Hanok Lanes to Jongmyo
Crafts, tiled roofs and a royal shrine wall
≈2.0 km · ≈30 min walking · Moderate · Jongno-gu · Start: Anguk station · End: Jongno 3-ga station
From a new national museum of craft, climb into Bukchon's hanok lanes, drop down to the 1920s hanok alleys of Ikseon-dong and finish beside the stone wall of Jongmyo Shrine.
Stops
- Seoul Museum of Craft Art (서울공예박물관)
Seoul's first public craft museum (2021) reuses the brick buildings of a former girls' high school next to Songhyeon Green Plaza. Free entry. - Bukchon Hanok Village (북촌한옥마을)
Hundreds of tiled-roof houses on the slopes between two palaces, mostly rebuilt as urban hanok in the 1920s and 30s. People live here: keep your voice down. - Ikseon-dong (익선동 한옥거리)
One of Seoul's oldest planned hanok estates, built in the 1920s. Its narrow lanes are now full of cafés and small shops under the old eaves. - Seosulla-gil (서순라길)
A quiet lane running along the stone wall of Jongmyo, the UNESCO-listed royal ancestral shrine, lined with jewellery workshops and small bars.
Best time: Late morning to mid-afternoon, Tuesday to Sunday (the craft museum closes on Mondays).
Tips
- Parts of Bukchon (around Bukchon-ro 11-gil) are closed to visitors from 5 pm to 10 am to protect residents.
- Jongmyo itself can be visited from its main gate on Jongno; most days are guided tours only.
Access
Bukchon's lanes climb steeply, and some short cuts are stairs. Ikseon-dong is flat but narrow and crowded.