Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Like a phoenix, Seoul’s premier palace has risen several times from the ashes of destruction. Hordes of tourists have replaced the thousands of government…
Must-see attractions in Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
The World Heritage–listed Changdeokgung is the most beautiful of Seoul's five main palaces. You must join a one-hour guided tour to look around. English…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
With its landscaped walkways, footbridges, waterfalls and a variety of public artworks, such as the enormous pink-and-blue shell entitled Spring in Cheong…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Meaning ‘North Village’, Bukchon, between Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung, is home to around 900 hanok, Seoul’s largest concentration of these traditional…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
The focus of Jogye-sa is the grand wooden hall Daeungjeon, Seoul's largest Buddhist worship hall and the epicentre of Korean Buddhism. Completed in 1938,…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Surrounded by dense woodland, the impressive buildings of the Confucian shrine Jongmyo house the spirit tablets of the Joseon kings and queens and some of…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Combining architectural elements from several centuries of Seoul's history, this branch of the city's premier contemporary-art museum is an impressive…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Give yourself at least an hour to do justice to this excellent museum. It has three main exhibition halls, covering the history of the Korean people, the…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Korean business magnate and contemporary-art collector Kam Chang-il has found the perfect home for jewels from his collection at this ivy-clad brick…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
To gain an appreciation of the total transformation of Seoul down the centuries, visit this fascinating museum, which charts the city's history since the…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
The impressive main gate to Seoul's premier palace is flanked by stone carvings of haechi, mythical lion-like creatures traditionally set to protect the…
National Museum of Korean Contemporary History
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
The last century has been a tumultuous time for Korea, the key moments of which are memorialised and celebrated in this museum charting the highs and lows…
National Palace Museum of Korea
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
In a modern building in the southwest corner of Gyeongbokgung's compound, this museum displays royal artefacts that highlight the wonderful artistic…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Walk through the dense woodland at the rear of the main buildings of Changdeokgung and suddenly you come across a serene glade. The Huwon is a beautiful…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
This modern hanok was rebuilt using traditional methods on the site of two older ones to create a home with museum grandeur that gives a rare opportunity…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
This 10-tier, 12m-high monument in Tapgol Park once graced Wongak-sa, a Buddhist temple that stood here but was destroyed in 1504 on the orders of the…
Tteok & Kitchen Utensil Museum
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
For those interested in the local sweet culture, this two-room museum at the Institute of Traditional Korean Food offers displays of rice cakes in…
Daelim Contemporary Art Museum
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Daelim specialises in exhibitions on photography, design and fashion. The building, which was originally a family house, was remodelled by French…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Kukje's two main gallery spaces are found off the main road, behind its restaurant building, which has the running woman sculpture by Jonathan Borofsky on…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Pioneer of the Tongui-dong gallery scene and specialising in representing contemporary Korean and Japanese artists, such as Naru Yoshitomo and Yayoi…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Contrasting with the modern Jongno Tower opposite, this ornate pavilion houses a recent copy of the city bell – the original, forged in 1468, is in the…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Seoul's first modern-style park, opened in 1897, stands on the precincts of Wongak-sa, a Buddhist temple destroyed in 1504. Left behind was its remarkable…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
This broad, elongated square provides a grand approach to Gyeongbokgung and is used for various events (as well as protests). Giant statues celebrate two…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
The Palace of Shining Celebration, completed in 1623, used to consist of a warren of courtyards, buildings, walls and gates spread over a large area. But…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Cheondogyo means 'Religion of the Heavenly Way', and this temple is the hall of worship for a home-grown faith containing Buddhist, Confucian and…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
This palace has a modest, natural-wood design reflecting the austere tastes of Heungseon Daewongun (1820–98), King Gojong’s stern and conservative father…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Much more interesting than the tour of Cheongwadae itself is this exhibition hall opposite the exit from the presidential compound. Inside are displays…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Mokin are carved and painted wooden figures and decorative motifs that were used to decorate sangyeo (funeral carriages). Carved by village craftsmen,…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
A statue of the revered scholar king (1397–1450) sits regally on a throne in the middle of Gwanghwamun. An entrance at the statue's base leads down to an…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
This statue is a downtown landmark. Seoul-born Yi Sun-sin (1545–98) designed new types of metal-clad warships called geobukseon (turtle boats), and used…
Bukchon Traditional Culture Center
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
There's an informative exhibition about hanok homes and the Bukchon area, housed in this larger-than-average hanok. It's generally unstaffed but sometimes…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
The regularly changing exhibitions at the gallery in the Sejong Center, the largest cultural complex in Seoul, are generally worth a look for an insight…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
On the right-hand side of the entrance to Jongmyo, the World Heritage–listed Confucian shrine, this building houses the spirit tablets of 83 meritorious…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Constructed from 50 tonnes of steel by American artist Jonathan Borofsky, this 22m-tall superman of a blacksmith built in 2002 is caught still in the…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Founded in 1998, Artsonje supports experimental art, runs workshops and has lectures as well as an annual Open Call for new works. Also here is a cafe and…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
The Gothic-style early-20th-century buildings of this campus are recognised as part of Seoul's built cultural heritage and provide a nice contrast with…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
The small quiet park in front of the public library is a great spot for viewing cherry blossoms in spring and the yellowing leaves of ginkgo trees in…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
The well-lit displays of this private jewellery collection prove that small is beautiful. The pieces were amassed from around the world over three decades…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
The trailblazer for Korea's contemporary commercial-gallery scene, Hyundai has been going strong since 1970 and represents some of the giants of the scene…
Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu
Based in a restored hanok, Ryugaheon specialises in photography exhibitions, but you may also see other types of art here such as canvases of embroidered…
