SOUVENIR. I've learned that the meaning and significance of this word evolves with the traveler. For some, it could mean small gifts to give friends and family back home … while for others, this could mean a personal memento to save from an extraordinary experience. The curious thing with Seoul is that the city seems to invent fun new souvenirs with each year. I've been to Seoul more than once, and I managed to find new treasured souvenirs with each vacation!
Friends planning to visit Seoul as first timers would often ask me what and where to buy cheap yet good souvenirs in the city. My default answer has always been Namdaemun.
Right off the subway exit, tourists can find this store chock full of adorable Korean souvenirs of all kinds.
Key chains, magnets, bookmarks, chopsticks, pouches, and whatnots … everything is just too cute and tempting, to be honest. Just walk around the market and you will find all sorts of knick knacks. Food packages like teas, ginseng, and other traditional fare can also be purchased. There are also T-shirts emblazoned with Korean flags, words, and landmarks. Or if that is not your thing, check out some Red Devils merchandise (shirts, jerseys, and even the red horns haha!). And then ofcourse, hallyu merchandise! Non-official calendars, notebooks, socks, posters and what nots are all over the place.
The selection would match a shopping list filled with office peers, friends, and extended family members. So I highly suggest coming here prepared with your budget and shopping list haha! Else, you'll have a tendency of leaving with more than what you intended to buy. My personal favorite thing to buy here are the bear key chains in hanbok (they never get old for me) and the huge fans with really pretty Korean designs. I still use the fan I bought from 2008 (especially during brief power outages) and later on I bought one for my mom and grandmother as well!
Namdaemun is a primary default. The next default souvenir haven would be Insadong. The main street is lined with curious souvenir shops with pretty store front displays. I do think that the options in Insadong are more special than those in Namdaemun though you'll find a lot of similar items as well. I remember buying a shirt with special Hangul printing off one of the stores from there. I've always wanted to get the rubber stamps with my carved Korean name on it so I do need to go back to Insadong next time… And someday I'll buy that pretty music box with my own choice of design and kpop song! This music box store can be found inside Ssamziegiel. I did find this music box sold in that huge bookstore in Time Square but the selections are more overwhelmingly cute in Ssamziegiel.
After Insadong, I'd recommend the Korea Tourism Organization office along Cheonggyecheon (somewhere between Jonggak Tower and Cheonggye Plaza). Sure, this isn't exactly a tourist DESTINATION but there are amazing souvenirs here! Last year, there was an online survey conducted by KTO on the best Korean souvenir items and most of the candidates are available for purchase here. The products are a bit more pricey than Namdaemun or Insadong since they are more exquisite too. How I wanted to get those flash drives with the beautiful Korean enamel designs… And then there were these pretty tea sets which we wanted to get for a dear friend… Sooo irresistible, right?
There are also hallyu souvenirs from the KTO office. You'll find a lot of official goods like photo books, file folders, stuffed toys and what nots from famous dramas and singers. There is also this photo area with lots of hallyu star standees hahaha … HEAVEN haha^^.
But my personal favorite places to shop for hallyu souvenirs would of course be the official stores (SPAO, Everysing, record stores) and the Myeongdong Underground Shopping!
So let's go there … and you'll find some more souvenir shops with pretty much similar goods with what you've seen so far in Namdaemun and Insadong. Except that, the souvenir and merchandise stores are more mainstream than traditional Korean and the hallyu stores in Myeongdong underground are more into kpop (so ADDICTING). You'll find ALL SORTS of kpop goodies here~ from albums to calendars, photo books, stickers, fan lights, banners, towels, posters, shirts, CONCERT MERCHANDISE and T-MONEY CARDS! Needless to say, I can go bankrupt if I linger too long in these shops. You'll also find some random Pororo goods, cute accessories, and clothes which you can (I think) bargain for. This is a smaller scale Dongdaemun … less trendy than Dongdaemun but not as errr mature as Namdaemun.
Now going into mainstream souvenirs, I'd have to mention at least 2 places ~ 1st is the Haechi Shop at Gwanghwamun. They have uber cute Haechi merchandise from magnets, bags, bookmarks, to stuffed dolls. 2nd would be the souvenir stores at N Seoul Tower. Ohhhhhh, cuteness extreme?!?!?!
I don't think words are necessary for that haha… Just don't miss the souvenir stores at N Seoul.
Wow, this post has gotten longer than I originally imagined. And the thing is, there are MORE places for souvenir shopping which I did not mention. So I'll just namedrop those which I've visited so far ~ Hongdae! Gyeongbukgung Palace! Artbox! Bookstores (Bandi & Luni's, Kyobo, etc)! And Incheon International Airport (oh yeah, LOTS of goodies here)!
I hope to find more remarkable souvenir shops in the future and I plan to come back to all those I mentioned above for another round of treasure hunting haha! Seoul is just an incredible shopper's haven ^^.
