Seoul walking tour 1

Walk 1 (approx 1 hour +) - Gahoi-dong, Bukchon traditional hanok village, new and old city views and photo spots, boutique and antique shopping, coffee shops restaurants and a final rest under the trees at Jeongdok Library. Take this map with you.

Take Exit 2 at Anguk Station and walk 5 minutes north past the Constitutional Court on the left) until you reach the Je-dong Primary School intersection. Start here.

The the intersection crossing is pictured below left (you will be walking in from the right and exit left in this picture) - the tall grey building on the right in this photo is the Hyundai headquarters and the leafy trees are in front of Je-dong Primary School. The right photo looks up the street you will continue walking.

Continue north up the hill, noticing the road has a footpath (without cars parked on it) and is lined with pine trees, which they tell me are very expensive. As you walk along for about five minutes you will pass a collection of antique, tea, fashion, interior shops and art galleries. There are still a few remaining 'local shops' where residents can buy this and that, including getting their copper hand beaten by this outfit below (left) for their traditional hanok guttering. You will then pass one of my favourite tea houses, Hongdawon, on your left, (photo right).

Drop in for a cup or pick up a high quality ceramic tea pot or two.

Keep walking another few minutes to this corner, where you turn left at the boutique (pictured right). On the other corner is a chemist (pharmacy/drug store). There are many reasons to keep walking straight, which we will go into another day, but for the moment, we want to introduce you to the back streets. At the top of this long Gahoi-dong hill is the 'kam-sa-won' (Board of Audit and Inspection), which is a good landmark if you need to take a taxi. All the taxi drivers know it.

This is the road you will turn into, which until about a year ago housed a timber shop and milk vendor. The timber shop is now a waffle coffee shop and my local milk vendor is currently becoming a blacksmith's museum (happily, my milk will still be delivered I understand). Follow this road as it bends right an heads up a gentle hill.

The road then bends left and you can take either fork. Today I will take the left road, which is very slightly longer, but not as steep and brushes past the back road to Jeongdok Library.

As you head up, the road bends to the right. Follow it all the way around - you are nearly at one of the most picturesque spots in Seoul. The road heading up the hill on your left passes directly behind Jeongdok Libary and is a short cut if you're in a hurry (but then you would miss the highlight of the tour....)

As you walk along this road (pictured right), look up each street on your left. Seoul City has recently repaved these streets and even put down a 'good photo point' mark on the road so you know where to take your photos!!

Take the second road on your left (pictured right here, follow the green roof in the distance). This is the street which was swamped by the media in December 2007 during the last presidential election. Why? The now President, Lee Myung-bak, lived here in a rented traditional hanok. Naturally, he has moved to the Blue House now, so all the media and police have left and the streets are quiet once more. I understand the house is still available to rent if you are in the market and have deep pockets...

Notice that the house has a terracotta triangle with flower motif in the centre of the roof. In the panorama shot below, you can just make it out in the middle photo. Sadly, you will not normally be able to take this magificent shot as I have been lucky enough to take it from a private house on the hill to share with you. (Please don't bug the residents there - they will not be happy with me!).

At the top of President LMB's hill, we will turn left, but take a moment to notice the magnificent circa 1938 stone house high on the hill with the green roof (again, photo taken courtesy of a local resident). You can walk through a narrow passageway past this house to eventually join the main Gahoi-dong street. There is a steep flight of stairs on the side of this passageway from which you can get a similar shot of the rooftops.

But today, we will walk in the other direction (west) along the road at the top of the ridge. As you walk, look left (south) down toward the city - more excellent photo spots.

The ridge road bends slight right and rises, until it falls away delivering a view across Gyeongbuk Place to the mountains in the distance. Once the road starts dropping down, take the first or second road on your left (south). These roads all head back to the road that runs behind Jeongdok Libary.

This is the second road which runs right across the top of the ridge before it drops down to Samcheong-dong. There are numerous steep stairways down, which you can explore without much fear of getting lost - they will spit you out somewhere eventually. These two streets are now undergoing a lot of renovations so they are not that pretty at the moment. The view across Samcheong-dong and Gyeongbuk Palace of course is always spectacular.

Follow this road as it winds down past the world jewllery museum (well worth a visit) to a t-junction.

Turn right at this t-junction to join the main Samcheong-dong street, or left, as we will today to make our way to Jeongdok Library.

The road will turn right as it hits the wall of the library grounds. When you turn the corner, you will come out at the Art Sonje Centre intersection. There are many coffee shops worth dropping into along this road - take your pick and stay a while (none of them are particularly cheap). There is also Tibet Museum and lots of interesting crafts, antiques, clothes and accessories shops. We will feature them in more depth on the other pages in due course.

Turn left up the leafy entrance to Jeongdok Library. Spend some time strolling and resting in the grounds there. If you get hungry, come back to the intersection and choose from one of the many Korean and international restaurants and coffee shops in the surrounding streets. To make your way back to where you started, just turn left and walk five minutes over the hill to the Je-dong Primary School intersection. Or meander down one of the other many alleys full of things to discover.

I hope that walk wasn't too tiring? I recommend doing it first thing on Saturday or Sunday (or a weekday) morning. It starts getting a little crowded in the afternoon.