Namsan: Park, Tower, and Village

These tropical bodies (which, sadly, does not translate to beach bodies) started out at 930 in the morning as little Eskimos, bundled in thick coats, scarves, boots, and gloves. We left our little igloo (that felt like a very cold cave) to explore nearby Namsan Park, whose paths, our host told us, will lead us to N Seoul Tower in just 20 minutes.

Namsan Park

Directions to Namsan Park:

Hoehyeon Area: Take subway line 4 to Hoehyeon Station and take exit 4, then walk for 20 minutes. 

Hannam Area: Take subway line 6 to Hangangjin Station and take exit 2. Then take bus #0014 and get off at Hyatt Hotel (Botanical Garden). Bus comes every 10 minutes and the bus ride takes about 10 minutes. 

Baekbeom Square on the northwest side of Namsan Park

is where we started our journey on foot

Twenty minutes by her legs she means! We started off from Sowol-ro (Sowol Road) following an ascending trail to Baekboem Square on the northwest side of Namsan Park. From Baekbeom Square, we followed the path, crossed a road, and found ourselves outside Global Village Folk Museum. Then more walking, taking us an hour and a half up so many steps to get to N Seoul Tower with the help of too much excess fat weighing us down and too many autumn leaves making us stop, pant, strip, stare, and shoot every few meters.

N Seoul Tower

Directions to N Seoul Tower:

By subway and cable car: Take subway line 4 to Myeongdong Station and take exit 3. Walk about 10 minutes to the cable car station.

By subway and bus #2: Take subway line 3 or line 4 to Chungmuro Station and take exit 2. Hop on the Namsan Sunhwan Shuttle bus no. 2. You can also get on Namsan Sunhwan Shuttle bus no. 2 at Dongguk University Station (line 3, exit 6).

By subway and bus #3: Take Namsan Sunhwan Shuttle bus no. 3 from any of these stations: Seoul Station (line 1 or line 4, exit 9), Itaewon Station (line 6, exit 4), Hangangjin Station (line 6, exit 2).

By subway and bus #5: Take Namsan Sunhwan Shuttle bus no. 5 from any of these stations: Myeongdong Station (line 4, exit 3), Chungmuro Station (line 3 or line 4, exit 2).

We did not go up the tower observatory (admission fee of KRW9000; open from 10AM to 11PM, or up to 12MN on Fridays and Saturdays), but instead took photos of trees and leaves, refueled at one of the restaurants, and sat around for an hour and a half before going off again to burn off our lunch calories, take a gazillion more photos of trees and leaves, and to find our third and last Namsan stop.

From N Seoul Tower it was an easy (but hard on our oldie knees) walk down paths and steps surrounded by leaves of many colors on the ground and on trees. In an hour or so, we found ourselves in deserted backroads surrounded by houses and no directional signs. We had to stop several times to catch open WiFi signals and find ourselves in relation to Namsangol Hanok Village.

Namsangol Hanok Village

28, Toegye–ro 34–gil, Jung–gu, Seoul

Wednesdays to Mondays 9AM to 8PM

Free admission

Directions to Namsangol Hanok Village: Take subway line 3 or line 4 to Chungmuro Station, exit 3 or 4.

We eventually found Namsangol Hanok Village, a collection of five traditional Korean houses from different parts of the city that have been relocated at the foot of Namsan mountain. I was almost tempted to rent a hanbok from a shop just outside Namsangol Hanok Village, and pretend to be some ancient Korean in an ancient village. But I thought I'd soon feel silly and did not want to add more to the pile I was carrying, which was most of my Eskimo outfit.

This article is now available as a mobile app. Go to GPSmyCity to download the app for GPS-assisted travel directions to the attractions featured in this article.

South Korea Quickie 2014

Wisdom from the Road #22
Seoul: Lessons From My Seoul Airbnb Experience
Seoul: Gwangjang Market
Seoul: Namsan: Park, Tower, and Village (you're here!)
Gyeongju: Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto
Wisdom from the Road #29
Busan: Mr Egg Hostel (Nampo)
Busan: Scenic Sites of Busan: Taejongdae and Oryukdo
Busan: Wishes at Haedong Yonggungsa Temple
Busan: 40gyedan–gil and Beyond
Busan: Gamcheon Culture Village
Busan: An Ignoramus in Busan
Daily Dose of Kindness in South Korea
Squeezing Three Cities and One Wallet in Five Days
Busan: What's in a (Business) Name? Busan