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While I was studying abroad in Seoul, South Korea, my thing was cafes. Almost every day I would try to find a new, fun caf茅 to visit. If you want to visit some really nice cafes, Seoul is the place to go. I decided to compile a list of the cafes I visited with some highlights about what is so great about each of them.

Aesthetic Cafes:

Stylenanda Pink Pool Caf茅

This place is definitely worth the visit for the aesthetic alone. When you walk in, the caf茅 is plush and pink and has a variety of cute drinks and desserts for you to order. When I visited, I got a peach-ade and headed back to the second section of the caf茅: the pool-themed section. This place makes for some very Instagram-worth photos. It is a nice and chill place to relax. This caf茅, however, was not the easiest to find. It is hidden on an upper floor of the Stylenanda building, around a corner and amongst the clothes displayed for purchase. However, this did make entering the caf茅 feel a little bit like stepping into another world, which added to its appeal (and if you follow the signs they have posted inside you will find it eventually).

PINK鈥檚 Waffle Crepe 

This is less of a caf茅 and more of an outdoor dessert place, but it is very aesthetically pleasing with its pink, sparkly, fluorescent appearance. The food there is also really delicious. This is one of the only two caf茅s listed that I actually visited twice, both because it was great the first time and because it is very conveniently located on the main street of Hongdae and I would pass it nearly every time I visited there. I got two kinds of lemonade from here as well as both a waffle and a crepe. You also order from here using a screen, so if you are too afraid to speak Korean, you can just switch the language of the menu and order conveniently in English. It is both convenient and delicious.  

Colline 

This is the other caf茅 that I visited for a second time thanks both to their amazing aesthetic and delicious food. Their fresh fruit and persimmon bingsus are probably the best that I had while I was in Korea (and I tried a lot, so that is a high compliment), which is why I went back again. Their watermelon juice was also the best I tried, and the earl grey chiffon cake I had while there paired with a kiwi juice were also to die for. This caf茅 is also both filled with and surrounded by plants and flowers making the overall atmosphere very nice. There is both indoor and outdoor seating available, so you could gather with your friends to eat on one of the two indoor floors, our sit out amongst the flowers in their patio-like section.  

Greem Caf茅 

This is a fantastic caf茅 to visit if you are looking to take some interesting photos. Greem caf茅 is a 2-D caf茅 that looks like it has been drawn in black in white. They sell little pins at the front counter (one of which I nabbed when I visited) as well as some very cute and themed food. I ordered a cheesecake that looked like cheese, complete with a little chocolate mouse on top, which I felt bad devouring. It is another great themed caf茅 to give a quick visit if you have the time.  

Cheongsudang 

Cheongsudang is an absolutely stunning caf茅 to visit, and definitely one of the most Instagram-able on the list. Cheongsudang is a beautiful water and garden-themed caf茅 with a mix of both modern and traditional elements. I visited the Yeonnam-dong branch, but the more popular branch of this caf茅 is in Ikseon-dong. I ordered a sampler dessert tower while I was there as well as an orange-ade and everything was delicious. Visiting those caf茅 guarantees a good view, good potential photos, a good atmosphere, and good food.

Lovin鈥� Her Flower Caf茅 

This a very cute little flower-themed caf茅. It is not as extravagant as some of the others, so if you just want a nice place to relax for a little while with a nice, sweet drink it is a great place to go. The ice in the drinks is also shaped like flowers, which I find pretty cute and fun. I got an apple-ade here, and it was really good.  

Caf茅 Black Drum 

Located next to the Hybe Insight Museum, this caf茅 really embraces the BTS theme. The inside of the caf茅 is decorated with anything and everything Bangtan. If you order certain drinks, you get free photocards or stickers or other fan-made merchandise. If you order a sandwich, like the banana Nutella one I ordered, they press it with your choice of BT21 character. It is a really nice place to visit after a trip to the Hybe Insight Museum to unbox any of the merchandise you picked up in the shop on the way out.  

Rococo

This is a cute little caf茅 located in Insa-dong with really delectable sweets. They have a wide variety of really delicious donuts (I had the lemon one, but I tried some others that my friends ordered as well), cronuts, macarons, and drinks. I got a pomegranate-ade here and I think it was my favorite of all of the ades that I tried while in Korea. They also give out cute little stickers that you can pick up at the front of the caf茅.  

The SameE 

If you are a fan of any of the K-Pop groups from YG Entertainment, The SameE caf茅 is a must-visit. The caf茅 is located quite literally directly across from the YG building, so you can get a nice coffee and donut, sit by the window, and then watch your favorite idols come and go from their workplace. They give out stickers with your order for whoever in the company has the closest birthday and they decorate the caf茅 for certain events. There is also a merchandise store in the basement of the caf茅 where you can get some very limited YG artist merchandise. 

C27 

C27 is a really cute cheesecake and coffee caf茅 that I found by accident. The strawberry and chocolate cheesecakes I had there were really delicious, and the atmosphere was honestly just really cool. It almost felt like walking into an art exhibit or a theme park with a small aesthetic rollercoaster running through the shop. The one I visited also had a nice view of the street when sitting by the window. 

Billy Angel Cake Company 

If you want some really aesthetic and delicious cake, this is the place to go. When I visited the Billy Angel in the COEX Starfield Mall I ordered what was called a universe cake which tasted just as good as it looked. The cake here was both delicious and light enough that I was able to eat an entire piece and still have room for a full meal of tonkatsu at a Japanese restaurant after.

Noteworthy Chains:

Sulbing

I absolutely adore Sulbing for the sheer variety of bingsu they offer. When asked what my favorite caf茅 was in Korea, I would usually say Sulbing mostly because bingsu was my favorite food while I was abroad. Though I loved just how many kinds of bingsu they offered (from tiramisu to mango and grapefruit), their other food is what really sealed the deal for me. Their tiny fish-shaped bread was super delicious, but one of my favorite desserts I had in Korea was honestly the honey bread I ate at Sulbing.

A Twosome Place 

I really liked the food I got from A Twosome Place. It is probably one of the more common chains you will see throughout Seoul, but that doesn鈥檛 make the food there any less special. The tiramisu cake Bingsu I got there quite literally made my day along with the lemon sherbet-ade I ordered that came with an actual scoop of lemon sherbet on the top. Not too difficult to find and definitely delicious.

Animal Cafes:

Zoo in the City

I just loved this cute little animal caf茅. They had honestly just about everything, and you can tell the animals were well taken care of. There were dogs that ran free in the actual caf茅 portion of the caf茅, a room full of reptiles, and separate rooms for raccoons, meerkats, cats, and a joint room for ferrets and a kinkajou. When I visited, the only room I did not go in was the ferret room, but I had a good time in the others. I went pretty late and the staff working at the time seemed a little intimidated to help my friend as I since we did not speak completely fluent Korean, but it was still a positive experience.

Eden Meerkat Friends (both the Myeongdong and Hondgae branches)

I went to both branches of the Eden Meerkat Friends animal cafes and had a good time at both. The Myeongdong branch was a little smaller, but the meerkats there were a little more friendly. Both of the locations had meerkats, cats, wallabies, foxes, a raccoon, and genets (the Myeongdong branch also had a parrot). The animals seemed to really like the workers, and all they seemed very healthy. They were fun to interact with and the environment of both locations was very nice. There was also English-speaking staff at both locations, making Eden Meerkat Friends a little more approachable for foreigners.

Thanks Nature Caf茅

This caf茅 is absolutely adorable. The food there was delicious; I ordered strawberry bingsu and it is one of my favorite bingsus I had in Seoul. The caf茅 itself is super aesthetic and feels a little like walking into a fairytale as you descend down into it. I believe the sheep sometimes are allowed to wander the caf茅, but when I was there, they were just outside of it, and we were allowed to just freely interact with them after we ordered and ate our food. It鈥檚 a very cute caf茅 that I highly recommend.

Goyangi Multi Cafe Mao

This is actually the first caf茅 I visited in Seoul. It was late at night and my first time in Hongdae, and my roommate and I really wanted to visit a cat caf茅 before they all closed. My roommate found this one and honestly no animal caf茅 was really able to live up to this standard after. The cats in this caf茅 are super friendly, there is a chinchilla that has its own room, the cats have their own wardrobe, and if you go upstairs in the caf茅 there are all manner of games to play while you spend time with the cats from board games to mini arcade games to a Nintendo Switch. If this were a tier list this would easily top the list for animal cafes I have been to.

Cloud with Sky Dog Caf茅

This caf茅 was really cute. Most of the bog breeds there were larger dogs (with a few exceptions) and they all free roam in a big room where everyone is free to sit after ordering from the caf茅 portion. I ordered a really good green grape ade from the caf茅 and then sat and waited for the dogs to come to me. Some of the dogs would cycle around to greet me before heading off to see who was new; it was just a really nice atmosphere. The caf茅 also had a lot of photos of K-Pop idols with their dogs, so if you want to hang out with the same dog as an idol, this is the place to go.  

Winters Village

This caf茅 is a must-visit if you like Samoyeds because this caf茅 is full of them. If you don鈥檛 know what Samoyeds are, they are big, very fluffy white dogs. Winter鈥檚 Village has a whole family of adorable Samoyeds who you can pet and feed. They also all know some cool tricks and will pose for pictures with you. They also have a self-service station for different drinks if you want to sip on a nice ade while you observe the cute dogs.