Expat Kids in Seoul: The 7 Best Places

Welcome to the third installment of our Seoul Expat Series! As a recap, my family (husband & two kiddos) lived in Seoul for 3 years. We would highly recommend it to anyone. We loved how safe and kid-friendly it was. There are countless places you can take your kids in Seoul, and I hope to share many of them here in the future. This list doesn’t even scratch the surface of local libraries, themed amusement parks, kid cafes, or cat cafes (meow).

What this list is NOT:

• A collection of the best overall attractions in Seoul that children could easily tag along with
• A collection of the most Korean-specific places for kids to get a feel for Korean culture

What this list IS:

• A collection of places that is inherently intended for expats: moms, dads, caretakers, & nannies looking to take children on an outing that’s 100% guaranteed to be worthwhile. Well…maybe 90%. Toddler meltdowns, public transportation issues, smoggy & rainy weather are all still factors to consider. Tourists with a decent amount of time on their hands could benefit from this list as well.
• A love letter to the places in Seoul that got the most foot-traffic from me and my boys

The Criteria used to narrow down our top 6 places for Kids in Seoul:

1. The activity is geared towards children specifically. There are a million places that are more or less family-friendly/baby-friendly in the city. There are places you could go where your children will find something to enjoy…but this is for the days when entertaining/educating your children is the top priority, not an after-thought. Feel me?
2. Adult admission is relatively inexpensive, and children’s admission is cheap or potentially free. If you aren’t careful, you can drop a pretty penny on a one-hour playdate or outing in Seoul. Indoor kids cafes are fun but particularly pricy. I honestly feel like the highest-quality edutainment available for children in Seoul always happened to be inexpensive (government funding, perhaps). A lower price point makes it easy to come back time & time again, as well. Or stay for 30 minutes, then leave when your toddler is super-over it with zero money guilt!
3. There is a dedicated space for children to run around/climb/move/get out all the wiggles. We visited many “children’s museums” that expected children to be near-silent & only touch maybe one thing in an entire exhibit. The very best places (for my kids at least ha!) let them blow off steam at some point during the day before getting back in the car or on the subway to sit still again for 30-60 minutes (this city is so spread out).
4. There is learning involved! Because my children weren’t attending formal schooling at the time, it was important to me that our morning outings (at least some of the time) could be educational. It didn’t have to be academic– but an area where my kids could learn hands-on about animals, engineering, dinosaurs, airplanes, history, or culture? YES!
5. My kids actually loved it. I’ve listed places that we went COUNTLESS TIMES. These are locations that my kids requested to go back to, time and time again. They would run and grab their shoes to get out the door. Kid-tested, mother-approved. Like Kix.

Reminder: We were in Seoul with babies, toddlers, and a preschooler (4.5 international age, 6 Korean age). We did often tour with friends that had older children as well (up to age 12 international); but I would guess this list may be more hit or miss with older children (9-12 international), depending on individual personalities & interests.

#1 Seoul Zoo (part of Seoul Grand Park)

I could write a whole post on this zoo. I have so much love in my heart for this space. I’ve always enjoyed zoos- long before I had children. I’ve gotten pickier as I’ve gotten older because I’ve noticed not all zoos are created equal. Other (smaller) zoos in Seoul we saw had questionable living conditions for the habitats and sad looking animals. Not here though!

Opened May 1st, 1984, Seoul Zoo is a sub-organization of Seoul Grand Park, playing a role of exhibition, conservation, education, and research for 2,700 animals from 332 species at 29 animals farms on a 2,420 square kilometer area of zoological and botanical gardens.

Seoul Zoo website

Located south of Seoul as part of the colossal Seoul Grand Park (technically in Gwacheon), the natural landscape is beautiful. You’re nestled in rolling, forested hills that are green in summer and every shade of fire in autumn. The walkways are spacious and pleasant to stroll along.

The adorable (free!) themed buses are hop on-hop off style and get you wherever you need to go in the park when your legs give out.

Speaking of transportation, there are two ways to get from the parking lot to the zoo. One is significantly safer than the other if you are carting wiggly toddlers– but my boys loved them both. The animal tram & the skyway! There are 2 skyway routes (blue and red- pictured below), so check the map carefully before you board.

The playground at this zoo is absolutely amazing. It has the longest, slightly twisted, tube slide that I have ever seen. There’s rock climbing features, a basic playground, an area for toddlers, and a famous (well…that might be a stretch) elephant slide. We can easily stay there for hours.

Here is the zoo website for more information.

#2 Gwacheon National Science Museum

This museum is great for a couple of reasons:

1. So many of the exhibits are very hands-on! A necessity for curious little ones.

2. There’s a huge variety of disciplines covered: physics, human biology, paleontology, astronomy, geography, transportation & motion, and more.

3. You don’t need to speak Korean to learn something here. Of course that would help, ha! but it was still totally worth attending.

Don’t miss these areas:

The natural history (read: dinosaur) exhibit on the second floor is especially fun. There are both indoor and outdoor play structures and tons of grounds to explore around the museum’s exterior. Shaded picnic benches outdoors around property make for the perfect day trip. Didn’t pack a lunch? Of course there is a convenience store right at the entrance to grab some gimbap!

Once again, the English Visit Korea website is very helpful with logistics information. Here’s the page for the Gwacheon National Science Museum.

Pricing is insanely cheap for a science museum: adults are 4000 won, school-aged children are 2000 won, and younger kids are free.

Note: This museum (along with half of the country’s institutions practically) is closed on Mondays. I’ve forgotten this multiple times and driven all the way down. Don’t be like me. 😉

#3 Children’s Grand Park

Children’s Grand Park is a mega-park north of the river in East Seoul (Gwangjin-gu). The park is filled with all sorts of activities inside: several excellent playgrounds, flower gardens, dancing water fountains, sculptures & artwork throughout the park, an amusement park, a zoo (that I don’t recommend), the Seoul Children’s Museum (that I wholeheartedly DO recommend- more on that soon), and so much more.

Aside from all this, there’s a spacious man-made splashing creek & jumping fountains to play in during the summertime. Seoul is a city with humid, hot summers…but rather complicated rules to follow at public swimming pools. Simple ways to get your kids cooled off in summer = gold!

There are nursing rooms available, restrooms, and strollers available to rent. There’s great transportation/parking/operating hours available on the English Visit Korea page for Children’s Grand Park.

#4 Seoul Children’s Museum (within Children’s Grand Park)

Oh baby. This children’s museum is truly phenomenal. It is four floors of nonstop play. But LEARNING play. HIDDEN LEARNING PLAY. My boys had to be dragged out of this museum at the end of every visit- and we had a membership that we used pretty regularly.

The water play area on the 4th floor is always a fan favorite (Pack an extra change of clothes if it’s winter because your children might get soaked).

Annual membership details: Family of 2 Membership (30,000 won), Family of 3 Membership (40,000 won), Family of 4 Membership (50,000 won). We had the Family of 2 Membership for my preschooler, toddler, and myself–children under 36 months are free, just bring ID.

Seoul Children’s Museum website

Features that take this museum from awesome to a mega-parent-favorite?

There is the cutest room upstairs for small groups to enjoy their packed lunches. There’s even a separate padded play area just for toddlers. And infant care rooms. And the bathrooms have kiddie toilets and I get irrationally excited about how miniature and great those are.

#5 The War Memorial of Korea

So…chances are you wouldn’t necessarily think to add a “war memorial” to your youngster’s activity list. For obvious and understandable reasons. Hear me out. This place, titled War Memorial is really more of a War Museum, and by War Museum they really mean “here are some massive airplanes and tanks you can run around & explore outdoors at no charge.” There’s even a lovely little airplane themed-playground on site.

Don’t miss the Children’s Museum on-site!

Oh, and an actual children’s museum…appropriately titled The War Memorial of Korea Children’s Museum. Official website (in English!) here.

The children’s museum on site is free of charge, but you will need a timed reservation from the front-desk. Reservations start every hour at the top of the hour. Grab a timed ticket reservation when you first arrive, then explore the outdoor exhibits & playground while you wait for your turn to tour the children’s museum.

The children’s museum is well-done and pretty hands-on… but rather small. It’s perfect in winter, though! A major bonus is the tumbling play area/climbing area at the end of the museum.

The main exhibits inside the larger, main area of the War Memorial are fantastic. There are some old cars and huge old wooden boats on display that could interest younger visitors. I’d be a bit wary of the war-specific walk-throughs and corresponding photos & videos for those under 8 years old (personality depending of course). However, for older children & adults I think it’s a great way to understand Korea’s background and get caught up on its complex history.

The War Memorial & Children’s Museum are closed every Monday. Outdoor exhibits & playground open daily, though.

#6 Seoul Forest

Seoul Forest is another Seoul mega-park with so much going on throughout the property. As far as great activities for children, I want to highlight the:

• Insect Garden (closed Mondays)
• Butterfly Garden (closed Mondays…are you surprised? and closed Nov-April)
• large playgrounds (several throughout the grounds); my very favorite playground closed and is under construction currently, but I’m sure they are planning something even better in its place.
• large, open, grassy areas to play soccer & run
• Jumping Water Fountains (open summer months; so fun)
• Eco Forest (wild animals such as deer can be found here)
• Visitor’s Center (infant care room & AC to cool off for a bit in summer)

You can find transportation info & hours of operation in English on this page of their website. If you are car-less this park is a great option because the subway stop is right at the front gates (it’s called the Seoul Forest stop).

#7 Olympic Park

Located East of Seoul (and within walking distance of our neighborhood), Olympic Park is massive. Similar to Seoul Forest, there are many walking trails, ponds, gardens, and playgrounds. It’s well known for being the site of the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul– hence the large Welcome Gate with the 5 Olympic rings, and the flags of the nations of the world. It’s located just down the street from Lotte Tower (the tallest point in Korea).

The reason I want to include it in this list, though: the humongous paved area for children to take their roller blades, balance bikes, scooters, and more. In a big city it can be hard to navigate crowded sidewalks with children in general- let alone when they are on a set of wheels. This park was the best place I found in Seoul to let my kids ride safely and with much more freedom.

I am also very partial to the playgrounds themselves. There are spacious grassy parks to kick a ball around, museums to wander, cafes to stop at (this is Korea after all), and so much more.

Two other great activities here worth mentioning:

1. You can rent a family bike (quadricycle) to take on a tour of the park (pictured below, on the right). We all loved this.

2. For 1000/2000 won per person, you can ride a train around the perimeter of the park (pictured above, on the right). My boys were both obsessed with this and we did this pretty regularly. The GS25 (pictured above, on the right) is where you purchase a ticket for the train.

That wraps up the 7 Best Places for Kids in Seoul!

That wraps it up. Me and my kids’ 7 favorite places to spend time in Seoul, after 3 years of extensive touring! Please share if you know anyone with kiddos in Seoul that would benefit from these amazing places! What would you add?? Let me know below in the comments if you agree with this list!

& Don’t forget to check out these other articles for expat parents & kids in Seoul!

Nine Helpful Apps for Living in South Korea

Childbirth in South Korea vs. USA

25 QUICK TIPS FOR PARENTS WITH BABIES & TODDLERS LIVING IN SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

HERE ARE 4 FANTASTIC WEEKEND GETAWAYS NEAR SEOUL (FAMILY FRIENDLY!)

35 GREAT CHILDREN’S ACTIVITIES IN SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA!