The night was chilly cold but thankfully my sweater is holding heat up on my body.
The N Seoul Tower is a communications tower that sits on top of Mt. Bugaksan. You can reach the top by walking up the entire hill or ride a cable car going up. However, going to the cable car loading area is another thing. We asked some locals on how to get there and we were told to take a certain bus, but we thought that it is so near that we can just walk to it. My new found friend Daisy knows that there’s an elevator going up the hill where the cable car is but the thing is that we cant locate it! We decided to take the longer way instead we walked all the way up the hill and I tell you it wall challenging specially for since I was carrying a bag with my stuff and my tripod plus the fact that I am way over weight is a super challenging factor.
Upon reaching the cable car area we rested a bit and of course I took the opportunity to take photos of the tower. After a bit we lined up to buy tickets that costs around KW 8,500 two way but we thought that it would be a lot more fun if we just walk our way down the the mountain and anyways it would be just easy since it is downhill and we cold save a lot so we just bought a one way ticket for just KW 6,000. There were a lot of people coming in so I thought that there’s gonna be a big crowd up, the line though for the ticket was moving kinda fast so I didn’t expect what I was about to see. After buying our tickets we went to the boarding area and oh boy! Even though the line down stairs at the ticket booth was fast the situation in boarding the cable car was waaaaaaaaaaay far from it! We waited for a couple of hours just to get our turn and board the Cable car in the waiting area, while in line, you would get a chance to sit every now and then. You would also not get hungry because there’s a cafe in the area so no worries about food and drinks. Even though there were all of those amenities it still got a lot boring waiting for our turn and yes it was tiring that made me consider just to ditch our plans, but of course I didn’t since I really wanted to see the tower up close.
Upon reaching the end of the ride you would still have to walk several flights of stairs to reach the base of the tower. The tower’s ground level is high enough to see the city from its top. The famous lovers or couples lock area is also on the deck found at the ground level. I didn’t go up the the tower anymore because there lots of people that day so I assumed that there’s just gonna be a lot up there too and that it would be difficult to take good photos from the top.
View from the top of the hill
The city as seen from the upper deck
Love locks found at the upper deck area
One of the most popular activities here are for couples to lock their love for each other by locking a padlock on the upper deck. It’s actually quite romantic specially during autumn or spring when the cool wind blows gently and the autumn leaves drop from the branches.
A traditional Korean Pavillion
Last glimpse of the tower before we go down
I was really overwhelmed with the activities and what is happening around me when Daisy asked if we could go as she realized that it was really late in the evening already and that we haven’t ate anything yet for dinner, so we started to descend. As I look at my back I saw the tower again and took my last photo of the tower. I feel that I could have spent more time here and enjoyed it but it was a weekend and going up was a challenge while eating a lot of our time. Maybe next time I’ll make sure to visit it on a weekday.
stairs going down
How To Get To The Namsan Seoul Tower
By Bus
You can take buses # 2, 3 or 5 to get to the cable car boarding area.
What To Do In The Namsan Seoul Tower
- Teddy Bear Museum
- Love Locking on the upper deck
- Observatory
- Watch the nightly show projected on the tower
The Hot Citron Tea at tea shop on the ground level is a must try specially if it is quite chilly when you visit, very good for re-energizing your tired body.
For more information about the Namsan Seoul Tower let me share with you my reference for my trip HERE. It includes updated prices other activities that you can try, operating hours and near by tourist spots that you can try and of course a detailed direction going to the tower.
For more of my South Korea Posts visit the links below.
Travelouge: Seoul Searching My South Korea Backpacking Series
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