Seoul Children’s Museum (서울상상나라)

Imagination playground, Wood cabin, Designer’s room, Journey to the space… and much more. Let’s have fun in the newly opened interactive Museum perfectly designed for kids!

The brand new Seoul Children’s Museum recently opened in Grand Children’s Park is a prefect place to spend a half-day with your little ones.

You will be surprised how time flies while you’ll be exploring all different playgrounds and activity areas. Just to mention a few of them: you can start by exploring nature and forest then pretend being an artist, dancer or veterinarian, you may send a letter to your alien friend, join the street fashion show in scottish kilt costume or spend hours pumping water in the best water playground in town.

Have fun as much as we did!

Seoul’s Children Museum is a huge kids-friendly educational place on 4 full floors. It is somehow a successor to the now-closed Samsung Children Museum. And possibly even far better than its ancestor!

And when you are done with the museum, don’t forget to take a stroll in the Children’s Grand Park

Opening hours:
10 am – 6 pm (last admission 4 pm)
*Closed on Monday, New Year, Lunar New Year, Chuseok

Admission:
4,000 KRW (kids under 36 months free)

How to get there:
Children’s Grand Park Station (Seoul Subway Line 7), Exit 1.

Directions: Seoul Map for Kids & Families

For more information go to Seoul Children’s Museum

Suncheon Bay Garden Expo 2013 – Garden of the Earth

The International Garden Exposition Suncheon Bay Korea 2013 is an impressive eco-friendly exhibition showcasing the most beautiful man-made gardens from all over the World, lakes, hills & thousands of flowers and trees. The Expo runs from 2013-04-20 to 2013-10-20 near the protected wetland of Suncheon Bay Ecological Park

One of the largest events taking place in South Korea this year, the International Suncheon Bay Garden Expo is indeed a very spectacular realization. The site covers more than 150 ha of artificially created landscapes in close vicinity toSuncheon downtown, while still retaining a very natural feel. The Expo park sits on both banks from the Suncheon Dong Stream that flows 6 km away into the reed-covered Bay area. The Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) shall provide a quick connection to the Suncheon Bay Ecological Park – however it was not in service when we visited.

Overall we have been absolutely amazed by the site, the beauty of all those flower arrangements, the variety of the greenhouses and gardens – more than 20 of them from supporting countries, cities and sponsors. Not to mention a few kids-friendly attractions such as a Kids-garden (featuring Pororo ^^), a summer-must splashy fountain or a tiny animal zoo.

We particularly liked and took most pictures at the following interests points:

• Central Lake with its wooden path and the designed hills

• Dutch Garden

• Korean Garden and its Azalea hills

• Dream Bridge

• Urban Forest

• German-design “Get the Kneipp Feeling”

We visited early May – about a fortnight after the Expo was opened – and a limited number of gardens did not seem to be fully finished yet. Food and beverages can be found in a few spots – however we found the restaurants selection quite limited. If you can, it might be a good idea to take some picnic or snacks with you.

All in all, visiting the Expo is highly recommended and fills up easily an entire day! Be prepared to walk a lot and rather bring water if you visit on a hot summer day. The flowers and landscapes will continuously change and may provide sufficient reason to revisit before it will close late Autumn.

For more information including opening hours, transportation & accommodations :

• Official Website
• Highly recommended Official Guidebook (pdf)
• For Direction go to Seoul Map for Kids & Families

Here is Arirang TV coverage right after the opening

 

If you wish to spend more days in this beautiful region, you may want to connect with Boseong Green Tea Plantation visit as well.

Boseong Daehan Dawon Green Tea Plantation 보성녹차밭 대한다원

Beautiful landscapes where the tea plantations and the cedar trees sprawl lazily across lush valleys and meandering hill slopes – Boseong Green Tea plantation is the perfect setting for a relaxing week-end from Seoul

On your way to Boseong, you will see many fields of green tea but the largest and most famous is the Daehan Green Tea Plantation (보성녹차밭 대한다원). Originally planted during the Japanese occupation of Korea, the Daehan plantation was purchased by Korean entrepreneurs in 1957 and transformed into a beautiful green tea production center as well as a picturesque tourist destination.

You can spend a day just walking around but be prepared that if you want to enjoy the picturesque scenery from the top of the hill, there are many stairs and the climb is really steep. You can do different short walks or hikes around the hill. Don’t miss the cedar forest and walk by the beautiful bamboo forest.

If the weather is hot, try the green tea ice-cream in one of the restaurants and enjoy the view. You can also order noodles, bibimbap or donkasu all of them with a touch of green tea

The Boseong Green tea Festival will take place this year from May 14th to 19th.

Operating hours:

March-October: 9:00-19:00
November-February: 9:00-18:00

Admission:

Adults: 3,000 won
Children (ages 7-18): 2,000 won

How to get there:

From Seoul Central City Bus Terminal. (Express Bus Terminal Station, Subway Line 3,7,9)
Take an express bus to Gwangju.
From Gwangju Express Bus Terminal, take an intercity bus to Boseong.
From Boseong Terminal, take a local bus bound for Yulpo and get off at Daehan Dawon.

For directions go to Seoul Map for Kids and Families

If you want to stay overnight, you can find some simple hotels or pensions around the plantation http://www.nokcharesort.com, http://www.sunflowerhome.co.kr or you can head to the nearby Yulpo beach.