Namsan Tower

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to head up to Namsan Tower and experience Seoul from a completely different perspective. I’ve been up once before, but only during the day, and there was a big harvest festival going on on the top. This time, we went up during the evening to watch the sunset and try out N Grill–the revolving restaurant at the top of the tower.

We got our tickets to the cable car around 5:30, just in time to catch the sun nearing sunset over the Seoul horizon. The cable car was cool…and quick! We were up in about 2 minutes time! It was a beautiful time of day to be up above Seoul–we stood bundled up with our cameras, as everyone quietly watched the sun dip down over the buildings. It was a serene and magical experience watching the city turn from day to night as all the lights from the buildings, bridges, and cars came to life against the night sky.

We headed up to N Grill restaurant at 7. Our reservation was from 7-9. You can book a 2 hours slot ahead of time. There’s a lot of other restaurants at the top of Namsan as well–Chinese, Italian, Korean–but N Grill is at the very top and it’s the only one that revolves. The restaurant makes a complete circle in the 2 hours you are up there. It’s definitely a fantastic view, but be prepared to pay! Meals range from 65,000 – 90,000 each. It’s a full course meal, with appetizers, the main entree, and dessert–you can choose either seafood or steak as your main dish. It’s pretty tasty, but you’re definitely paying for the view more than anything. Bottles of wine start from 50,000. It may be a bit hard on the wallet, but it’s definitely worth doing once. Seoul looks pretty impressive at night from up there!

If you want to leave your mark on Namsan, you can buy a lock from one of the gift shops and hook it on the the fence, along with the other thousands of locks that have already been attached. Write you name and a little message, and you never know…one day you may come back and find it!

Here’s the official guide to what’s where on Namsan:

N Seoul Tower Floor Guide

① N TOWER T5 : ‘N Grill,’ a revolving restaurant
② N TOWER T3 : Digital Observatory / Shocking Edge/Digital Telescope
High-powered Telescope
③ N TOWER T2 : Analogue Observatory / Down Elevator / Sky Restrooms
Souvenir Shop
④ N TOWER T1 : Korean restaurant ‘Hancook’
⑤ N PLAZA P2(F2) : Café Swee Tree / Roof Terrace / Multi Stage / Sky Road
⑥ N PLAZA P1(F1) : Bakery / Characters & Photos / Convenience store / Food Court / Reed of Light Garden / Shower of Light/Glass Terrace / Souvenir Shop / Ticket booth, etc

⑦ N PLAZA P0(B1) : Pavilion/Children’s Theater/Observatory Elevator Lobby/Bakery

• How To Get There:

(1) By Cable Car

Access by taxi or car is prohibited so you’ll have to walk, take a bus, or cable car. 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
Hours: 10:00~22:30

(2) By Bus You can also take a yellow bus at Chungmuro station (Line 3 or 4) or at Dongguk University station (Line 3), which will take you to the parking lot of N Seoul Tower. The bus runs regularly so you can take it from wherever it is most convenient. Even the bus ride up the winding road affords a nice view of the mountain. Bus No. 2 will drop you off at the bus stop right below N Seoul Tower, and you can walk up to N 5 to Seoul Tower Plaza. After completing your tour, take the same bus at the bus stop where you got off. There is a bus every 6 minutes from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m.

Fare: 550 won / Hours: 08:00~24:00 / Bus interval: 5~6 min.

• When To Go: 10:00am – 11:00pm
• Contact Info: 82 02 772 1626   http://www.nseoultower.net/english/?MenuIDX=92

…brought to you by the Adventure Teaching Korea team…