Myeongdong

For decades Myeongdong has been the first place many visitors see in Seoul, and it remains the city's great free-for-all of shopping and snacking. A grid of pedestrian streets packed between Euljiro and the foot of Namsan, it is where the Korean beauty industry shows itself off: flagship stores for every major skincare and cosmetics brand stand side by side, staff hand out samples at the doors, and the latest sheet masks, cushion compacts and serums are stacked by the thousand. Around them are fashion chains, sports shoes, eyewear, socks printed with K-pop idols, character shops and an underground shopping arcade full of affordable souvenirs and idol merchandise. On the district's edges, two of the country's grandest department stores face each other across the street with duty-free floors above. But Myeongdong's real show begins in the late afternoon, when food carts roll into the middle of the main streets and set up for the evening. The menu is a greatest-hits of Korean street food with plenty of international crossovers: tteokbokki rice cakes in red chili sauce, gyeran-ppang egg bread, hotteok pancakes oozing brown sugar syrup, grilled lobster tails with cheese, fish-cake skewers in broth, tornado potatoes, strawberry tanghulu and tiny grilled octopus. At the top of the hill, Myeongdong Cathedral, completed in 1898 as the first brick Gothic church in Korea, offers a calm and historic counterpoint, and the long-established restaurants on the side streets — famous for knife-cut noodle soup and dumplings — have fed the district for generations.

Myeongdong works best with a plan. Come for shopping in the afternoon, when the stores are open but the crowds are lighter, then stay for the food carts as darkness falls. Prices at the stalls are higher than at traditional markets — Myeongdong is unashamedly geared to visitors — but portions are snack-sized, so you can try many things; most carts accept cards or mobile payment, but small cash is handy. Eat beside the cart rather than walking through the crowd. Many cosmetics stores offer immediate tax refunds at the till for purchases above a threshold if you show your passport, and the district also has many money changers, which often give better rates than banks or the airport.

The cathedral is worth a quiet visit. Climb the slope from the main street to see its pointed arches and red brick, step inside outside mass times to see the stained glass, and look back to see N Seoul Tower glowing above the city behind it at night. The cathedral was a refuge for pro-democracy protesters in the 1980s, and its basement holds a cafe, gallery and bookstore. Nearby, the Myeongdong Nanta Theatre has staged the long-running non-verbal kitchen comedy show for decades, and the old Bank of Korea building and Seoul Central Post Office mark the edge of the old business district.

Location is Myeongdong's great asset. Myeongdong Station on Line 4 and Euljiro 1-ga Station on Line 2 put the rest of the city within easy reach, the Namsan cable car is a short uphill walk away, and Namdaemun Market, Seoul's oldest traditional market, is ten minutes on foot to the west. That is why so many first-time visitors stay here, and why a Myeongdong evening is a fixture of almost every first trip.