Seoul in 4 days

The main Joseon palace, founded in 1395, burned in 1592, rebuilt in 1867 and largely dismantled under Japanese rule; restoration began in 1990.

Around nine hundred traditional tiled houses between two palaces; people live here, so respect the visiting hours the city has introduced.

Seoul's only World Heritage palace, built in 1405 to follow the hillside, with the Huwon, a royal garden of ponds, pavilions and old trees.

Korea's oldest permanent covered market, opened in 1905, where you sit on a stool for mung bean pancakes, mini gimbap and beef tartare with pear.

Zaha Hadid's curving aluminium building, opened in 2014 on the site of the old Dongdaemun stadium, clad in tens of thousands of individually shaped panels.

A 236-metre tower on 243-metre Namsan hill, putting the observatory nearly 480 metres above sea level, with views across the Han and the northern ridges.

An 11 km stream uncovered in 2005 after an elevated expressway was torn down, with a walkway below street level running east through the centre.

Authorised tours to the 4 km wide border strip visit Imjingak, Dora Observatory and the Third Infiltration Tunnel, found in 1978, down a steep incline.