Neighborhood 48H guide
Gangnam & COEX: Where to Stay & What to Do in 48 Hours
Starfield Library and Bongeunsa temple.
Gangnam is Seoul’s modern business district south of the river. The COEX complex holds Starfield COEX Mall and its two-storey library; Bongeunsa, a Buddhist temple, sits across the road.
Photo gallery
Photo: Sean Young (@assanges) · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: kallerna · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Why stay here
Modern hotels, shopping and the airport limousine bus.
Who it's for: Business travellers and shoppers.
Pros
- Shopping
- Modern hotels
- Good subway links
Cons
- Far from the palaces
- Less character
- Wide roads
48H in Gangnam
Temple, library.
09:00 – Bongeunsa
Temple halls and a giant standing Buddha.
11:00 – Starfield Library
Towering bookshelves inside COEX Mall.
Named recommendations
Real places with links to their official site or a Maps place page. We do not invent hours, prices, or ratings.
Shop
Shop
Starfield COEX Mall & Library
513 Yeongdong-daero
Underground mall with the Starfield Library’s tall bookshelves at its centre.
Photo: Sean Young (@assanges) · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Official site / map →
See / do
See / do
Bongeunsa
531 Bongeunsa-ro
Buddhist temple facing COEX across Bongeunsa-ro.
Photo: kallerna · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Official site / map →
Where to stay
Specific named properties—not vague city-wide searches. Expedia stays use tracked Creator links; others open the hotel's official site.
Roam48 may earn a commission when you book a stay through Expedia or Vrbo links on this page, at no extra cost to you. All commercial stay links use rel="sponsored nofollow".
Hotel · Expedia
Josun Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Seoul Gangnam
Gangnam
Luxury hotel in the Gangnam Finance Center tower.
Check rates on Expedia →
Vacation rentals
Prefer an apartment or whole home in this neighborhood? Browse Vrbo listings for Gangnam & COEX.
In Korea, a home rented to travellers must be registered. In Seoul, most private-home rentals fall under the Foreign Tourist Urban Homestay category of the Tourism Promotion Act: the host must live in the home, guests must be foreign tourists, and the home must be registered with the district office. Officetels and one-room units cannot be registered. Book only listings that show a registration, or a licensed hotel or guesthouse.
Browse vacation rentals in Gangnam & COEX on Vrbo →Other ways to spend 48 hours in Seoul
- Jongno & Bukchon — Gyeongbokgung, hanok lanes and Ikseon-dong.
- Myeongdong & Namsan — Street food, the cathedral and N Seoul Tower.
- Hongdae & Mangwon — Buskers, the Gyeongui Line park and Mangwon Market.
- Itaewon & Yongsan — Global food, Leeum and the National Museum.
- Jamsil — Lotte World Tower, Seoul Sky and Seokchon Lake.
- Yeouido — Han River park and The Hyundai Seoul.
- Seongsu & Seoul Forest — Warehouse cafés, pop-ups and Seoul Forest.
- Dongdaemun — DDP, late-night fashion malls and Gwangjang Market.