Gay Seoul is among the world’s a lot of underestimated vacation destinations, overlooked continuously because of its more well-known eastern Asian neighbors. Better known for Samsung and political tensions with North Korea, there is certainly a thriving queer world right here concealed in basic view – you simply need to understand where to look!

Busy and thoroughly obsessed with style and innovation, the powerful city of Seoul can be profoundly old-fashioned, with tranquil palaces, temples and hill tracks. Skyscrapers overshadow stylish hanbok (standard solid wood houses), eco-friendly rooms and cycle roads soften professional hard sides, and K-Pop can be heard blaring on nearly every road corner.

Seoulites have actually a lot to end up being happy with within 24/7 urban area – where you are able to get whatever you wish, whenever you want – as well as their gay scene is no exception. We wish the community as a whole could well be more acknowledging…

Southern Korea all together features a far less accepting view of their LGBTQ neighborhood than all of the rest of Asia – although the strength of conservatives and Christian fundamentalists wanes gradually, things are however not where they need to be.

LGBT recognition provides, but quickly expanded previously ten years, particularly in younger years,  due to international impacts, even more queer activities, and a louder existence regarding the neighborhood LGBT neighborhood, such as –rather famously – celeb
Hong Seok-cheon
, developing in public places.

Lots of in Korea feel they will have never met a gay individual, and it is a topic infrequently talked about, with political parties staying away from discussion of LGBT rights and lots of people burying their particular heads inside the sand.

As a customer, you will be acutely unlikely to possess any straight-out discrimination but realize, numerous queer locals lead dual schedules and succumb on the intimidating societal force to keep their sexuality exclusive.

Southern Korea is unquestionably one of the more conservative countries in Asia, but also right here, it’s commercially unlawful become discriminated against on the basis of intimate direction. Still, lots of people in the LGBT area however face problems yourself and work, which means Gay Korea has actually a long way going still to catch up with the a lot more progressive next-door neighbors – Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and increasingly Vietnam.

The homosexual world in Seoul, however, keeps growing each year and contains many fantastic queer enjoyable to offer. Foreign celebration young men shopping for combined foreign/local fun would want to check out the well-known Homo Hill in Itaewon, very long involving homosexual night life, but residents may constant the main district of Jongno.

Just skyscrapers, the bustle of Insadong and road barbecues, there clearly was actually a hidden-in-plain-sight homosexual world here with pubs, karaoke joints, homosexual saunas and cafes than we can easily depend.

Few vacationers actually venture to Gay Jongno but know if you will do that when you look at the bars and organizations, you are going to be welcomed with a grin. Sadly, similar can not be said for Seoul’s gay saunas and sail organizations scene, which positively discriminate against and bar anybody who is actually non-Korean – it doesn’t matter what knowledgeable about traditions or perhaps the language you happen to be.

Hopefully this changes in tomorrow and get suggestions that can help, in this esteem, the homosexual scene in Seoul nevertheless a whole lot has some raising around do.

Nevertheless, with over 10 million folks, Seoul is amongst the most significant cities in the world possesses something for almost all people. Foods, layout, society, background and wild lifestyle – this sprawling area provides it-all!

Attractions in Seoul

Naturally, getting homosexual does not establish which tourist attractions most of us need to see in each area, and most queer tourists will simply desire to investigate top factors to see in Seoul throughout the day!

There was a great deal to do here – but we discovered the most popular thoughts happened to be roaming through acquiring missing on back-streets, seeing most of the weird cafes, hitting up Lotte community and roaming through layout studios!

One of the best recommendations we are able to give you for checking out Gay Seoul is always to pre-order a travel SIM card for simple airport collection and activation as soon as you arrive you won’t shell out a fortune in intercontinental roaming charges.

Get restaurants recommendation and bookings in the travel, trains and buses directions up to the minute, bar opening many hours, and, in case it is your own thing – the means to access gay hook-up apps for more information in regards to the neighborhood scene.

Cellphone information is quickly, low priced and offered just about everywhere in Asia, so it is not surprising a lot of people choose to remain linked and get from the beaten track (without ever before fretting about getting lost). So why hold off?
Pre-order the very best regional SIM credit now having it available as soon as you appear.

Still – it assists getting some concept of what is happening, so here you will find the best things to do in Seoul, based on united states!

Things you can do  in Seoul

Conventional Korean Bathhouse

Not to the gay spa? Uncover exclusive and family-friendly area of the Korean tradition in a wonderfully adorned and traditional Korean-style bathhouse. Relax from a stressful day of sightseeing – or evening or partying – in a conventional oak timber sauna, and savor entry to all saunas and vapor rooms which include different sodium and nutrients treatment options to suit your epidermis.

For more extravagance, you will want to address you to ultimately a therapeutic massage, facials or human anatomy scrubs? Even though the bathhouse is available 24/7, make sure you book beforehand any unique treatment plans to prevent missing out.

Cheonggyecheon

A landmark of brand new metropolitan recovery and environmental rejuvenation, this playground room features a revived / ‘day-lighted’ stream with pathways, links & greenery.

Myeong-dong

A diverse shopping & relaxed global food location, the active Myeong-dong is actually full of international manner companies, luxury shops, and homegrown cosmetics retailers.

Janet’s Preparing Studio

Take home more than simply photographs with this specific fabulously special market trip and traditional Korean cooking lesson with Janet, a Korean cook been trained in New York City.

This knowledge just isn’t about merely ticking off tourist must-dos, but instead examines the actual Korea through Janet’s gorgeous food obsession – which shines through whether she actually is bringing in one sellers in another of Seoul’s couple of remaining local street marketplaces or cheerful brightly while revealing for you how to make the right Bulgogi Lettuce Wrap in her professional kitchen.

Janet features also worked with the UN to advertise Korean food and tradition – so that you only know this woman is the real thing! You are going to keep Seoul with the ability to determine unconventional ingredients in a Korean industry and also to create some tasty standard dinners – even while studying the initial reputation of Korea and enjoying Janet’s warm personality.

A kind and enjoying spirit who is genuinely excited about exactly what she does, we simply cannot suggest Janet’s Cooking Studio highly enough.

Fireman Show

A remarkable show of acrobatics & party, this much-acclaimed tv series utilizes a mixture of performance types to convey the stresses of being a fireman. Crazy, we understand, however you will realise why if you are here.

Monitor impressive acrobatic lifts and flips, and discover the necessity of flame safety and understanding – and being a non-verbal show, really well-suited regarding vocabulary speakers. Have the affirmative electricity brought by the melodramatic yet funny performers that portray vivacious characters.

Bukchon Hanok Village

A lovely heritage village with a pleased 600-year record dating back towards the 14th 100 years. Fill your own digital camera with selfies featuring narrow streets lined with restored old-fashioned domiciles.

Prefer Museum

a weird museum of interactive erotic artwork, this really is Seoul’s very first and far just art gallery for adults – but we are sure other people tend to be excitedly being prepared. View physical tales of enthusiasm and need unfold right before your vision, get to be able to take to the hand at pole dance – for those who haven’t currently – and find out the different minutes of newlyweds’ life through entertaining artworks.

You will find six-themed galleries, each with a unique appeal for you yourself to get a hold of – and trust you, gay, directly, or unicorn …You won’t have experienced everything along these lines prior to!

Lotte Globe

No trip to Seoul will be complete without a call to Korea’s leading motif playground, Lotte World! Lotte globe seats are amazingly reduced exclusively for overseas visitors, so do not miss the chance to go to this fun two-part motif playground with outdoor adventure trips and a ‘Magic Island’ castle place.

While in the colder months, simply take a jacket or have fun with the adrenaline-charged interior destinations inside the ‘Adventure’ place, plus attend the various parades and programs. If you wish to carry out even more, discover a Lotte business + Aquarium combination ticket to also incorporates a visit to everyone’s biggest ocean environment container from the Lotte business Aquarium, exhibiting over 650 marine varieties across 13 specific areas.

Jongmyo

A UNESCO World history website and shrine to Joseon dynasty kings & queens. Ritual ceremonies however happen at the Confucian shrine dedicated to Joseon dynasty royals. These days Jongmyo is the best getting away from the metropolitan hustle and bustle and an intriguing looking at Old Seoul.

Café Onion

Serving post-industrial decay realness, this Uber-hip concept cafe in Seongdong-gu is actually exactly how we would envision Chornobyl as if Brooklyn hipsters moved in. Serving funky baked designs and specialty coffee blends, this spot may be worth the trek off to discover – only if to realize all of your monochromatic Instagram goals.

Additionally they currently have an even more easily called Café Onion Anguk in Jongno-gu, except in a converted old-fashioned building/temple, in fact it is equally amazing.

Seoul’s Palaces, Temples & Industries

Spend a-day sightseeing and ticking off Seoul’s hottest sites. The chairman’s pad, Blue House (or Cheongwadae), the switching of guards at spectacular Gyeongbokgung Palace and Changdeok Palace and stopping by the nationwide Folk Museum for more information on Korea’s site de rencontre homme riche background through the dynasties doing the present-day.

Additionally to not be missed may be the comforting Jogyesa Buddhist Temple and bargain hunting from the well-known Namdaemun industries.

Korea Rail Pass (KR PASS

)

Take a look at South Korea away from Seoul by taking a trip on over 80 paths and over 600 channels with the Korea Rail Pass. Just take endless tours on most Korail trains for 3 or 5 successive days or any versatile 2 and 4 times using this discount that’s limited for overseas nationals.

Meerkat & Friends

An oh-so-Seoul ‘cafe’ which acts no as well as just bottled products buts lets you get up near and personal with semi-tame meerkats, raccoons, wallabies, kitties, foxes plus. With locations in Hongdae and Myeongdong, it is touristy and odd, and that’s why our company is preoccupied!

Discover Seoul Pass

Get easy access to a mixture of 35 leading Seoul attractions aided by the Take a look at Seoul Pass. Pick 24/48/72 many hours pass to enjoy discounts and easily customize your own Seoul journey with this flexible admission citation and transfer credit from Seoul Tourism business, solely available to foreign visitors.

ZenKimchi Korean Food Tours

If you are like united states and making plans for your day at Korea for the cooking by yourself, then you’ll need to steer clear of the touristy places/ bad dining encounters and choose for a totally immersive knowledge to really make the a lot of Seoul’s food world.

Fortunately, Joe, who has been working
Korea’s longest-running food blog, ZenKimchi,
for more than 15 years, has created a distinctively crafted concert tour to simply help tourists experience genuine Korean eating. As obvious, by this, we mean he will get no kickbacks from the restaurants and goes because he or she is honestly fanatical in regards to the food they provide, unlike much less scrupulous workers…

We plumped for his Korean BBQ tour together with an unforgettable night learning Korean dining decorum, savoring the most effective charcoal grilled chicken of one’s existence, admiring rewarding discussions with different individuals from throughout the world – and getting somewhat tipsy over a Korean alcoholic beverages lesson in a secret pub!

Additionally, it is excellent for some pre-drinking before venturing out to Homo Hill, and solo travelers whom might usually struggle to experience Korean BBQ such as this.

There clearly was many trips on offer, but each is run by enthusiastic experts who have your desires in mind. Very, when you need to move out here and view Seoul as a nearby – while having a ridiculous quantity of enjoyable, ZenKimchi Korean Food Tours has anything available.

Gay Annual Events In Seoul

Korea Queer Movie Festival (KQFF)

An annual occasion in July dedicated exclusively to screening gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer movies. KQFF happens to be used annually since 2001 making use of stated aim of promoting range in Korean culture while enhancing LGBT individual rights and acceptance.

Very crucial Asian online forums of worldwide LGBT film/video, and when your times coincide if an approach to enjoy a advanced degree of gay life in Seoul.

I WILL BE Seoul

Korea’s largest routine party brand, I WILL BE launched in 2015 and it has quickly be probably one of the most common circuit occasions across Asia. Now, IM will continue to entice hundreds of homosexual travelers from across Asia together with entire world to Gay Seoul.

I’M claims 3 days of nightclub events, pool functions and after-parties full of songs therefore the hottest dudes. You can expect an unforgettable experience with a killer DJ line-up from all over worldwide and very go-go boys on-stage. Ordinarily held in August, I AM is actually entirely well worth preparing a visit about.

Korea Queer Festival Celebration | Pride Parade

Korea’s largest LGBT event, this annual contemporary Korean event, whoever motif is actually LGBT legal rights, has numerous highlights, such as a satisfaction parade, film event events, artwork, discussions and nightclub celebration occasions.

The event can last for weekly or two and usually occurs in later part of the might to early June. The parade that was prohibited in 2015 attracted intercontinental attention to the big event, with many of it becoming critical regarding the progress made relating to LGBT legal rights in South Korea.

Once more occurring, there clearly was now some support from smaller Korean political events and a-listers, but significant events and the government in particular take a natural posture. Unlike a lot of
some other Pride festivals in the world
, the Seoul Pride Prade earnestly limits the ability of attendees to just take pictures or videos and requires photo-takers to blur individuals’ confronts before posting photographs using the internet.

This is accomplished to lessen the chance of accidental outings of players just who nonetheless face significant discrimination in Korean culture. As the organizers have big plans to grow the function to the biggest in Asia, Seoul’s Queer community Festival reveals in a variety of ways, South Korea is in the Stone era.

120,000 LGBT folks honestly took part in 2018 – the largest ever before – but 200,000 signatures were in addition obtained to eliminate the Parade, and several thousand anti-LGBT protestors ended up.

Nevertheless, it’s remarkable observe NGOs and brand names acquiring on-board since the event grows. In a country where modesty around outsiders is paramount and intimate preference isn’t one thing to end up being flaunted, we are able to just hope increased presence down the road assists new generations of Southern Koreans feel comfortable adequate to be exactly who they truly are.

Gay-Friendly and Gay Hotels in Seoul

Although Korea and Seoul might be less politically progressive and gay-friendly than, state,
Bangkok
,
Tokyo
or
Taipei
, it’s still safe to presume queer travelers are going to have no dilemmas checking practically any resort in Seoul. Sadly, but there aren’t any specifically homosexual resort hotels in Seoul to check on into.

Seoul is actually an international mega-city with a shortage of area, so area dimensions tend to be smaller than all over the place more on earth – but as plenty of gay guys know, it isn’t really about dimensions, but exactly how you employ it! We are referring to design, functionality and views, darling!

With that said, everybody wants to end up being in the middle of individuals with common interests, and thus, there are some popular gay-friendly accommodations in Seoul being hot areas for gay people to keep – either because of their area or their style and inclusive vibes.

Hotels near Homo Hill, the foreigner-friendly queer enclave in Itaewon, are incredibly popular with homosexual tourists – particularly tourists who just speak English but Jongno in the Nagwon-dong area, is really the gayest area of Seoul, though popular with natives than visitors.

You might also start thinking about remaining in the tourist-popular Myeongdong / Seoul Central, typically considered to be the heart of Seoul or perhaps in the world-famous Gangnam district, a.k.a the ‘Beverly Hills of Seoul.’

Listed here accommodations in Gay Seoul have got all had a glowing recommendation from gay tourists before, however,
you’ll find a huge selection of some other motels in Seoul
if they’re not quite what you are actually looking.

Whether you need a fun and social hostel, an inexpensive spot to crash after a night of partying or an ultra-chic fashion designer option to sip cocktails and surround yourself with fabulous individuals  – Gay Seoul has actually something for everyone!

Gay-friendly Hotels in Itaewon

Hamilton Resort â˜†â˜†â˜†â˜†

A landmark in Seoul’s Itaewon, this comfortable resort in a moderate redbrick building is a minute’s walk through the train station with unfussy rooms, free of charge Wi-Fi and helpful team.

You hardly ever want to leave with eight different dinner solutions, including a shiny Italian restaurant, 2 LGBT-friendly nightclubs, an outdoor rooftop share – favored by peacocking muscle mass gays-, a 24-hour spa, a fitness center, as well as a small shopping mall.

Not too long ago refurbished from top-to-bottom whilst still being simply a short hit from Homo Hill, HOMPA by Le Queen and Club HIM.

internet protocol address Boutique Resort â˜†â˜†â˜†â˜†

Positioned in Seoul’s cosmopolitan purchasing and entertainment area, Itaewon, internet protocol address Boutique Hotel, gift suggestions a fresh lifestyle experience for homosexual visitors. Featuring exceptional layout and spectacular atmosphere, the hotel offers 133 guestrooms, a café bistro, and limitless use of their own well equipped fitness space.

Outstanding importance, internet protocol address Boutique resort is only a brief stroll to your Always Homme homosexual club and Club HIM by Pulse, adding to its gay appeal.

Hotel ITW â˜†â˜†â˜†

(Temporarily or permanently shut. If you know some thing, kindly advise an edit.)

A clear, modern, attractive hotel in Itaewon with prices of the same quality or much better than other places in Seoul. We enjoyed it was within convenient strolling length regarding the homosexual restaurants, pubs, and stores that produce Itaewon such a pulsating and appealing section of Seoul. Hotel ITAW is, however, up a steep mountain and found on a narrow one-way road that is challenging after a night of sipping.

Sp@Itaewon Guesthouse â˜†â˜†â˜†

(briefly or permanently shut. Once you learn anything, kindly advise an edit.)

The most wonderful hangout for the social traveler with exclusive spaces, inexpensive dorms, and normal BBQ