Quite a lot of things to do in Seoul with kids so don’t let my cynical and overly whining Dad put you off Seoul, especially if you’ve never been. I’ve been asking to go back to the Coex Aquarium for quite some time.

The Coex Aquarium is really good, new, clean and very well done and not too many people there if you go when it opens.  Loads of good sharks, heaps of other sea creatures that are well presented and easy to see and even a manatee floating around. The Coex Aquarium is not the biggest aquarium I’ve been to but I think what helps to make it so good is it’s really bright inside.  You know a lot of aquariums are a bit dark and dingy, but Coex Aquarium seems to be, for some reason, much lighter inside and gives the impression it’s much happier for the animals, if that makes sense.  The Coex Aquarium is open from 10a.m until 8p.m every day of the year so you don’t have to worry it ever being closed.  Definitely give it a go if you’re visiting Seoul with kids.

Dad and I walked up to Seoul North Tower, it’s about an hour if you’re fit.  We arrived at the top about 5p.m, when every man, woman, child, their dogs, their cats and other pets were up there. Dad somehow managed to avoid crowd rage and after a quick walkaround we took the cable car down and taxi back to the hotel.  Not something I’d go back to but I guess if you’re into cityscapes it’s ok.

How my Dad feels about Seoul

There’s a really ageing-like-my-Dad adventureland type thing inside Lotte World.  It’s quite bizarre and whilst it’s designed for kids, you’ll see a lot of older locals going, which according to my Dad is quite gay.  At first glance there appears to be a lot of things to do inside but really, I found it a bit stink.  There’s also an outside area which is kind of like a mini failed Korean version of Disneyland. We didn’t go there.  There’s a couple of lakes at Lotte World with no actual things to play on, but I had a better time there just wombling around and playing with mum and dad, then I did inside Lotte World. Lotte World is rather large and not matter how stink the adventureland is, you’ve really got to see it on any visit to Seoul with kids.

The Lotte World aquarium is also pretty good, maybe not quite as good as the Coex Aquarium, but still worth going. It’s about 10 minutes drive from Coex so if you’re going to Coex, might as well head down the road to Lotte World, grab something to eat and check it out.

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