Seoul is a capital that sits in a bowl of granite mountains, and that is why it feels so layered. Bukhansan rises behind the old palaces to the north, Namsan stands in the middle with its tower, and the Han River slides through the south. The city has been the Korean capital since 1394, when the Joseon dynasty chose it, and the royal palace of Gyeongbokgung was built soon after. A fortress wall still climbs some of the ridges, and walking even a short section gives a fine view over the roofs. Insadong, with its tea houses and craft shops, and the hanok streets of Bukchon preserve the old style of wooden courtyard houses among the modern towers.
Riding in Seoul is not for the faint-hearted. Traffic is dense, lanes are fast, and delivery riders thread through everything at high speed. The city has a ring of expressways and a web of bridges across the Han, and parking is scarce and often expensive. If you must ride in, plan your route with care and consider leaving the bike outside the centre and taking the metro, which is clean, cheap and extremely efficient. The rewards of a ride out of the city are close: within an hour you can be in Bukhansan National Park, or on quiet mountain roads east of the capital with long views and few cars.
Food is the reason many people come. Barbecue restaurants fill the evenings with smoke and talk, street vendors sell tteokbokki, a chewy rice-cake dish in red sauce, and the markets at Gwangjang serve fresh bindaetteok, a mung bean pancake fried to order. Coffee shops are everywhere and open late. The Cheonggyecheon stream, restored from under a highway in 2005, makes a pleasant walk through the middle of the city.
Fuel is easy to find, although petrol stations in the centre are fewer than on the outskirts. Spring brings cherry blossom, autumn brings crisp air and clear sky, and both are the best times to visit. Winter is bitterly cold with dry winds, and summer is humid, with heavy monsoon rain through July.