N Seoul Tower - Seoul, South Korea

Landmark by day and awesome tower of light by night. The N Seoul Tower is a must visit. We visited this place the first night we arrived in Seoul and re-visited it on our last night in Seoul. It is one of the most memorable locations we visited.

The first night, we decided to walk to N Seoul Tower from where we were staying. It didn't seem that way. It was uphill all the way though. We walked for awhile and then we saw a sign. We were going in the right direction and according to the sign, we were 1.3km away. Alright, 1.3km is not far. We can do it. 15-20 minutes later, we arrived at a second sign. It pointed to the stairs a couple of meters to the right of it. And according to this sign, we were 1.3km away. What?! How could we still be 1.3km away. Did we miss another way up? Oh well, since we were there, we decided to just climb up the stairs, I mean, how bad could it be? 

We climbed for about 10 minutes. I was all sweaty at that point. We spotted an observation deck and ventured onto it for a break. We rested and took some photos and then, we were ready to continue our climb. We stepped out of the observation deck, back onto the stairs and we saw a lady in stilletos! She was walking up effortlessly and there I was, all sweaty and out of breath in my sneakers. We had to overtake that lady and we managed to do that, but only because she stopped to wait for some other people who were walking at a much slower pace. 

Anyway, we got to the top and arrived at the cable car station. We walked a little bit further up and there was an area with tons of lovelocks. We took pictures excitedly. There are quite a few romantic spots there. We walked around and even watched a short 3-D clip inside base of the tower. 

We came back again on our last night in Seoul. We tried taking the cable car this time. The queue for the cable car was so long. We waited for about an hour before our turn. The ride took about 5 minutes. Pretty quick. We went for buffet at a restaurant in the tower. The environment was lovely. We had grilled meat, odeng, cake, tofu, and lots of ice cream. After dinner we walked around and took photos of the view and of us. We also visited the Hello Kitty souvenir shop. 

And that's my experience of the N Seoul Tower. We didn't go up. Walking around the tower is memorable enough for me. I will remember the cold night air, and how beautiful the tower and night scenery of Seoul looked. 

3 Hottest Shopping Spots in Seoul

Shopping is one of the main reasons tourist flock to Seoul. South Koreans are well-known for their amazing sense of fashion and South Korea for its forward beauty industry. If you're into brands and stuff, you'd be visiting malls and specific brand shops. In Seoul, fashion is not only about brands and for anyone looking to buy trendy street wear pieces and affordable cosmetics, there are 3 shopping streets which would be heaven.

1) Myeongdong

This place has countless beauty brands shops. There at least 2 shops for brands such as Innisfree, Tony Moly, Holika holika, Etude House, Nature Republic, Its Skin and more in the shopping area. There are Olive Young Outlets and Aritaum Outlets here and there too. On these streets, there are fashion stores selling clothes, bags and shoes, all trendy and "in" for the current season. Street food here is good and although slightly higher priced than street food in Hong Dae and Ehwa, it is worth the extra you pay because it tastes that slightly much better too. If you're coming by Subway, exit the station via Exits 4 or 6 and you'd be at one of shopping streets. Price of "odeng" here is 1300 won.

2) Hong Dae

The land(street) of Baskers. Street performances are a norm here and you can see talented performers entertaining onlookers. They manage to attract and sustain crowds and you just might have to stop and be a part of the crowd as you walk by. It will be well worth your time. This place also has many beauty and fashion stores like Myeong Dong. Here, you'll find crowds of young adults and students whereas in Myeong Dong, the crowds are mostly made up of tourists and working adults. This is not surprising as this area is close to the university. To get here by Subway, alight at Hongik University Station. There are stalls selling street food and food shops here too. Price of "odeng" here is 1000 won.

3) Ehwa

Shopping here is more straightforward. There is one main shopping street which branches off into a number of tiny lanes filled with shops. The crowd here is smaller compared to Hong Dae and MyeongDong and there are many students too. I did spot some other tourists as well. After visiting all 3 shopping streets, I found that the bags and clothes sold on these streets are similar. There are 1000 won socks sold everywhere. Also, you can find many of the korean cosmetics brand shops at all 3 areas. Myeong Dong and Hong Dae seem to have almost the brands and Ehwa has quite a number. Price of "odeng" at Ehwa is 500-700 won if you cross the street at the subway station exit away from the shopping street. 

If shopping at the above 3 "in" places is not enough to satiate your shopping appetite, worry not. Continue shopping at the Namdaemun Market (day) and the Dongdaemun Market (evening and night). There is more food and fashion to be found here. 

Experiencing Seoul on a Short Trip - 5 Must Visit Places

Seoul is a beautiful place where heritage buildings lie admist skycrapers. Here, there are roads lined with vendors selling things on carts right in front of countless cosmetics and fashion stores. I was in Seoul for 7 days and stayed in the Myeongdong area. I visited palaces, shrines, temples, shopping streets, universities, markets and malls. If you're on a short visit, I would suggest visiting the following places.

 1) Palace/Temple/Shrine (Suggestion : GyeongBukGong)

Pond in GyeongBukGong

I visited 4 palaces, 1 shrine and 2 temples. The architecture is similar so if you're short on time, pick at least of these to visit, to look at the architecture and get a feel of the place. I would suggest visiting GyeongBukGong palace and follow a guided tour. This tour covers explanation about the throne room, the King and Queen's lifestyle, stories about some other buildings and also talks about the architecture. After following this guided tour, you would be able to learn a little about the history and you will also learn why palaces, temples and shrines we see in Seoul have similar architecture.


2) Local Spa and Sauna

Entrance to the elevator to Golden Hot Springs

This is a must visit. Pick one at a convenient location for you and drop by for a visit. Spare at least 2-3 hours for this experience and you would probably appreciate it more when the weather is cold or after a day of walking. I picked Golden Hot Spring in Seocho-gu as it was conveniently located close to where I was sightseeing. It was a rainy day. This place is in a multi-story building of shoplots and there is an elevator which we can take to get to the entrance of this spa(see photo on the right). At the elevator, there is a sign showing which floor to go to. They're occupying lots on 3 floors. The floor of the main entrance is where the unisex sauna and relaxation area is. One floor up is for ladies and one floor below is for men. If you're a lady, you get a locker upstairs in the ladies only area and men get lockers in the men only area. There are multiple hot pools, showers and hot rooms (saunas). There's even a restaurant where you can get food and a lounge area with a TV.

3) Noryangjin Fish Market

Noryangjin Fish Market (from the second floor)

This fish market is a wet market selling fresh seafood. Almost all the fish and other edible sea animals sold here are still alive. Even if you don't eat seafood, you've got to visit this market to experience the environment and have a look see. I came here with 2 other people and we bought a large crab for around 33000 won and a platter of sashimi for 30000 won. Even though the sashimi platter was prepared beforehand (we did not see them cutting up the fish), it was very fresh. The texture of the fish is firm and there is not the slightest hint of that slightly slimy layer which builds up after some time. Seafood which is bought can be brought to the restaurants on the 2nd floor. These can be cooked by the cooks in the restaurants for a price, depending on the way the food is cooked and the number of people.

4) Nami Island

A lovely path on Nami Island

Nami Island is where parts of the K-Drama Winter Sonata was filmed. This is one of the first K-Dramas which catapulted K-Dramas' popularity, a big boost to making K-Dramas as well-known as they are today. I know some of us are not avid watchers of K-Dramas and you might think, why would you even want to visit Nami Island then if you don't care for Winter Sonata. Visiting Nami Island is not all about going to the filming locations of Winter Sonata. Nami Island is a beautiful Island and you can get really nice portrait and landscape photographs here. They even have chalets on the Island so people can come for holidays to relax and enjoy this nice place.

5) Banpo Bridge (Night Lights)

Banpo Bridge at night

Banpo Bridge at night is beautiful and entertaining. Some people might say go up N Seoul Tower. I'd say come to the South side of Banpo Bridge. There's a musical water show around 9 PM. From here you can see N Seoul Tower and two beautifully lit bridges one either side of Banpo Bridge. I got here at 9:15 PM and still managed to watch the musical show play a few songs. Banpo Bridge is pedestrian friendly and you can walk across it if you fancy.

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