Seoul Neighbourhoods: Which District Is Which

The Han is a kilometre wide in places, and it splits Seoul into two cities that were built in different centuries.

North of it — Jongno, Jung-gu, Mapo, Yongsan — is the old capital. The palaces, the shrine, the markets, the hanok quarters and the university districts are all here, along with the mountains that ring the historic centre. Streets are narrower, blocks are older, and a great deal of it can be walked.

South of it — Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa — was farmland until the 1970s and was built as policy: wide boulevards, tall towers, planned blocks. It holds the money, the offices, the convention centre and the tallest building in the country, and almost nothing older than living memory.

For a visitor the practical consequence is simple. A first trip of three days should sleep and spend its time north of the river, and cross south deliberately — for Lotte World Tower, the Starfield Library or a baseball game — rather than by accident.

This is the reason most people come. Four of the five palaces, the royal shrine, Bukchon, Insadong, Ikseon-dong, Gwangjang Market and Cheonggyecheon all sit within a rough rectangle two kilometres by one and a half.

Everything in that rectangle is walkable. From Gyeongbokgung to Gwangjang Market is twenty-five minutes on foot; from Insadong to Changdeokgung is eight. Using the metro inside this area usually costs you more time than it saves.

The quarter has one weakness: it goes to bed. Beyond Ikseon-dong and the market's food street, most of Jongno is shut by ten. That is why the standard Seoul day ends somewhere else — Myeongdong, Hongdae or a tower.

Two questions settle it: what time of day is it, and how far are you willing to travel for dinner.

If you have one evening, spend it in Myeongdong for street food or Ikseon-dong for something better cooked. If you have a spare afternoon, spend it in Seongsu or Insadong. If you want a night rather than an evening, Hongdae — and check the last train before you commit.

If you are choosing where to sleep, the honest ranking for a first visit is Myeongdong or Jongno first, Hongdae second if you want value and noise, Itaewon third if food matters more than sightseeing, and Gangnam only for a specific reason. The where-to-stay page compares them by journey time to the palaces rather than by price alone.