While people back stateside celebrate thanksgiving in November, in Korea we typically celebrate thanksgiving in September. This means Christmas festivities kick-off on November 1st, which is perfect for those visiting before the “official” holidays who want to experience some of that Christmas magic in Seoul.
This year The Hyundai Seoul wasted no time (or expense) in setting up their holiday decor, complete with a beautiful French Christmas village right inside the mall. In fact, their annual Christmas Village, “H Village,” is so popular that reservations filled up before it was even open to the public. So, now what?
Nothing warms the holiday season like Christmas markets. That’s why we have our always-updating list of Christmas Markets in Seoul, so check it out and get your yearly quota of mulled wine.
How to visit the H Village
If you missed out on reservations, never fear, you can still visit the village by standing in a virtual queue. The village is located on the 5th floor of The Hyundai Seoul. On the outskirts of the village you can find QR codes to scan. It’ll lead you to a KakaoTalk message that tracks your place in line. If you’re from abroad or don’t have KakaoTalk, you can get a ticket from one of the staff around the village.
There is definitely going to be a longer wait time during the weekend, as opposed to weekdays. We suggest arriving by 10:30 AM on weekdays when the mall opens. We went a little before 11 AM on a Saturday and got into the village around 2:30 PM.
What is there to do at H Village?
H Village is The Hyundai’s annual Christmas village. This year, it’s an immersive recreation of a French-style Christmas market. Half of the village is a collection of photo zones where you can line up to take pictures inside various “shops.” It can get a bit crowded and monotonous waiting in line after line, but don’t let that distract you from the beautiful twinkling lights, intricate displays and adorable animatronic bears in the village.
The other half of the village is actual shops! The main shop sells official H Village merch like teddy bears and ornaments. We picked up an adorable Paddington Bear ornament to add to our tree this year. There are also shops that sell Christmas cards, ornaments, hair accessories and pastries. There’s even a shop that sells jams and chocolates from one of our favorite shops in Paris. So, of course we had to grab a fresh jar of jam!
Is it worth the wait?
If you want to immerse yourself in some Christmas magic while taking some memorable photos, it’s definitely worth it! The Hyundai Seoul is probably one of my favorite malls, so the wait time went by relatively fast. We did some shopping, had lunch, grabbed some coffee and then it was our turn to go in.
Truthfully, the part that took the longest time was actually going through the village itself since there were lines for each shop and photo zone. If you plan visiting, be sure to give yourself enough time to just enjoy and take it all in. on
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