Come out of Exit 13 of Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station, and in about a minute you reach the Goodmorning City shopping mall, right across from the curving roofline of DDP (Dongdaemun Design Plaza). Head down to the basement, open the door, and an unexpected scene appears: Sparex Goodmorning City (스파렉스 굿모닝시티점), decorated with traditional Korean houses as its motif. Soak in the "Wongi Hoebok-tang" bath beneath wooden rafters, sweat it out in an old-style hanjeungmak kiln sauna, and you soon forget you are in a mall basement. Its hanok-inspired interior has also made it a word-of-mouth favorite among international visitors. Open 24 hours with a food court that runs through the night, it is a 24-hour jjimjilbang in Dongdaemun that fits perfectly after a late night of shopping. You can even leave your bags, head out and come back to rest, which makes it handy for the hours between hotel checkout and your flight. Seshin (Korean body scrub) and massages are also available, so give them a try if you want the full Korean bathhouse experience.

If Sparex pairs well with a day of shopping in Dongdaemun, a charcoal kiln in the forest awaits on days you explore Sinchon and Hongdae. Just behind Sinchon, busy with university students, a traditional charcoal kiln, rare in Seoul, sits in the woods at the foot of Mt. Ansan. Take the green bus 7024 from Seoul Station to its last stop, Bongwonsa, and Soopsok Hanbang Land (숲속한방랜드) appears right by the parking lot. The star here is without question the charcoal kiln. Sit inside the heated kiln and beads of sweat soon form on your forehead. Once you have sweated enough, step outside and cool down in the breeze on a wooden platform in the forest. You can roast sweet potatoes or garaetteok (rice cake sticks) over the outdoor charcoal fire, perfect for a snack between sessions. In November, when the air turns crisp, the smell of sweet potatoes roasting in the coals feels especially welcome. One charcoal kiln is all it takes to feel far away from the middle of the city. It opens at 6:30 a.m., so you might also stop by early and start your day feeling refreshed.

If you want the exact opposite of the rustic charcoal kiln, head to the heart of Gangnam next. About three minutes on foot from Exit 8 of Seolleung Station, in the basement of a building on a Gangnam street lined with office towers, you will find Club K Seoul (클럽케이서울). Its spacious floor of about 1,000 pyeong holds hanjeungmak sauna rooms such as a red clay room, an ice room and a salt room, along with private rooms where you can rest quietly on your own. What sets it apart from other jjimjilbang are the books and artworks that fill its walls. Works by well-known and emerging designers hang on display, and the shelves hold books curated around art. Book concerts are held from time to time, and the place describes itself as "a jjimjilbang with culture." After sweating it out in the sauna rooms, sit down in the café zone and turn a few pages, and the word jjimjilbang starts to feel a little new. One jjimjil ticket lets you stay for 12 hours, and since it is open 24 hours, it is a good place for a long break between plans in Gangnam.

Source: Aquafield Hanam website

If you want to step outside central Seoul and relax with a wide-open view, head to Hanam on the outskirts of Seoul. On the 3rd and 4th floors of Starfield Hanam, a large shopping mall in Hanam just outside Seoul, Aquafield Hanam (아쿠아필드 하남) offers a place to rest that is hard to believe is inside a mall. It is about a 12-minute walk from Exit 1 of Hanam Geomdansan Station, but the effort is quickly forgotten once you step into the jjimjil spa. Each heated room has its own theme: a bulgama kiln lined with Gochang red clay walls, a cloud room so misty you feel you are inside a cloud, a maekbanseok stone room using stones from Yecheon in Gyeongsangbuk-do, a charcoal room filled with Hoengseong oak charcoal from Gangwon-do and a cypress room playing forest videos. There is even a media art room where you can enjoy heat therapy while watching 360-degree panoramic videos. After making the rounds, lie back in the family hall, where the Han River spreads out beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows. Soaking your feet in the outdoor foot spa while taking in the view is another pleasure unique to this place. There is also a separate adults-only lounge with recliners, ideal for travelers who want peace and quiet. Introduced on its website as a "2026 Excellent Wellness Tourism Destination," it is worth an unhurried day trip during your time in Seoul.

Source: Shinsegae Department Store Centum City website

If you are traveling to Busan, add hot springs to your itinerary along with the sea. Busan has jjimjilbang and bathhouses filled with natural hot spring water drawn from deep underground. Three minutes from Exit 12 of Centum City Station in Haeundae, on the 1st floor of Shinsegae Department Store Centum City, busy with shoppers, is Spaland Centum (스파랜드 센텀). Its biggest draw is meeting hot spring water from 1,000 m underground, right inside a department store you visit to shop. It draws two types of natural hot spring water, one containing calcium chloride and the other sodium chloride, and runs them at different temperatures in hot, warm and lukewarm baths. Moving back and forth between the hot and lukewarm baths, your body soon feels lighter. In the jjimjil area, you can try traditional saunas and heated rooms from around the world one after another. The 2nd floor has a relaxation room with recliners, a restaurant and a café, as well as the "Ottogi Ramyeon Land," where you can pick and taste Korean ramyeon after your session. With luggage lockers in front of the ticket office, it is also a good place to rest after dropping off your bags on the day you arrive in Busan or the day you leave. It tends to get crowded on weekends and rainy days, so aim for a weekday morning if you want to take your time.

Source: Hurshimchung

Take the subway from Centum City and Dongnae Oncheon, a hot spring with stories dating back to the Silla period, awaits. An old legend is told about Dongnae Oncheon. An old woman saw a white crane soak its injured leg in the hot spring water and fly away completely healed, and she then healed her own aching leg with the same water. This is the "White Crane Legend." Royalty and nobles have visited this hot spring since the Silla period, and during the Joseon era its fame even reached Japan. About ten minutes on foot from Exit 1 of Oncheonjang Station, you reach Hurshimchung (허심청), where you can enjoy that Dongnae hot spring water in today's style. Opened in October 1991, it has a hot spring bath area of about 1,300 pyeong (4,300 ㎡) that can welcome 3,000 men and women at the same time. Some 40 baths, including the Jangsu-tang, Hoemok-tang, cave bath and open-air bath, follow one after another, and seasonal event baths with natural bath salts and herbal medicines change throughout the year. Sunlight pours in through skylights in the high ceiling, so it feels open even indoors. The clear, colorless and odorless hot spring water rises at a hot 46–60°C. Hurshimchung opens at 5:30 a.m., so you can also start a day in Busan with an early-morning soak.

Once you have picked a place, it is time to learn how a visit works and what etiquette to keep in mind, so nothing catches you off guard. A jjimjilbang is divided into bathing areas used separately by men and women, and shared jjimjil areas where everyone rests in the same outfit. How to use a jjimjilbang is simpler than it looks for international visitors, and knowing the order and a few rules will make your visit far more comfortable.

Some places do not provide shared shower towels (scrub or body towels) for hygiene reasons, so it is a good idea to bring your own. Large suitcases cannot go into the locker room at some places, so use the lockers in front of the ticket office or a luggage storage service. Many places also limit how long you can stay on one admission (4 hours at Spaland Centum, 6 hours at Aquafield Hanam and 12 hours with a jjimjil ticket at Club K Seoul). Buying baked eggs and sikhye at the snack bar and enjoying them while lying in the lounge is a jjimjilbang pleasure you should not miss.