Christmas in Seoul

I spent Christmas of 2024 in the beautiful city of Seoul. We went into the trip not really knowing what to expect from the festive season in South Korea, so we didn’t make plans per se. Now that I have experienced a Christmas in Seoul, I wanted to share all my tips and tricks for making it a Christmas to remember.

Christmas in Seoul

In case you’re wondering: is Christmas a big thing in Seoul? The answer is a resounding yes (with caveats). Basically every shop, cafe, and restaurant we visited had a wealth of gorgeously cute Christmas decor. There are Christmas activations galore, skating rinks and a general air of festive merriment.

Christmas in Korea is sometimes compared to Valentine’s Day. It is a holiday due to the large population of Christians, but it isn’t celebrated with a family get together like you might be accustomed to. Instead, Christmas is often about going on a date with your partner.

It’s also not common to be buying a whole heap of gifts for everyone you know. So, the shops are busy but not with Christmas shoppers per se (which is perfect!).

Our experience was that Christmas is a lot more laidback than at home. It felt more like a public holiday than Christmas, but in a way that was nice and relaxing.

The weather and what to pack

As an Australian, having a winter Christmas is such a brilliant novelty. Although I am accustomed to summer Christmas, I truly feel that winter Christmas is superior.

Christmas in Seoul is truly a winter Christmas. It is COLD. This isn’t saying much coming from a warmer country, but it is the coldest weather I have personally experienced. Some days were around -8 degrees (-17.6 degrees). I know that isn’t much to some people, but it is bone chilling to me!

Needless to say, a serious winter coat is necessary. Not a fashion coat, but a padded, thermal coat.

The other thing that ended up being incredibly handy was a pair of snow boots. It only snowed lightly while we were in Seoul and the snow didn’t stick, but the boots were critical in ensuring our feet were warm. This made it easy to walk around and see everything we wanted to see without needing to stop and warm up.

One thing I was worried about was getting too hot inside if I were to layer lots of clothing. I prefer the cold and I overheat easily. I found that wearing a thermal coat over a regular long sleeved outfit and snow boots was sufficient – I didn’t feel the need to add more layers. With that amount of clothing, I didn’t get too hot inside. In fact, most of the time I didn’t take my winter coat off indoors.

If you get cold easily or like to take your coat off indoors, I’d recommend a thermal layer underneath. Otherwise, a good quality winter coat and some sturdy boots or snow boots served me perfectly well.

Festive things to do on Christmas in Seoul

A quick browse of TikTok will show you that Seoul has quite a few Christmas activations. They are rather spread out, so I have grouped them into closer sections.

• Shinsagae shopping centre lights (night time) in Myeongdong.
• Lotte department store also has lights on the building and, from what I have read, festive windows and activations which we sadly missed. Just up the road from Shinsagae and worth doing at night.
• Myeongdong Church has a well known Christmas activation every year.
• Cheonggyecheon stream has the winter light festa over winter and a Christmas activation. The Gyeongbokgung palace also has a light show at night time and Myeongdong walking street is lit up as well.
• Seoul Plaza skating rink, day or night but check the timetable (Myeongdong)
• Dongdaemun design plaza has a light exhibit by night
• Dior Boutique in Seongsu Dong (day is fine but night is better)
• The Hyundai Mall in Yeounido has an INCREDIBLE looking Christmas village inside the mall. Entry is free but requires a ticket and I couldn’t manage to book one from Australia. This is a bit out of the way if you’re staying in Myeongdong or even down near Coex but it absolutely looks worth it. Because this is indoors, go whenever you can get a ticket
• Coex Mall Library Christmas tree, day or night (Gangnam)
• The Hyundai Mall next to Coex also has Christmas activations that we accidentally missed. There were extensive road works when we stayed opposite the Coex so somehow we didn’t see this until it was too late!
• Lotte world and the Chanel ice skating rink at Lotte world tower (Jamsil, Gangnam side) day or night
• The garden of morning calm has absolutely gorgeous Christmas lights at night, but it is 35km out of the city (over an hour when I checked Naver from Insadong). Next time I would factor this into my itinerary as it absolutely looks worth the trek.

Tips for spending Christmas in Seoul

• Because it’s a couples holiday, nice restaurants and bars are booked and busy. It’s also just a public holiday, so you are competing for seats with more people. If you know where you want to eat or drink/what you want to do, book it ahead. I can guarantee you (from experience!) that just rocking up on the day won’t work on Christmas.
• Most restaurants in Seoul seemed to use Catchtable for bookings. There is a global version and a Korean version. Our experience was that the global version (which is in English) didn’t offer as many restaurants as the Korean version. It also wasn’t super user friendly. With that said, it is worth downloading just in case.
• Restaurants also seem to be quite happy to take bookings via Instagram DMs. Maybe not all of them, but it seemed to be quite a normal practice. Something to consider if you can’t get Catchtable to work.
• Some cafes don’t take bookings, but you can join the queue using a QR code out the front of the restaurant. With popular places like Artist Bakery, I recommend getting there when they open (or even before they open). One day when we joined the queue at about 2pm, they quoted about a 3 hour wait.
• Don’t expect to have a Western Christmas lunch in Seoul. There are probably places that offer them (Itaewon is apparently the ‘expat’ area) but they aren’t the norm. My advice? Lean into being in Korea and do something Korean instead.
• Seoul is ENORMOUS, so pick a general area you want to be in for the day. If you try to see all the Christmas activations in one day you will be in traffic most of the time.

My ideal Christmas Day in Seoul (if I had my time again)

A caveat, before we begin: this is just MY ideal Christmas in Seoul, not THE ideal Christmas! Everyone is different and likes to celebrate in different ways. This is how I would have done it if I had my time again.

Breakfast: We found breakfast to be a bit tricky in Seoul because everywhere we wanted to go had a waitlist. On Christmas morning, I would recommend either having a hotel breakfast, staying in an airbnb and making your own breakfast, booking something or going somewhere quiet. We had breakfast at Artist Bakery which was super cute but it did require a 1 hour wait which sets you back a bit.

Church: I would like to make it abundantly clear that I am 0% religious. Less than 0%, if that’s possible. However, I do think that respectfully seeing a church service in another language is a cool way connect with a new culture. This could be on Christmas Eve, Christmas morning or Christmas night. I am sure it is super busy, but Myeongdong Cathedral is gorgeous and has beautiful Christmas lights. I would probably try to go to a Christmas Eve service here to see the lights as well.

Lunch: My Mum, my sister and I are all vegetarians, but if I were doing Christmas lunch in Seoul as a non vegetarian I would do Korean BBQ or chicken and beer. Both are cultural activities in South Korea and it’s really fun to be surrounded by locals as opposed to other tourists. I think this would be a memorable Christmas lunch in a jovial atmosphere. For the vegetarians, I would do temple food. Sanchon temple food in Insadong was a super cool place with a whole giant spread of food. When we arrived the owner was playing a piano and a monk was busy in the foyer. This would be my pick for a cultural Christmas lunch.

My ideal Christmas Day in Seoul continued

Activities: This really depends on what you like and want you generally do Christmas Day. However, for me, I would have loved to spend the afternoon wandering around shops and soaking up the Christmas spirit. In the evening, I would have liked to sit in a pocha drinking soju and eating tteokbokki. We did this on Christmas Eve and it was such a fun and festive vibe. It was also just a cool cultural experience. I’d end the night with some karaoke and a Christmas Photo Booth.

So, what would be my recommendations for where do to aforementioned Christmas? We stayed in Jongno/Insadong area which was walkable to Myeongdong. We stayed at the Moxy Insadong and the street out the front was lined with pochas every night.

This would be my recommendation for where to spend Christmas if you like the above itinerary. If you don’t, though, I have more suggestions below for different Christmas styles.

Different Christmas Day ideas and locations

• If you’re a young party goer, go to Hongdae. There’s plenty of shopping and things to do. We actually went to Hongdae on Christmas, not realising it was a bit young for us lol. There was a very cute little Christmas market and concert inside a giant see-through Santa hat, so that’s something to look into if it’s on every year.
• If you are a slightly older party goer or someone who misses ‘Western’ Christmas food, go to Itaewon. This is the ‘expat’ area by all accounts, so you are more likely to find a Christmas lunch.
• If you have kids, you could go to Lotte World and the Chanel Ice Rink at Lotte world mall. Both are right by each other in Jamsil, which is a bit of a trek from central Seoul. I would recommend staying on the Gangnam side of Seoul if this is your plan/you have kids. We went to Lotte world on Christmas Eve and it was a fun experience, even as adults.
• If you like shopping and trendy areas, Seongsu-dong and Seoul Forest areas are fun. You could also nip up to Haebangchon for dinner (Vin Vin was one of the best meals we had in Seoul and Villa Haebangchon has a gorgeous view).
• If you’re in Myeongdong, you could go to Gwanghwamun Christmas market, Seoul Plaza ice rink, Shinsagae Christmas lights and Lotte Myeongdong Christmas lights as well as the winter light festa at Cheonggyecheon stream. There are also lights projected onto the Gyeongbokgung palace just beyond the Gwanghwamun Christmas market. With the exception of ice skating, most of these are best done in the evening. There is also the Myeongdong street food area which is not the best street food (apparently) but still a fun vibe.

Tips and tldr

• Make sure you book restaurants and bars if they are popular.
• Christmas is more of a couple’s holiday in South Korea. The vibe is public holiday rather than Christmas Day.
• As with any day in Seoul, factor in lining up for a while to get in to more popular venues that you can’t book or don’t have a booking for.
• My experience with Seoul is that it’s better to stick to one rough area per day rather than trying to hoon around to all the places. Seoul is huge!
• If you’re winging it, have backup plans. Also, use Naver as opposed to Google Maps. Uber is inexpensive and very quick to arrive if you need to be somewhere in a hurry. You can order regular taxis through the Uber app, which helps with the language barrier if there is one.
• The ice skating rink at the Grand Hyatt wasn’t work the trek, in my opinion. Fine if you are in the area or staying there but not worth it otherwise. The hotel itself is gorgeous though.
• Similarly, the Coex mall tree is absolutely gorgeous and iconic, but it’s an absolute trek if you aren’t staying in Gangnam. Group it with the Hyundai Mall next door. Also, If you do go and need lunch or coffee, we loved Plantude and of course % Arabica, which is up the elevators in the Coex library.
  

More resources

• Where to stay in Seoul
• Where to stay in Busan
• Vegetarian in Seoul
• Vegetarian in Busan
• Travel tips for Seoul