Scenic view at N Seoul Tower – Part 11

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On our last night in Seoul, we made our way to the N Seoul Tower in Seoul. This tower is actually a communication and observation tower located at Mount Namsan. Perhaps that’s the reason why it’s called N Seoul Tower? I only found out about Seoul Tower when I was there, reading the tour guidebooks. To get there, we had to take the subway to Myeongdong station, and exit at gate 3. After around 10-15 minutes of walking, we reached the cable car station and paid 6,300won (RM19) for a return trip ticket. Look, cable car coming!

Cable car

Once the cable car arrived, you can choose to stand near the front or the back. The front would have the view of the tower, while the back would have the view of the Seoul city. We chose to stand in front, and within minutes, we reached the base of the tower!

View of Seoul Tower from the plaza area

Once we reached the mountain top, we saw a variety of cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops on the terrace. And this flying man too.

Flying man

Seoul Tower is popular for lovers due to its romantic nature of enjoying the night view, and the very classy restaurants located at the top of the tower itself. Needless to say, dining in these restaurants (especially the revolving one) does not come cheap! Be prepared to spend at least 60,000won (RM180) per person to dine with a view! *gasp*

Apart from dining at the expensive restaurants, another signature of Seoul Tower is the fence area which is full of padlocks! And I mean REALLY full! These padlocks were put in place by the romantic couples who visited Seoul Tower, in hopes of ‘locking’ their love for each other forever. There were messages written on each lock and though most of them were in Korean, there were some in English, too. Very sweet!

Padlocks at Seoul Tower

When we were there, I was also tempted to put a padlock there but didn’t have any. Browsing through the souvenir shop, they did sell padlocks (of course!) but at a much elevated price at around 7,000 won (RM21) for a small one! Being the practical us, we decided not to get it and just observed the scenery there.

Endless amount of padlocks

As though the fence was not enough, they had padlocks on trees as well! *gasp*

witch with padlock trees

Since we didn’t purchase the ticket to go up the tower (cost around 7,000won/RM21), we hung around the plaza and terrace area, and I came to see these colourful lights. They were apparently called Reed of Light Garden. (source)

witch at Reed of Light Garden

There was also a Pavilion at the lower area of the plaza, where people could rest while enjoying the view from the mountain.

Pavilion

Restaurants at roof terrace

We saw many cafes at the roof terrace and instead of settling for drinks, we went for ice-cream! The stall was called Cold Stone Creamery and as its name implied, it used cold stone to ‘cook’ your ice-cream with extra condiments.

Lining up to buy ice-cream

I chose the one with chocolate chips and nuts mixed with the ice-cream, and watched as he ‘cooked’ them on the cold stone.

Pretty good business

This was how the final outcome look like! If I’m not mistaken, this cost something like 3,500won (~RM10), which was by no means cheap! But it was good! Perhaps eating ice-cream in cold weather tasted better, because the ice-cream wouldn’t melt so easily and you could take your own sweet time eating it.

Cold Stone ice-cream

Outside the roof terrace, there was a huge balcony area where we could see a magnificent view of Seoul city. Needless to say, it was not easy to find a good spot to take photographs with the throngs of people around, but you just need to be patient. Or you could stare at a couple or breathe down their necks while they take their own sweet time at one spot, hoping they would get the message and move away. *LOL* Luckily, we didn’t have to do any of that to find a great spot for photography. Took these pictures using my LX3.

Scenic view from N Seoul Tower #1

Scenic view from N Seoul Tower #2

Us at Seoul Tower! <3

After admiring the views to our hearts’ content, we left Seoul Tower and headed towards the cable car station. And while walking, we stumbled upon a great angle to take a photo with the tower itself! This photo was taken courtesy of a nice Japanese tourist who happened to be there with her friends. She had to take several shots to get a nice one, up to the point of almost lying on the ground, just to capture the whole length of this tower. *LOL*

Us with Seoul Tower in the background

Before I end this post, let me show you another scenic view taken from Seoul Tower terrace. It’s definitely a romantic place to go with your loved ones, to enjoy the breath-taking view or to ‘lock’ your love, however you may see suit.

Scenic view from N Seoul Tower #3

To get to Seoul Tower using the subway, follow these directions:
From Myeongdong Station, it is a ten-minute walk to the cable car platform. The way up by cable car offers a great view of Seoul and a pleasant ride.

Fare: Round-trip: 6,300 won
One-way: 4,800 won
Opening Hours: 10:00~22:30

1. Take Subway Line 4 to Myeongdong Station
2. Take exit 3 from the station
3. Take the wide road next to the 7-11 convenience store
4. Walk straight to the left of Pacific Hotel
5. Continue walking through the commercial quarter until you reach a small stairway
6. Walk up the stairway
7. Continue walking by the restaurants on your right
8. Keep walking up in the direction of Mt. Namsan
9. There is a vacant lot on your right and you will find the cable car platform

For more information on Seoul Tower, check out this website that tells you all that you need to know about Seoul Tower!

To read the rest of my Korea adventures, check out my Seoul Trip Itinerary.