Markets are where Seoul eats standing up and still shops the old way: food alleys, a fish market, a meat market, the herbal-medicine market, a flea market at its fullest on weekends. These are the ones on my map. Some are best at a particular hour, and the card says when.
No photos, no star ratings — just what I'd tell a friend. 15 places across 12 neighborhoods, from the same guide as the neighborhood pages.
Open the guideStill the locals' market more than anyone's; small pleasures, and the gireum-tteokbokki (oil-fried rice cakes) you owe it.
Korea's first permanent market, since 1905, and the food alley draws the crowds; I point you to calmer picks first.
Korea's biggest market, and a working one, not a show for tourists. Come hungry.
My DJ friends dig this underground arcade for vinyl: old record shops, treasure you can't predict.
Widely billed as the country's biggest dried-seafood market; alleys named for anchovies and squid.
Korea's biggest vintage flea market: stall after stall of old clothes, LPs, antiques and junk to dig through.
A real locals' market: retail more than wholesale, always packed, lately full of young food-hunters.
The market Seoul's chefs shop for namul, mushrooms, and Korean ingredients.
Korea's herbal-medicine market: some 70% of the nation's herbs pass through, and the whole street smells of them.
Korea's biggest meat market, where you buy hanwoo cheap from the butchers and grill it upstairs.
If someone's off to Gwangjang, I tell them: sightsee there, eat here. It's the real working market.
HBC's old covered market, reborn: cafes and little shops under a glowing canopy roof.
Jokbal on one side, jeon on the other; a local drinking market, makgeolli flowing.
Forty years of a market Mangwon actually lives off. I'd send you here long before Gwangjang.
Seoul's big live-fish market — buy your sashimi, king crab, shrimp or oysters downstairs, eat it upstairs, raw or cooked.
What to order and how to get in — the hours, the queue apps, the booking that needs a Korean phone number — is in the app.
Bukchon is free, in full, so you can see whether you trust me before paying.
Seoul by moment: early mornings · on your own · vegetarian · late nights · with a view · for a date
Seoul by kind of place: cafes · specialty coffee · bakeries · desserts · tea · Korean barbecue · bars · natural wine · markets · museums and galleries · shopping · things to do