-dong. Gangnam is an out-and-out commercial district full of office towers, shopping and entertainment. It hardly existed until the mid 1980s but it has blossomed into a neon district to rival Myeongdong, especially for younger Seoulites who prefer its shiny newness to the sentimental allure of older parts of Seoul north of the Han.
The area around Gangnam subway station is famous for jumping 24/7. After dark the streets are lined with pojangmachas (tents selling snacks and liquor), and the pubs and clubs fill up with college students and young professionals. Since Gangnam is home to hundreds of IT and internet firms, and is just a mile from five-star hotels like the Ritz-Carlton and the InterContinental, its crowds include the area's business executives.
The Gangnam area has become the preferred base for the city's sizeable contingent of Corean Americans. Not far from the Gangnam subway station is the Noise Basement, known usually as NB, a hip hop club also favored by local students and foreigners.
Daehakro
If you prefer an air of culture to sheer fashion and flash, from Myeongdong station go four stops north on the No. 4 (light blue line) to the Hyehwa Station. Daehakro (“College Street”) is named after the main avenue that once bordered prestigious Seoul National University's College of Arts and Sciences. That campus has decamped to another part of the city, but the area remains a hub for a half dozen major universities and one of Seoul's most youthfully vibrant cultural centers, offering a steady stream of musical and theatrical performances as well as art exhibitions.
Daehakro's streets and alleys are said to be lined with over a hundred cafes, as well as countless restaurants, drinking places and, more recently, techno and live clubs. Once upon a time Daehakro catered exclusively to the modest budgets of college students. Today it has also begun sprouting major clubs that compete with those in flashier districts like Apgujeong, Gangnam, Itaewon and Hongdae.
Sinchon
Contrasting with Daehakro's distinctly masculine feel is the unmistakeably feminine ambience of the Sinchon district. From Myeongdong go north two stops to Dongdaemun Stadium, then transfer to the Green Line (No. 2) and go eight stops west to Sinchon, a district that takes much of its tone from elite Ewha Women's University. Once upon a time daughters of the very best families had few decent career prospects in a chauvinistic society. They turned their considerable energies toward cultural and social pursuits, exerting a strong influence on the fashionable tone of the Sinchon area. It was considered the city's liveliest cultural center until the emergence of Daehakro in the mid 1980's. Today big daytime crowds are drawn to Sinchon's myriad fashion boutiques, cute cafes, American fast-food franchises, beauty salons and wedding-dress shops.
After dark the action moves to pubs, restaurants and clubs. Sinchon's student pricing attracts mostly college students and young salarymen. One hotspot not known for low prices is Juliana. It's one of Seoul's best-known booking clubs, discos in which waiters serve as amorous emissaries. Small groups of young people pay about $80-100 to sit at a table and be served a snack platter and a few bottles of beer or domestic whiskey. What they're really buying is the chance to meet members of the opposite without going out on a limb. See a hottie? Tell the waiter. He'll return a moment later with the prey in tow. Juliana and other Sinchon booking clubs like Pharoah and Maharaja feature ritzy decor, luxe furnishings and sophisticated sound systems and light shows to fill the dance floors. Best to visit booking clubs in the company of a young Corean associate or two, sporting some choice designer labels.
Hongdae
One subway stop east of Sinchon is another lively entertainment district whose tone is set by the trendy liberal arts students of Hongik University and several other nearby colleges. Since the late 1990s, Hongdae — as the area is known — has become Seoul's hippest club district. That development was helped greatly by a marketing ploy called Club Day. On the last Friday of each month about 15 Hongdae area clubs sell tickets which, for a modest $12 or so, buy admission to all the participating clubs. The clubs specialize in a wide variety of music including techno, rock, hip hop, jazz, reggae, K-pop, even oldies, often with live performances. Some of the more popular participating clubs include Joker Red, the area's oldest techno club, NB, the largest hip hop club, Ohoo one of the newest and flashiest dance emporia, MI, MWG, and DD.
Hongdae clubs open at 8 p.m. but don't get going until near midnight. The crowd is mostly young Coreans mixed with visible groups of expats, mostly English teachers, young military and civilian dependents from the U.S. bases, and international students. Hongdae's look and feel offer an inriguing glimpse into Seoul's future as a society finally abandoning a parochial, paternalistic and chauvinistic past to take its rightful place on the international scene.
“On the last Friday of each month about 15 Hongdae area clubs sell tickets which, for a modest $12 or so, buy admission to all the participating clubs.”
Ohoo is a flashy new Hongdae complex featuring the techno-oriented M2 club and a brand new hip hop club called Q Vo.
Hongdae clubgoers include a visible contingent of westerners, mostly English teachers, children of expats and exchange students.
