New Seoul Tower is an iconic monument to modern South Korea. Easily recognizable rising above the surrounding city atop a hill, it is not a only a practical building, but it is a testament to the nation’s rise to prominence from devastation to global power. The tower is simple, yet it is the simplicity offered that makes the tower such a great place to visit. Our only regret, is that we didn’t visit sooner, but as it was one of our last excursions during our three months in South Korea, we knew that we had to see a New Seoul Tower sunset.

New Seoul Tower Sunset

Built Out of Practicality

New Seoul Tower – Namsan Tower – is a communication and observation tower located on Namsan Mountain in central Seoul. It was built in 1971 and at 236m marks the highest point within Seoul. Currently, it serves as a radio and transmissions tower for numerous stations in addition to being a top tourist destination.

We had actually previously made a couple attempts (though admittedly only half-hearted) to reach N Seoul Tower. Each time before, we had planned it as an afterthought or an end of day type excursion and hadn’t properly done our research on how to get there. It is a little more work than most of the other excursions that we’ve done, because it involved taking the bus in addition to the subway which was a bit intimidating at first  – which we eventually got over.

Towards the end of our stay though, we knew we needed to go see it before it was too late. Briana really wanted to see the tower at sunset, much like our trip to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, so we came into Seoul a bit later in the day. We exited via Chungmuro Station on Line 4 and hopped onto the Namsan Circular Shuttle Bus No. 5, which arrives at 15-minute intervals and will take to you the base of the tower.

Cable Car Or Bus To The Top

If you are inclined, you can skip the bus and take the Cable Car which is a 15-minute walk from Myeongdong Station. It will cost a bit more, but it is a quick, efficient, and scenic way to the top. Alternatively, you can also hike from the base to the top, as the Seoul City Wall makes its way directly along the path to the top of Namsan mountain.

When we arrived at the top, the bus deposits you at the base of a hill, where you still have to walk around another 200 feet up the tower. After the bus dropped us off at the top, we first checked out some of the views around the tower.

Plenty To See, Do, And Buy

Once there, you will find that there are various shops, stalls, and restaurants at the base for you to visit. It is also here, that you can purchase your ticket to the top of the observation deck. The elevator ride takes about a minute to get to the top and once there you are free to wander around the 4 floors.

There is the Hancook restaurant on Floor T1, the Analogue Observatory on T2, a Digital Observatory with a coffee shop on T3 and a revolving restaurant on T5 (Koreans avoid having 4th floors because the Korean word for 4 also means death).

We did not go to the revolving restaurant, nor the Hancook restaurant, but we did get a Tiramisu from the coffee shop – A Twosome Place – and we watched the sunset and Seoul come alive at night. The view is pretty spectacular, giving you a great 360 view of Seoul.

We had a nice time watching the sunset. We had arrived at just the perfect time to see the full transition from day to twilight to night. There is something magical to seeing the lights of the city turn on. A symphony of twinkling lights, starting slowly with just a light here or there and culminating in a crescendo of sparkling colors. We had our New Seoul Tower sunset.

 

Take A Look Around The Base Too

Once we had finished looking around the top of the tower, we took the elevator down and explored more of the area around the tower. Because the focus is so much on the tower itself, it is easy to forget and not even realize that there is more to it than just the observatory.

We discovered a few areas that we were not first aware of. On the very bottom floor, there is an Art Museum, Cafe, and Children’s theater that we wandered around. It was small but pretty cool to see.

There was a pretty neat 3d exhibit and some video/ceiling art.

When we made our way back outside, we came across another popular attraction to N Seoul Tower, the Locks of Love area. This is kind of unique in that there are love lock trees. Here, many couples will lock a padlock as a symbol of devotion.

We also were able to get some good view of the city at night.

So after a few hours, we deemed our trip successful, and headed back home, happy with our day’s excursion.

Make This One Of Your First Stops

While we made this one of the last things we did, we would recommend that this be one the first things you do while here. The tower has lots of trivia and information about the city, looking out in the directions that they are. So the tower can serve as a great place to inspire future trips for your visit to Seoul. Luckily, we had the time to do most everything, but few people visit as long as we did.

New Seoul Tower Sunset – Pin It!