I plan to go to Korea this September, maybe for 8-9 days. Do you have any recommendation what to do ? I think I'll go to Busan after staying in Seoul for a few days.

I guess it really depends on what your interests are! Let me know if you want more information on a certain category!

Shopping

  • Dongdaemun: they have some cheap to mid-priced stuff here AND a lot of the places are open really late (Doota closes around 4am-5am ish i believe)
  • Gangnam: a lot of the areas here have some big name department stores and malls filled with luxury brands. Pretty good if you have a lot of money but if not, it's just nice to walk around in some of these malls to see the "bougie" life
  • Namdaemun: CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP! this is a traditional market and there is so much to see, from fashion to household items
  • Myeongdong: come here for cosmetics. They have clothing and shoes too but cosmetics reign in this neighborhood

Traditional/History

  • Anguk/Insadong: kind of falls under shopping too, they are known for their traditional brushes, papers, etc. also has many traditional tea houses/restaurants and a temple nearby as well!
  • Bukchon Hanok Village: traditional Hanok houses; you can take a lot of nice pictures here
  • Palaces: Gyeong-bok-gung, Chang-deok-gung, Gyeong-hui-gung, Chang-gyeong-gung, and Deok-su-gung. They all have their own charm and are well worth the visit! 
  • DMZ: book a tour to go to the DMZ and see North Korea (kind of)
  • Seodaemun Prison: a former prison used by the Japanese to hold Korean independence fighters.  A well-set and thought out museum (but very small; probably only take an hour to see the whole place)
  • The War Memorial of Korea: very big and interesting exhibits 

Cool/Interesting Places

  • Hongdae: a college town filled with interesting shops, cafes, etc. Recommend going during nighttime to see some busking!
  • Mangwondong: Does not seem like much, but if you go inside alleyways with a map, it's an area where you can find a lot of cool restaurants and cafes (not very tourist friendly though... the locals like to do cafe hopping in this area)
  • Yeonnamdong: similar to Mangwondong but has become a little more touristy with the "Yeontral park" 

Tourist areas/picture spots

  • Seoullo: a nice little "bridge" over Seoul Station, you can take a lot of nice photos here
  • Cheonggyecheon: a nice river where you can relax or have a stroll
  • Han River: you can ride bikes, leisure sports (although I don't know when they operate esp. since you are going in September....), have a picnic, etc. Just make sure you know which area of Han River you are going because each area has a specific "theme" I guess
  • N. Seoul Tower: you can either take the cable car or hike up the mountain, but I recommend hiking one of the trails up there because there are a lot of beautiful sights to see along the way! And the trails are all very easy (some only take 30 minutes to go up)
  • Lotte World and Everland: Lotte world is inside the city and Everland is about an hour away. Everland however has more thrill rides whereas Lotte World is very much like Disney World (the experience is what matters)
  • Lotte Tower: the tallest skyscaper in South Korea, the views are breathtaking (it will be different than N.Seoul Tower since Lotte Tower is south of the Han River and N.Seoul is in the center of Seoul)

Busan

  • Haeundae: probably the most famous beach in Busan. Can get a little tourist-y though
  • Dalmaji-gil: a short taxi ride from Haeundae, it's a whole street filled with really nice looking cafes and it has really nice views of the beach (it's on a hill) and it has a nice observation deck where you can see the moon clearly at night (as they say)
  • Haedong Yonggungsa: a very beautiful Buddhist temple, it's situated right on the coastline so definitely a must visit!
  • Gamcheon Cultural Village: a colorful village filled with art and interesting alleyways (be prepared to walk up some steep roads)
  • Taejongdae : a national park and is famous for their rock beach! Has awesome cliffs to look out over the ocean
  • Busan City bus tour: definitely a must if you are short on time and want to see a lot

Now, I am missing a lot of other places but, this post is getting too long haha ;) 

P.S. If you can I also recommend visiting Jeju island! It's considered Korea's Hawaii and there's so much to eat and see there!!

@ftiheart17 Wow thanks! You really recommend a lot! Personally, I like to visit somewhere authentic like Bukchon Hanok Village.  Insadong also caught my interest since I like to collect souvenirs and eating street food

I only stay for 8 days, is there  enough time to visit Jeju? If it is, is it a good idea to use ferry from Mokpo since I want to avoid using airplane if possible

Feel free to recomend more places! 

Btw, are you korean? You seems to know a lot :D

I have been there for just a few days in summer 2016 but i still have some things i can recommend~

The Cheongyecheon stream was one of my fave places ever! I was there on a hot summer night and it was so beautiful with the bright moon and the dim lights :D There's nothing much to do there, but it's good to relax and just have a good time
Namsan Tower was also great! Make sure to go on a day when there's not too much pollution in the air tho for a better view~
And since i stayed in Myeongdong i can also recommend to go shopping there~
Hongdae seemed interesting too but we didn't have much time there though..
And if it's still warm enough you can go to the Han river, they had something like a pool(?) where lots of kids played, it was just knee deep and you could walk through or sit on some of the stones in the middle and cool your feet lol

I plan to go back this year and i hope i can visit many more places this time!
I want to see historical places, theme cafes, Jeju, Busan and more but i don't know yet if i can do all these things for the next trip already hahah

@tania ah i completely forgot about your time constraint! It would be pretty hard to fit Jeju island in your itinerary since you will already be using up 5 or 6 hours to get to Busan (unless you are planning to use KTX) and both Seoul and Busan have a lot to offer! 

Try looking up Gyeongju which is about an hour bus ride from Busan because there are a lot of historical sites (compared to Seoul since a lot of the historical buildings were destroyed in the war and the colonial period) that are still standing. But I would concentrate more of your time in Seoul and Busan since there's a lot to do and easier to get around!

And yes, I am a Korean living overseas, but I go back to Korea to see my family in the summer (going this year too!)

There are also a lot of good day trips that can be taken outside of Seoul. The two I would highly recommend are the Garden of the Morning Calm, which is essentially the national botanical garden and is gorgeous, and the Korean Folk Village in Yongin, where you can see how Koreans lived during the Joseon period. Also at the folk village, you can see various traditional forms of Korean entertainment (a 농악 performance, tight-rope walking, horse-riding and archery stunts) and a traditional Korean wedding.

@Mary Yes Namsan Tower is on the list! Han river also looks like a nice place. I won't play in the water, but just taking a walk or riding bicycle seems nice. Since you plan to go back, Korea must be a nice place to visit.

 Busan and Jeju indeed looks interesting. I saw them on Return of Superman and 2 Days 1 Night. Actually they are the ones that make me want to go to Korea. I saw so many nice places and so many good food in Korea because of those two

@ftiheart17 I thought so... I afraid by going to Jeju, it will makes me skip many things on Seoul and Busan. Actually I plan to use KTX from seoul to busan. Is it expensive? 

For now I'll put Gyeongju on the list and make time table to see if it fits :D

No wonder you know a lot! Where are you living now?

@boredandtwitchy I look up those two and they're nice! I'll put them on the list for now. Thanks!

@tania ktx will probably set you back around 60,000 KRW one way, if you get the regular seat. This compared to about 15,000KRW-20,000KRW on a regular express bus or 30,000 for a comfortable express bus. It is expensive but ktx will get you to Busan in only about 2.5 hours compared to 5 hours on express bus (granted there's no traffic). So if your priority is money, go for the bus but if you're worried about not having enough time, ktx is the way to go!

I used to live in the US, but now I live in good ol' Canada!

@ftiheart17 Awesome!! That's why your english is really good. Speaking about language, any words I need to know before going to Korea?

By the way, sorry if I ask too many questions, but how is the weather in early September? Is it cold enough to wear a coat? Or warm enough to wear shorts?  I live in a tropical country so I'm not that familiar with cold.  When I went to Japan, I shocked to find the weather was around 4 degrees Celsius on early-mid April (quite different with  what I found on the internet)

Everything depends from where exactly you are going

@tania  haha sorry for the late response! Completely forgot about the notification >.<' The weather usually varies in September. They have been having some really weird temperatures lately (colder than average winters, hotter summers) so I am not completely sure about that! As for language, there's a lot of English so it's really easy to get around (in the city mostly) but if you want to learn some basic phrases, there are a lot of websites out there that would be better than me at teaching you! Especially since I am fluent in the language, it's hard for me to gauge what kinds of stuff is necessary to know lol! Don't worry about asking too many questions too since we are all a one big, friendly community here!