106 attractions in Seoul, including Seodaemun Prison History Hall, Dongmyo Shrine (Donggwanwangmyo) and Seoul Munmyo and Sungkyunkwan.
Museums
서울특별시
Seodaemun Prison History Hall is a modern prison built under Japanese rule and preserved as a museum. It opened in 1908 and held prisoners for almost 80 years until 1987: independence activists such as Kim Gu, Yu Gwan-sun and Ahn Chang-ho,…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
Dongmyo, formally Donggwanwangmyo, is a shrine to Guan Yu, a general of China's Three Kingdoms period. A Chinese general's shrine in the Joseon capital may seem odd, but it is a legacy of the Imjin War, the international conflict of the 15…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
Just inside the main gate of Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul Munmyo and Sungkyunkwan preserve a shrine to Confucius and the highest state academy of the Joseon dynasty within one walled compound. The old lecture hall and student dormitories…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
In Joseon Korea the phrase "jongmyo-sajik" simply meant the state, and Sajikdan was one of its two pillars alongside the royal ancestral shrine of Jongmyo. Set on the lower slopes of Inwangsan west of Gyeongbokgung Palace, this is where th…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
The Samjeondo Monument is a stele that Joseon was forced to erect to the "virtues" of the Qing emperor Hong Taiji after surrendering to the Qing in the war of 1636. Its official name is the Stele to the Merits and Virtues of the Emperor of…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
On the east bank of the Han River, the Amsa-dong Prehistoric Site is where Neolithic people lived in a village about 6,000 years ago. An exhibition hall built directly over the excavated house pits and a park dotted with thatched pit house…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
Joseon kings are buried in royal tombs called neung, but this grave in Banghak-dong, Dobong-gu, is merely a myo. That is because it belongs to Yeonsangun, the tenth Joseon king, who was deposed after a reign of terror, and his wife, Lady S…
Gardens & parks
서울특별시
Olympic Park in Bangi-dong, Songpa-gu, covers about 1.45 million m². It was built for the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and today it is a public park of stadiums, concert halls, museums and wide lawns. Right in the middle s…
Viewpoints
서울특별시
On the Han River in Seongdong-gu, Eungbongsan is a rocky hill under 100 m high, yet from the pavilion on top you see the meeting of the Han and Jungnangcheon streams, Seoul Forest and Gangnam across the river at a glance. In spring the who…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
In the Bukhansan foothills of Seongbuk-gu, Jeongneung is the tomb of Queen Sindeok, second wife of King Taejo, founder of the Joseon dynasty. Once a royal tomb in the heart of the capital, it was pushed out by political rivalry and neglect…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
In Gongneung-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul, next to the national athletes' training village, lie two Joseon royal tombs. Taereung belongs to Queen Munjeong, third consort of King Jungjong, and Gangneung to her son King Myeongjong and Queen Insun.…
Fortresses
서울특별시
Between the apartment blocks of Pungnap-dong in Songpa-gu runs a long, grassy ridge. It looks like an embankment, but it is a massive rammed-earth wall built by the Baekje kingdom on the bank of the Han River. As excavations have continued…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
A few minutes' drive from Gangnam's office towers, stone officials, warriors, horses and sheep stand in rows on grassy mounds among the pines. Heonilleung is the joint name of two royal tombs where King Taejong, the third ruler of Joseon,…
Viewpoints
서울특별시
On a cliff above the Han River in Heukseok-dong, Dongjak-gu, Hyosajeong takes its name from a pavilion built by No Han, a minister under King Sejong, in memory of his mother. The current building dates from 1993, but the spot was long prai…
Viewpoints
서울특별시
Seoullo 7017 is a sky garden built on an old overpass that once carried cars across the tracks at Seoul Station. On a road 17 m above the ground, hundreds of round planters now line the walkway, with the railway and the old Seoul Station b…
Gardens & parks
서울특별시
Seoul Forest is a large park in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, where the Han River meets the Jungnangcheon stream. It opened on 18 June 2005 and covers about 1.16 million m², making it Seoul's third-largest park after World Cup Park and Olymp…
Museums
서울특별시
At the end of the Deoksugung stone-wall road stands a red-brick facade with three round arches: the Seosomun main building of the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA). The front is a 1928 courthouse, and behind it sit modern galleries for contempora…
Gardens & parks
서울특별시
Seoul Botanic Park, opened in May 2019 in Magok, Gangseo-gu, combines a botanical garden with a public park. It covers 504,000 m², about the size of 70 football pitches, and most of it is a park you can walk around for free; only the green…
Gardens & parks
서울특별시
Seoul Children's Grand Park in Neung-dong, Gwangjin District, opened on Children's Day in 1973. About 530,000 m² of woods and lawns hold a zoo, a botanical garden, an amusement park and an open-air stage, and because entry to the park is f…
Museums
서울특별시
Right in front of Gyeonghuigung Palace, a short walk west of Gwanghwamun, the Seoul Museum of History traces more than 600 years of the city, from Joseon-era Hanyang to the boom years of modern Seoul, under one roof. Admission is free, and…
Old towns & squares
서울특별시
Seochon is an old Seoul neighbourhood between the western wall of Gyeongbokgung Palace and Inwangsan Mountain. Its name means "west village", and behind the palace wall you will find hanok alleys, a small market and houses where painters a…
Gardens & parks
서울특별시
In the heart of Jamsil, beneath the soaring Lotte World Tower, lies a lake lined all the way round with cherry trees. Seokchon Lake Park, officially Songpa Naru Park, turns a lake left behind by an old branch of the Han River into a walkin…
Gardens & parks
서울특별시
Seonyudo is a small island in the middle of the Han River, and the whole of it is a park. It covers just 0.11 km², yet it still holds the huge concrete tanks and columns of the plant that once produced Seoul's tap water. Instead of tearing…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
Seonjeongneung is a group of Joseon royal tombs in Samseong-dong, Gangnam, right next to the office towers of Teheran-ro. The name combines Seolleung and Jeongneung, where King Seongjong (the 9th king), his queen Jeonghyeon and their son K…