Day 5 in Seoul!
We started out by finding the ISEOULU sign, which was very confusing to find. I read reviews online saying that the one next to the river was under constructions of some sort and that it was moved infront of the city hall. So that is exactly where we went, and it was so disappointing I can’t even explain it to you. It was also surrounded by constructions with christmas being right around the corner and it was generally not a very attractive site. Just then, I was checking instagram again, to try and find the other sign. Guess what I found? It’s back. There are two places where the sign can be found.
So off we went, to the other side of town, to find the sign again. What else would you expect to happen next? We got off the wrong station of course. I mean it wasn’t exactly wrong as much as it was just further away than it should have been. Moreover, it was really about time to have some lunch. I have no idea what this district is famous for, but there were just tall buildings and offices and no food places at all. The closest thing we got was a buffet that we were not ready to pay for or a convenience store. But honestly, where do these office people go to eat? So we ended up in the convenience store. I wish I had watched the Korean Drama ‘Dae Jang Geum is watching’ before coming to Korea, to eat convenience store food properly!
Fun fact: There was a black van with tinted windows in front of the buffet restaurant and as it seems also infront of the door to some broadcasting station. My sister was convinced that there was an idol inside that van and that they were definitely filming something. This was the day, we all made it on TV (jks I hope you know that I was being sarcastic because that is definitely not what happened).
How to get to the ISEOULU sign at the Hangang River?
Your best bet, is to get off Yeouinaru Station (and not Yeuido Station! Because that s where we got off, and the walk to the river side wasn’t exactly short or scenic/eventful. So save your time and get off the right station. I am aware that the park where the sign is, is indeed called Yeuido Park but that is unfortunately not the station my friend).
We used this app called citymapper which was super useful to find all the right transportation means!
After taking some pretty unaesthetic photos with the ISEOULU sign, we finally headed to Nam San Tower.
Pro Tip: do not buy tickets to go up to the Nam San Tower. It’s just a waste of money. I mean if you really want to spend those 10$ to have a look over the whole city and beyond, you may of course (I can’t exactly stop you now can I?). But there was a very long line and the view was not as spectecular as I would have hoped for. Then again, we were lucky enough to go on a quite foggy day… But I was expecting to be like going up the Eiffel Tower or Empire State building, meaning that the observatory platform was somewhat outdoor which was not the case at all. But it is a 360° view of SEOUL which was still very beautiful.
Nonetheless, I personally think that you can see plenty from the balcony platforms from the mall at the bottom of the tower, which is also where you can take all your aesthetic shots that are just as nice for free. The view was still incredibly beautiful. So do please go to visit the tower. Hike up if that’s what you are into!
However, if you want one of those funny green screen pictures of you and your friend and the “skyline”, then please line up! I believe a photo costs around 20$. Best part of the whole experience was of course the popcorn. It was funny because it looked like we were about to go see a movie. And that’s literally it.
Because we wasted so much time going up the tower, thinking there would be a spectecular platform, we did not have any time left to take pictures with the love locks /sighs/. But it’s cool. It’s cool. We had a great time nonetheless.
How to get to Namsan tower?
There are several ways to get to the Namsan tower which are very explicitly described in the following link. So check it out since it is super helpful! If you are using apps like cityplanner or Naver (which what we used), it will give your best transportation method to get there easily!
From the ISEOULU sign, we took the subway to get to Dongguk Univ. Station (exit 6) and right around the corner we found the bus station to get to the Namsan tower. (There will be a group of tourists probably so you will surely find your way). Then we used our transportation card to get on and off the bus (I believe the usual cost is around 1,000 KRW) and you will arrive in no time! Just don’t miss the stop lmao. Wishing you lots of fun!
