Places to Visit in Seoul Capital Area

The Seoul Capital Area (Sudogwon) combines Seoul, the port city of Incheon and Gyeonggi Province across about 12,685 square kilometres of the Han River valley. It held roughly 26 million people at the 2020 census, close to half of South Korea's population, on about 12 percent of its land. Seoul itself has 9.6 million residents and 605 square kilometres, while Incheon (about 3 million) hosts the country's main international airport, and Gyeonggi (about 13.5 million) holds the satellite cities and the Suwon fortress. Granite peaks such as Bukhansan and Namsan rise inside the urban fabric, so hiking starts within a subway ride of the centre.

The region runs on the Seoul Metropolitan Subway, a 24-line network with 656 stations, and a fast AREX rail link joins Incheon Airport to Seoul Station. Summers are hot, humid and wet in July, winters are cold and dry, and the best travel seasons are April to early June and late September to October, when the palaces, walls and mountain trails are at their most comfortable. Air quality dips in spring when fine dust blows in, so check the daily forecast before booking a viewpoint. Chuseok and Seollal close many businesses and fill trains, so plan around them.