Seoul (Seoul Selection Guides) Paperback – Illustrated, September 30, 2011

I just returned from a trip to Seoul, and I'd recommend this guide with some caveats.The best aspect of this book is its thorough description of different neighborhoods in Seoul with pictures that help give a flavor of different parts of the city. Maps are overall helpful (more on Seoul maps below) and I appreciated the "best of" lists at the beginning of the book. This is the best guidebook for Seoul based on my experience with other other Seoul travel guides (Lonely Planet, Moon) that other family members purchased, none of which came even close in terms of the depth found in Koehler's guide.However, as much as I enjoyed reading Koehler's guide, the practicality of the book is a problem. First, before I left, I reviewed the language section with a Korean-speaking coworker, and she was not impressed. Although the book provided "useful expressions," saying them was another problem as the author did not describe how to pronounce different vowel combinations or consonants used in the romanization of hangeul. Second, the book lacks logistic details. For example, hotel descriptions were weak and details regarding visiting the DMZ were lacking compared to other guidebooks. I'd refer to other guidebooks or the internet to plan the logistics of your travel. Third, although Koehler provides "best of" lists, I don't think he was critical enough about his description of things to see or do in Seoul that you felt you could prioritize neighborhoods or sightseeing locales. As much as his book has a lot of depth, you may not have a great idea of what to do or see first beyond the "best of" lists provided by the author. Finally, let's talk about food. For many foreigners, their major entry into Korean culture is through food, and I know for me, I was excited about trying authentic cuisine. I would've greatly appreciated a list of recommended restaurants and tourist traps to avoid. The book provides a description of different types of Korean cooking, but there was no recommendation for places to try these foods. Sadly, I went to the concierge at my hotel instead.I know my list of caveats is not short, but this is simply the best book out there on Seoul. If you are bilingual, I recommend you look into other, Asian guidebooks. I'd look into a Japanese guidebook, for example, as there seems to be more Japanese travelers to Korea than from other English-speaking countries.My recommendations:1. Korea House. Very entertaining dancing and performances, but don't eat there. The food was overpriced and frankly not very good. My sister picked up a useful pamphlet here, too, which had some helpful recommendations for major neighborhoods.2. Take the USO tour of the DMZ. Probably the most relevant part of my trip. You leave with a sense of shock over the sophomoric behavior of North Korea (really, competing flag poles?) and the very real and palpable tension between the two countries in a small confined space. Be sure to plan ahead. You'll need at least 48 hours to schedule a spot on the tour and there is a dress code.3. Eat Korean BBQ at Samwon Garden. I couldn't stop eating! They cook the beef over red-hot wood right at your table with a ton of condiments.A note on maps of Seoul: Most books and pamphlets about Seoul use the same map, including Koehler's book, which consists of a combination of traditional map and cartoon drawings of different important landmarks and shopping/eating spots. Be warned: many streets aren't named and only major streets are shown. Overall, however, the maps were helpful.

There are pros and cons. Despite the cons, I would recommend this book because it comes packed with wonderful information.Pros:-First part of the book contains information on places. Second part contains information on Seoul, getting around, some basic vocabulary and phrases.-Has a general map of Seoul with general locations and landmarks at the beginning. There are smaller maps throughout the book that cover those areas in more detail.-Includes a subway map.-Lots of details about the many of the bigger, main areas of interest. Includes historical tidbits and background information to give you a better idea if the place is worth visiting.-Lots of hidden finds as well. One of my favorites was Sungkyunkwan University, which doesn't even show up in TripAdvisor.-Separate Seoul's Best lists for history, the arts, scenic spots, things to eat, shopping, and things to do are great to help prioritize what you want to do.Cons:-General map should be pull out map. I couldn't see the middle because it's caught in the binding and while trying to read the middle, I loosened the pages. I can see the map now but have to be careful about not letting it fall out of the book.-I was disappointed in the lack of reference to the Hallyu/Kpop/KDrama scene. Some locations are mentioned, like COEX Mall, without referring to anything Kpop. The official Seoul tourist websites themselves put a lot of emphasis on their Hallyu industry and so see a Seoul guide book just completely ignore it was unexpected.

I really do think this is the best Seoul guide book ever. There has been a lack of good Seoul guidebooks on the market. What defines a good guidebook to me? Well, the book format itself, layout, pictures, full color, up to date info, maps (need lots of maps), and an index. This book has all of the above, but one thing: an index. The fact that it was missing an index is the main reason why I took off one star on the rating. Everything else about the book is great though. I think the author was missing some attractions though (ie- didn't mention Amsa-dong prehistoric settlement site park...still located in Seoul). Also, I think the author could have made better use of the color format of the book by adding some more photos. For example, he would just show one or two pics when discussing certain places like the War Memorial Museum in Yongsan or the National History Museum. When people are deciding on where they want to go to certain places, pictures help..especially in a guidebook. But I know it's hard to cram everything in one book, so I still say it's a great guidebook for Seoul (until DK Eyewitness guides finally decides to publish a Seoul guide). I would say this book is the best on Seoul...although Insight Guides has a pretty good colorful book on Korea in general. By the way...on a non-content observation, the actually publishing/print/binding of the book is top notch. You'll know what I mean when you actually hold a copy. The book just feels nice and is a good size with a nice cover. A bit pricey...but I won't regret buying it.

Great book. The emphasis is on the character of the different neighbourhoods, and this is very succssful. The number of colour photographs is quite extraordinary. (Unfortunately, this makes it expensive too). But why is there no index? I hope they put one in for the second edition.

Comoda in digitale da portare con se, è fatta bene, tratta anche i luoghi fuori Seoul da visitare. Personalmente ci ho messo un po’ a capire come muovermi nella guida, forse perché in digitale, ma non mi è sembrata subito ben organizzata.

Wenn in Deutsch dann noch besser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

not a great guide, it is more of a history book.

This book helped me a great deal in preparing for my trip.Gives you a great choice of sites to see and things to do.The maps per area helped me whenever I would get lost especially by having the nearest subway stations clearly indicated.What would have made this book amazing would have been to include street names on the maps.Cheers!