COEX Mall and Aquarium

Seoul has an amazing amount of malls, shopping districts, and traditional outdoor shopping areas. Today, I'd like to introduce you to one of the malls I visited when I first got to Korea back in November. It's a fairly large mall known as the COEX. By fairly large, I mean three floors, one of which is underground, and hundreds of shops, food places, arcades, and book stores. There is even a nice size zoo/aquarium inside the main building. For someone like me who is from a not-so-large city, a mall of this magnitude was nothing short of overwhelming.

I happened to go in the middle of what seemed to be a flower festival. There were flowers arranged in decorative displays, so I assumed it was a holiday of sorts. I entered the COEX through the main entrance, which leads into the display area. Various schools, associations, and businesses set up kiosks to display their products and/or services. The first and second floor of the COEX mainly consist of display areas, with a few large restaurants mixed in. The main shopping area of the COEX is in the basement, which is also attached to the Samseong subway station and two hotels. Stores in the basement range in variety from small Korean shops to brand name outlets including Adidas, Nike, American Eagle, and many others. The food court within the COEX is massive. There is everything from Chinese food, to Mediterranean, to American. You name it, they got it. Not to mention, there are probably 20+ coffee shops and a ton of restaurants randomly in the COEX, including a TGI Fridays. There is a full service movie theatre attached to the COEX as well.

The most impressive part of the COEX is the aquarium within. I really should call it a zoo, though, because there were other animals besides aquatic ones inside. The aquarium looks tiny from the outside, but I think you will be pleasantly surprised with how massive it actually is. The entrance fee is 15,000W, which is about $13.50 depending on the exchange rate. For that price, this exhibit is absolutely worth it. Take a few hours to check things out, snap photos, and just have a good time.

Directions
Getting to the COEX is fairly easy, whether you take the subway, a taxi, or the bus lines.

• Subway: Depending on your location, you need to find the nearest transfer station for line 2, the green line (or inner-city line as they call it). Head towards the Samseong station, which is where you will exit. Exit #6 will lead straight into the COEX mall.
• Bus: Depending on your location, you want to make your way to Samseong subway station. This can involve many transfers depending on your location, so I would recommend the subway instead. You can use this site to find a direct bus route to the COEX.
• Taxi: Unless you know Korean or have a friend that can translate for you, I would not recommend a taxi trip. Some taxis do offer service to English speakers, but are few and far between.