Gyeongdong Market and the Herb Quarter
Ginseng, roots and a café in an old cinema
≈1.3 km · ≈20 min walking · Easy · Dongdaemun-gu · Start: Jegi-dong station · End: Cheongnyangni station
In Seoul Yangnyeongsi, the herbal medicine market, learn what's in the jars at a small museum, then lose yourself in Gyeongdong Market's ginseng, mushrooms and dried fish, with coffee in a 1960s cinema turned café.
Stops
- Seoul Herb Medicine Museum (서울약령시한의약박물관)
A small museum on Korean traditional medicine in the middle of the Yangnyeongsi herb market, Seoul's centre for medicinal herbs since the Joseon era. - Gyeongdong Market (경동시장)
Seoul's biggest market for ginseng, herbs and farm produce, open since the 1960s. On the top floor a former cinema (1960s) is now a large café, with tiered seats facing a wall of windows.
Best time: A weekday morning, when the ginseng and herb sellers are open and the market is full of local shoppers.
Tips
- Shops close early, many by 6 pm, and some close on Sundays.
- Bargaining for ginseng in larger quantities is normal; small purchases are fixed price.
Access
Level market streets, busy in the morning.