One cold night at N Seoul Tower – Day 15 in South Korea

After a tiring walkathon around Ewha U and Myeongdong, we decided to visit N Seoul tower which was also just around the area. I just realized why most of Koreans are wearing rubber shoes all the time. Them Koreans just love walkin'! I was wearing flat boots throughout the day but foot blisters can't be helped. I feel sad for women who are wearing heels walking on Seoul's sloped and inclined roads (for Filipinos, tiis-ganda lang! lol).

A view of Sunset in Seoul

We decided to take the cable car up the tower just for a change (as we've been using buses all throughout the duration of our 16-day trip). However, the directions are quite tricky so I'm putting up a guide for your convenience :)

NOTE: There is a free cable escalator that you can use called Namsan Oreumi, if I remember correctly, is very near from Hoehyon station, too bad we only saw this when we were on our way down from the tower! This escalator will take you directly up to the cable car station. Anyway, our effort hiking up was still worth it as you can still see how locals live in Myeongdong.

Cable Car Directions:
From Myeongdong station, take Exit 3. From people coming from Myeongdong shopping stores, the landmark is Pacific Hotel. Take the road wherein you can see a 7-11 store. From there just walk straight ahead.

The rest of the trip would feel as if you were climbing up a hill. You would see another convenient store which is also a landmark. Just walk straight until you see a residential area, nearby here, you should be able to see stairs.

Stairs leading to Seoul tower cable car

Upon reaching the top of the stairway, turn right. After 2-3 minutes of walking, you will see some restaurants that means you are nearby the cable station. Continue walking.

You will also see some signs that will lead to Namsangol Hanok Village. This could have been a nice sidetrip as well if you have enough time.

Stairs leading to Namsangol Folk Village

Ta-daaa! After approximately 5 minutes, you should be able to see this building. The Korean text on the building reads: Namsan Cable Car. There are also restaurants on the first floor for those people who got hungry from hiking up.

Namsan Cable Car Station

We went here on a Saturday and we were not expecting the queue!!! The line starts from 3rd floor of the building and when we arrived, it almost reached past the parking lot! Beware on going here on a weekend! We waited for around 45-60 minutes just to ride the freaking thing! Good thing our trip to Korea was planned during autumn, if this was during the summer, gaaaaah!

The queue on a Saturday afternoon

I wouldn't mind queueing with this awesome view!

cable car going up to Namsan

The round-trip ticket was 8,000 won. It was probably not worth it going up to the cable car station, waiting for an hour, then paying this fee so I recommend taking the bus to go to the tower (I haven't tried it yet though). The view was fantastic though, looking at the city on a sunset could have probably cured all the sores on my feet, however it was really crowded and it felt like we were inside a can of sardines. lol Hiking up the tower would have been a good idea too given that the weather was perfect that day.

Namsan cable car roundtrip ticket

Almost there!

The view you can get while riding the crowded cable car.

Upon reaching the tower, for some reason I can't remember, we immediately headed to the gift shop section which had pretty interesting items but we're quite pricey. You would also be able to see these "love tiles" nearby. There are also restaurants on the ground floor to complete the romantic ambiance.

Cute figurines at the gift shop

Love tiles

N Seoul Tower, commonly known as Namsan or Seoul Tower, is one of Seoul's most popular tourist spots that is often visited not just by foreigners but by locals alike. It is located on Namsan Mountain and is a communication and observation tower. The 236.7meter-tower marks the highest point in Seoul.

N Seoul Tower :)

After exploring the shops around the ground floor, these interesting display of locks in the Rooftop Terrace catched my attention. Apparently, these are called "Locks of Love" and at present, you could see thousand of these locks that signifies each couples' testament of their unwavering love for each other.

Christmas tree of love locks and love messages

If the couple breaks up, you could always throw away the lock in case you kept your key. I remember that this section was featured in one of Amazing Race's episode wherein the contestant have to find a certain padlock.

For a nice view of Seoul during the night, you can hang around the Rooftop Terrace for breathtaking views of the city. If it wasn't too cold and crowded that night, I would have probably just stayed there for a while and appreciate the beauty before my eyes.

The nightscape of South Korea's most radiant city, Seoul

We were about to leave and me and my friend were just taking our last pictures of the tower when a Caucasian guy approached me and gave me two tickets to the Observatory for FREE. He and his friend didn't have time to go there so he just shared these to us. I am not sure if I was able to thank him properly, if you're reading this, Thank you very much! We didn't really have plans of visiting the observatory but as we had free passes already, we decided to go there anyway. We did not go to the Teddy Bear Museum as we have already went to the same museum in Jeju.

Our free ticket to the Observatory :D

There was a queue for the elevator going up. Once we were inside there was a pretty cool 3D presentation that will sure to keep you occupied while waiting to reach the third floor. Once we were there, we noticed that the area was pretty small which we did not expect. There were some restaurants and cafes as well. We took pictures of the cool glases that has some of the World's cities printed on them.

some stuffed toy display around the Observatory

Hope I'll be able to go here someday (with enough money and courage!)

The Observatory offers a 360-degree panoramic view of the city of Seoul. I couldn't say that it was anything different from what you could get from the Rooftop Terrace aside from there are less distractions from the view. It was also pretty crowded given that it was dinner time when we were there. Nevertheless, the nightscape was absolutely gorgeous!

Seoul during night

Overall, I'd really recommend going here especially during nighttime and if you can, with your boyfriend/girlfriend please! Seoul has its way of rubbing it in your face that you are single, and of course, going here is no exception as there are tons of lovers excited to put their love locks. It's also a cool way of seeing Seoul in a different light.

Bye for now, Seoul Tower T_T

Cable Car Operating Hours: 10:00-23:00
Round trip ticket: 8,000 won

N Seoul Tower Operating hours:
Sunday-Thursday
Observatory: 10:00-23:00

Friday-Saturday
Observatory: 10:00-24:00

Admission:
Observatory: 9,000 won
Teddy Bear Museum: 8,000 won
Package (Observatory + Teddy Bear Museum): 14,000 won

Follow my footsteps in South Korea!

Day 1: Gangwon-do Chuncheon and Nami Island	Day 2: Gangwon-do Mt.Seorak (Seoraksan)	Day 3: Gyeonggi-do Yongin and Food Tour	Day 4: Gyeonggi-do Suwon: Hwaseong Fortress, Korean Folk Village	Day 5: Gyeonggi-do Everland	Day 6: Gyeongju Food Tour	Day 7: Gyeongju Seokguram Grotto Bulguksa Temple Cheomseongdae and Anapji Pond
Day 8: Busan Railway Train in Korea	Day 9: Busan Igidae Coast Busan Fireworks Festival	Day 10: Busan Haedong Yonggungsa Temple Flying with Jeju Air	Day 11: Jeju (E) Food Tour- Altang Dragon Rock Jusangjeolli Cliff Teddy Bear Museum The Seaes Resort	Day 12: Jeju (W) Sunrise Peak Seopjikoji Trick Art Folk Village Sangamburi Crater, Mt.Halla Manjanggul Cave, Maze Park Jjimjilbang	Day 13: Seoul Flying with T'way Airlines Couchsurfing in Korea	Day 14: Seoul Palaces and Bukchon Village
Day 15&16: Seoul Myeongdong and Ewha University N Seoul Tower	Booking Flights via T'way Airlines	Travel Report for South Korea 16 days travel itinerary and tips