N Seoul Tower

N Seoul Tower stands 236 metres tall on the summit of Namsan Mountain near the centre of the city, giving it an effective height of nearly 480 metres above sea level. The observation deck at the top offers a 360-degree panorama of the city — on clear days you can see Bukhansan to the north and the Han River south to Gangnam. The tower is lit in different colours at night depending on the city's air quality index, making it a visible gauge of Seoul's pollution levels.

The most interesting approach is on foot: the Namsan Circular Trail around the mountain's base connects to a path up to the summit, passing through forested slopes that feel surprisingly remote for a path fifteen minutes' walk from Myeongdong. The cable car also runs from near Myeongdong if you prefer not to climb.

things to do sight architecture
A story
The tower became an unlikely symbol of romantic Seoul when couples began attaching padlocks to the fence around the observation deck as declarations of love. There are now hundreds of thousands of them, forming a dense layer of coloured metal that has become a tourist attraction in its own right. The tradition spread from Seoul to lover's locks on bridges across Europe and Asia.

Other places in Things to Do