Sites in Seoul
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A Rainbow of Colors in Seoul’s “Green” Spaces
With a population density twice that of New York City, you might picture Seoul as an urban jungle packed with tall buildings. While there is no shortage of cityscape, one of the greatest aspects of Seoul is its many parks. From ancient mountain trails to re-claimed industrial land, there are endless places to enjoy the outdoors. Before we arrived, all I could picture were city streets with neon signs and futuristic architecture. Now I realize what I will probably remember most about Seoul is the green space. We have visited many parks here, but this post will be dedicated to two of the largest and most interesting parks we have…
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Awesome Autumn Adventures in Bukhansan National Park
Autumn leaves, rocky trails, AND a giant golden Buddha? Sign me up! Bukhansan National Park is unusual in that Bukhansan (the southernmost mountain within the park) is technically within the city of Seoul. You can reach much of the park utilizing only the Seoul subway system. Perhaps because of this accessibility within a major metropolitan area, Bukhansan made the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s “Most Visited National Park per Unit Area.” We added to those numbers, visiting twice during October to appreciate one of the park’s other distinctives: one of the best places in Seoul to see the changing leaves. Knowing it would be really busy, we…
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What is Chuseok? How We Spent Our Autumn Holiday
Chuseok (추석), which literally translates to “Autumn Eve,” is often described as Korea’s Thanksgiving holiday. It is also called Hangawi (한가위), “the great middle of autumn.” A three-day holiday celebrated in September or October each year according to the lunar calendar, Chuseok is one of the two most important holidays of the year and is celebrated in both North and South Korea. (Lunar New Year is the other large, family holiday.) This year, the holiday was a little different as the government raised the level of social distancing guidelines, encouraging Koreans to stay home rather than risk spreading COVID-19 by visiting family around the country. Important Chuseok Traditions Like Thanksgiving,…
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Some Inwangsan evening, you may climb a mountain
Some Inwangsan evening, you may climb a mountain, you may climb a mountain to a panoramic view. The Seoul City wall has shown up in several of our past posts (Baegak Mountain Hike, Heunginjimun Gate in Dongdaemun, Naksan Park). The wall’s length means we have explored it section by section on several occasions. The wall is one of my favorite features of Seoul. The juxtaposition of its ancient stones against the steel and glass high-rises exemplifies Seoul. Hanyangdoseong, the ancient Seoul city wall, was originally built in 1396 during the reign of the first Joseon monarch, shortly after the capital was established in Seoul. Currently, about 70% of the original…
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Walking to School Uphill Both Ways: Welcome to Gwanaksan
If you’re looking for a campus to keep you fit while you walk to classes, Seoul National University is the place for you! Completed in 1975, the Gwanak Main Campus is built at the base of Gwanak Mountain (Gwanaksan), and as such includes a dizzying number of hills and stairs. The university is so integrated with the mountain that we finished this hike by staggering right onto campus – after viewing it from above at the summit. In order to end up at the university, we started our hike on the other side of the mountain, in the city of Gwacheon (just south of Seoul). Since it was such a…
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Urban Hiking Challenge on the Baegak Mountain Trail
Before we left the U.S. for South Korea, we told a group of friends that even with our 250-pound luggage weight limit, we were going to make room to pack our hiking boots. Even in COVID times, hiking is still open and (mostly) free. Well, it’s finally cool enough in Seoul to do some real hiking, and those boots are getting a workout! Seoul City Wall We prioritized hiking the Seoul City Wall (Hanyangdoseong) as a way to see as much as we can within the city. The 18.6 km-long wall originally was built in 1396 across the four mountains surrounding Seoul: Baegaksan, Naksan, Namsan and Inwangsan. Called Seoul Fortress…
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Noryangjin Fish Market: This Post May Not Be Suitable For Vegetarians
Just across the Han River from Yongsan-gu, our home away from home, sits the futuristic glass and concrete building housing the Noryangjin Fish Market. I think it looks like a cruise ship from above, and it certainly houses enough sea life to make this a fitting image! The old Noryangjin market was an outdoor, covered market, but in 2016 this updated, indoor version was opened. Parts of the old market still operated until very recently, but now the old market is gone and just the new building remains. It was easy to walk through the wide, well-lit aisles. We never felt crowded. I can imagine the old market felt much…
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Surviving the Last ‘Dog Days’ of Seoul Summer
Staying outside as much as possible is a necessity in Seoul’s current semi-lock-down, but wow has it been hot and humid here! There’s no option to escape into a cool museum or a pool. It has been a time to get creative with planning! So what is there to do outdoors in Seoul in these last days of summer? Ansan Jarak-gil Trail Ansan Mountain looms over the former Seodaemun Prison, now a museum surrounded by Seodaemun Independence Park. The museum is closed because of COVID right now, so I won’t say much about it as hopefully we will get to visit it someday. The Independence Park is a monument to…
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A Private Tour Of Changdeokgung Palace and VIP Dining
When we arrived for our tour of the Changdeokgung Palace’s Secret Garden, we were welcomed by this sign: We had booked our tickets in advance after reading that it can be very difficult to get a tour, especially if you want the English-language version. Well, just prior to Seoul’s COVID shutdown our tour looked like this: Don’t get us wrong – we do not wish a COVID outbreak on any country for any reason. However, in the ‘making lemonade out of lemons’ category, the current situation here has meant that anything open is also empty. If we can see it outdoors in relative safety, we’re going while we can. For…
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High Drama at Lotte World Tower: Fear, Vanity, and Greed
Walking out on to the Sky Deck at Lotte World Tower was terrifying. I did it, but I did not look down. Our recent visit to the tower took us to dizzying heights, but also led us to explore how and why the tower was built and the soap-opera story of the Lotte tycoon and his family. Lotte (low-tay) World Tower is currently the world’s fifth tallest building. It stretches 556 meters (1823 feet) into the air and is the tallest building on the Korean peninsula. By comparison, its roof line is a bit higher than the pinnacle of One World Trade Center in NYC. Compared to other super-tall buildings,…
