Going up N Seoul Tower in Seoul, Korea

One of the places on our itinerary during our recent trip to Korea was a visit to N Seoul Tower, also known as Seoul Tower or Namsan Tower. Its official name is CJ Seoul Tower after the original owners merged with CJ Corporation. This was also on our ititinerary when we first visited Korea in 2008 but we opted to do some shopping instead of braving the winter chills to visit the tower, thinking it would be even colder at that height.

The tower was constructed in 1969, serving as a communication and observation tower atop Namsan Mountain in central Seoul, Korea. The tower measures 777 ft. high and is 1,574 ft above sea level at its tip. The tower was opened to the public in 1980, becoming a landmark in Seoul. The tower was remodeled in 2005 adding more lighting effects depending on the season and event.

3 ways to get to N Seoul Tower

1. By Bus from Chungmuro Station (Line # 3 or 4, Exit # 2) or at Itaewon Station (Line #6, Exit #4)

2. By Cable car – Take the subway to Myeongdong Station (Line #4, Exit #3) and walking for around 10 to 15 minutes slightly uphill. The best way, in my opinion unless you are deathly scared of heights.

3. On Foot – NOT advisable, it will take you 30 minutes or more up the wooden staircases on the mountain.

We opted to take the cable car up to the tower so we started walking with no clear idea where to go but armed with a map (always good to have one). The above is the picture of the side of the road we followed, its a pretty wide highway so you won’t miss it. From the exit you’ll have to walk straight pass a few buildings and convenience stores then you have to go down a underground shopping center to come out the other side, then start walking on the brick paved road.

The tower will serve as a beacon in case you get lost, so just walk towards it while consulting the map along the way. Its quite a bit of walking with an uphill bias, good thing the weather was cool despite the sunshine.

At the end of that walk is the small, peculiar looking elevator that will take you to the cable car station There’s even a nice looking memorial at the side of the elevator.

Once you reach the cable car station, there is a bit of queuing to get your tickets as well as waiting for your turn to get on the cable car. We bought round trip cable car tickets for W8,000 each, since its much cheaper than single journey ones.

    

The cable car ride was pretty smooth and in a couple of minutes we reached the top. There’s more walking up the stairs once you get there, so better wear sensible shoes.

Here’s a nice view of downtown Seoul from the base of the tower. It’s nice and clear, I wish we could have visited the tower during nighttime, maybe next time.

There are restaurants like the N Grill revolving restaurant, gift shops, the Teddy Bear Museum as well as the tower fence. The tower fence is where couples snap on a personalized padlock as a symbol of love for each other. I failed to take a picture, only Fran and Paul did this. You can also go up to the Observatory to be even higher up but this entails another fee of W9,000 for adults.

We visited the Teddy Bear Museum and ate some Cold Stone ice cream before heading back to the cable car station, rather tired since we had also visited Gyeongbokkung Palace in the morning, which was also a lot of walking.

N Seoul Tower 

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