The Most Instagrammable Hipster Places in Seoul, Korea
- Aye Mon
- Aug 23, 2020
- 8 min read
Welcome to the ultimate guide curated with the cutest photospots in Seoul that you need - cafes, concept stores, container parks - this city's undoubtedly been built for us photo whores. 📸
A (Hopefully) Helpful Guide/Itinerary
To help with your planning, here’s a guide of some of the places that I visited together (on the same day):
Midnight in Seoul > 221B (walking distance)
Stylenanda 3CE PINKPOOLCAFE - dropped by while shopping in Myeongdong :)
C27 Cheesecake and Coffee > Ader Error > Chuu > Ban Bossy Boutique (all within walking distance)
3CE Cinema > Line Friends Cafe > O'Sulloc > Remicone > Miss Yoon’s Wonderland
Yongma Land > Common Ground > Urban Source (these places aren’t that close but we just happened to want to cover them on the same day - we commuted to each location via train)
Understand Avenue > Seoul Forest (walking distance)
Ihwa Mural Art Village
Korea University (well I visited almost everyday lolol)
Banji Cafe > Zapangi* (walking distance)
*permanently closed >.<
Midnight in Seoul (Cereal Cafe)
26-7 Donggyo-ro 38-gil, Yeonnam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
This was my very first cafe hopping destination on the second or third day in Seoul - oh the nostalgia. :”) Yes a cereal cafe is super random. But Korea’s aesthetic game is really 💯 and the cereal + milk we had was REALLY GOOD so 😍
There are actually two little stores side by side under the brand of Midnight in Seoul - we walked into the branch that only sells coffee / typical cafe fare first by accident whoops. The cereal cafe is separate from that branch, although both are from the same family. x)
221B (Sherlock Holmes themed cafe)
116-6 Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
From Midnight in Seoul, you can take a short walk to 221B, and you’d see Holmes sitting right there at the entrance welcoming you to his humble abode. The cafe that you see when you first walk in has really cozy vibes, a nice little place where one could even get some work done. Then further into the cafe you’d see the luxuriously themed areas where you can snap away whilst hugging cute cushions. ~
Stylenanda 3CE PINKPOOLCAFE
23 Wausan-ro 29da-gil, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
This is a place you can conveniently stop by whilst shopping in Myeongdong. :) When it comes to concept stores, Korea is seriously the role model. Pink pool cafe is one of Stylenanda’s flagship concept stores, with four whole storeys selling makeup and clothes, as well as a cafe on the higher floors. And of course, loaded with creative areas for photo taking.
C27 Cheesecake and Coffee (Roller Coaster themed Cafe)
161 Yanghwa-ro, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
When I saw the photos of this place, I just knew I had to hit it up. The store decor really makes it look like an adorable mini amusement park!
‘Nuff said - simply scoot in and hop over to that seat near the window-side roller-coaster for great lighting. We had to wait a little bit for that seat to be empty :p - it was quite the hotspot. And of course you also have 27 flavours of cheesecake to choose from!
The cafe is located on the second floor of the building, and you’d see it right next to the escalator that leads to the second floor. :)
Ader Error
19-18 Wausan-ro 21-gil, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
The most A M A Z I N G brand which I could say is pretty much the daddy of all concept stores. Hella extra, but I was hella impressed. The photos say it all. Also in case you’re wondering why the salespeople are so good looking and fashionable, apparently they have to coordinate the latest supplies of clothing that come to the store and model too. :o Not just the salespeople, even the people who shop there WEW - surrounded by fashionistas, I truly felt like a potato there.
To up my fashion game I also bought some loots there - jk just loot i.e. a pair of socks. For my sis lol not even for myself #toobroke.
Unfortunately I forgot to visit the soap store in the basement. :( Be sure not to miss that one out!!
Chuu
23, Wausan-ro 29da-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul
This is opposite Ader Error, and has a slightly more feminine concept compared to Ader which is a bit more erm, hype beast? But then again I’m a fashion noob so what do I know. 🙃The installations outside the store change regularly so you won’t see this giant weighing scale anymore but there might newer cuter ones. To my pleasant surprise there was a sale so I did buy some cute shirts for about 6000won (SGD$7) each. :)
Ban Bossy Boutique
서울특별시 마포구 서교동 408-17 3층
This cafe is a short walk from the clothing stores, and I wanted to visit as I was quite a sucker for the colour theme of the interior, being particularly drawn in to the turquoise walls that it boasted.
3CE Cinema
22 Apgujeong-ro 8-gil, Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Unfortunately I don’t have original photos of this place LOL wonder why this happened - maybe I was too engrossed in the makeup products. :p Nonetheless, you can check them out on their insta page. The place employs a more black and pink theme, I preferred the cheery vibes of their Pink Pool Cafe much more. :)
Line Friends Cafe
535-15, Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu
This store is pretty much a large doll house filled with LINE Friends characters, which is honestly so adorable!! I thoroughly enjoyed hopping from room to room hugging every single Brown toy I saw and interacting with the props in each set for my photos. LINE friends merchandise is pretty pricey, and so were the cafe food and beverages, hence we walked out without buying or eating anything but hella satisfied with our tons of photos, huehue.
O'Sulloc
175 Road in Gangnam Nonhyeon 6 (Apgujeong points), Sinsa dong, 135-892
Honestly miss the green tea products from here so much. They have plenty of outlets around Seoul, in popular areas such as Myeongdong, Dongdaemun, and this one I dropped was in Gangnam. I also really love the matcha spread from here so do give it a go if you love matcha too!
Remicone
Apgujeong, Gangnam-gu, a 14-way 24-, Sin sa dong, Seoul, 135-890
Decided to drop by this cafe simply because of its very unique aesthetic, from the design of the store itself to the food!
Interesting as the desserts looked, they seemed to be a tad bit pricey for a beaker of cotton candy and ice-cream, hence we decided not to give them a try in the end.
Miss Yoon’s Wonderland (Alice in Wonderland themed cafe)
122-6 Yangjae 1(il)-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Miss Yoon is hella serious about the Alice in Wonderland theme, y’all. Albeit quite a bit more atas than the other cafes we hopped to, we could still afford a decent coffee and shamelessly used it as an excuse to tour the whole place. :)
Even the menu is a vintage storybook :D
The building has quite a few floors, including the creative office on one of the floors, and even a gorgeous looking rooftop garden / pool area that looks perfect for pool parties! This place honestly looks great for birthday bashes.
And LOL.
Common Ground
200 Achasan-ro, Jayang 4(sa)-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, South Korea
This modern container-themed mall is certainly no stranger to Singaporeans frequenting Seoul, what with its hipster blue backgrounds and all (that resemble IKEA but I guess it’s cooler cuz it’s Korean?). Here you can get your fill of shopping (if you’re rich and into the branded hipster stuff), food from various cafes, and cute a f photos. Honestly I was just there for the photos. If it had been a slightly cooler season and if there had been a slightly smaller crowd I would have even loved to film a quick dance video there :”) but I shy so.
Urban Source
9 Yeonmujang 3(sam)-gil, Seongsu 2(i)-ga 3(sam)-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea
There are two outlets side by side - the bar side (Urban Space) has the famous pool of balls! Which you have to buy a drink to enter so...we cheapskates skipped that. :) The bar drinks were kinda ex and ball pit photos weren’t anything new lol. Instead we went for some legit coffee and cake at the other outlet (Urban Source) which was a nice cosy cafe with a really unique industrial retro vibe to it. There’s also the alfresco area with trees and lights and all, but we didn’t really explore that cuz we just wanted some aircon after a whole day out.
Understand Avenue
63 Wangsimni-ro, Seongsu-dong 1(il)-ga, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Chanced upon another container park located right outside Seoul Forest Station, but they term it a “cultural center” of sorts. I absolutely loved that the moment we arrived, there was a musical performance happening at the stage area! There seem to be regular performances there. We sat down to enjoy the performance first before heading around to explore the area. I liked that it was less crowded and had a cosier vibe to it than Common Ground, probably because it’s less mainstream. There were quite a few independent stores selling unique goods and handicrafts, as well as various restaurants.
Seoul Forest
273, Ttukseom-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Since Understand Avenue is located near Seoul Forest Station, you might have guessed that Seoul Forest is also nearby! Once you reach the end of the container park, you will see Seoul Forest. It’s a really large park where you can cycle, picnic, etc. In autumn, honestly anywhere with an abundance of trees looks really gorgeous. :”) There’s also a mini zoo within the park. Didn’t capture a lot of photos here but do check out the website for a glimpse of how beautiful it is!
Korea University
145 Anam-ro, Anam-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, South Korea
More KU pride than NUS pride. No kidding, this campus really looks gorgeous, way cooler than Ewha and Yonsei 😌 The photos shall speak for themselves!
Of course autumn brings out the best in KU; it brings out the best in any place. :”)
And hey look - KU even has its own container park yall who needs Common Ground anymore please.
Also a shoutout to my most frequented place in KU - the media hall. :")
Ihwa Mural Art Village
A quaint little mural village that promises plenty of lovely murals for you to interact with. :)
Banji Cafe
South Korea, Seoul, Mapo-gu, 366-13번지 3층
Decided to list the Banji Cafe here too for folks who wanna make couple rings whilst in Korea hehe - and yes you will literally be making them yourself, since a little workshop is part of the experience! :) It might be good to make a reservation ahead of time - we went without one but very luckily there was one last seat left so we managed to sit in. But our ring making experience was cut short and they did most of the work for us (which was fortunate cuz I think I might’ve destroyed it if they gave me anymore time with it 🙃).
First they’d invite you to your seat and pass a catalogue of the various ring designs and inscriptions, and you can select the one you’d like. You can even customise your own words, of course. :) Then they’d take your finger measurements, and pass you a tiny metal strip (your ring!) that you can start filing with the tools they have on the table. In my faint memory I only vaguely remember some hammering and poking here and there, and thereafter the staff took over the craftwork (thank god) and asked for us to return in about half an hour to collect the rings. A pair cost 60,000won (approx SGD$69) which I honestly think is pretty worth it! We’ve been wearing the rings 24/7 for 3 years and they still look super shiny, plus we’d probably use them as our wedding bands too. :”)
The inscription says 사랑하기 데무네 (which means Because I Love You yes it’s cheesy in English but we swear it sounds much sexier in Korean) <3
Zapangi (permanently closed)
South Korea, Seoul, Mapo-gu, Mangwon 1(il)-dong, World Cup-ro 13-gil, 79 해오름 주상복합 1층
Dropped by this cafe otw to Banji cafe, simply because the vending machine door it had was so adorable and I really wanted those pictures. :”)
Sadly it’s closed now though. ☹️
And that's a wrap, folks! Hope there's been at least a few new places that you managed to add to your list. :) Photos aside, do remember to soak in the views, atmosphere and culture whilst you're there. Enjoy! 🙌🏼
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