Seoul for The Three Generations: a Friday-to-Monday weekend

The wide pedestrian square under the palace gate, with the king and the admiral on their plinths, fountains the children run through and benches the elders claim.

A three-minute cable car from Hoehyeon-dong, then a lift to the deck, for the whole city at dusk; the lower station has an escalator up from the street.

Royal-court courses at a long table in a hanok built in 1957 for exactly this, with a traditional dance performance after dinner that an eight-year-old sits through.

The guard change at ten by the main gate, then flat gravel courts and the pond pavilion; over-65s and under-sixes go in free, and wheelchairs are lent at the gate.

Ginseng chicken soup in a hanok of many rooms a short walk from the west gate, one pot each, a mild dish for every age; tables and chairs on request.

Inside the palace grounds, free and with lifts: a Korean village street rebuilt indoors, the year's rites and the games the grandparents played as children.

An hour's loop on the river with a seat for everyone, the bridges passing overhead and the island park at the end for a flat stroll; buy tickets at the pier.

Short ribs grilled at the table in a garden restaurant with carp ponds the children feed between courses, private rooms for big tables and chairs throughout.

A free library of thirteen-metre bookshelves inside the mall, with armchairs, magazines in a dozen languages and a café; the lifts are beside the aquarium.

Five restored hanok in a park at the foot of Namsan, with traditional games on the lawn, benches under the pavilion and no steps worth mentioning.

The 1925 red-brick station beside the airport train, now free exhibition halls with a lift; the old waiting rooms and the domed hall are ten minutes well spent.

Naengmyeon and bulgogi at a 1972 restaurant near City Hall with big tables, a mild menu for the children and the grandparents' noodles done the Pyongyang way.