Where will you walk in Seoul?

Six minutes up from Anguk Station the alley becomes a hill. Three stops, walked a second time.

West of Gyeongbokgung below Inwangsan — a coin-lunch market, a stone bridge over a valley and a literature museum on the pass.

One more lap: the main street, Ssamziegil as it climbs, and the museum courtyard where the pace slows.

From Anguk Station past the Bukchon Cultural Center and up the Gahoe-dong lane, then back down.

Part two of “Seochon”. The stone bridge in Suseongdong Valley is the only single-slab stone bridge within the old city walls preserved in its original location and form, and the longest of the single-slab stone bridges within those walls. Noah, who reads distance and movement by eye, climbs from the market lanes to the foot of the mountain, facing the way the water comes down.

It is the place she said “let's go there first” last time. One alley off Insadong-gil there is a museum, and there is no admission charge.

Look out over Seoul from Namsan, then follow the wooded trail towards Huam-dong. Join Lulu and Maya for the views, with time to stop and enjoy the neighbourhood below.

Walk from Seoul Station toward Sungnyemun, Namdaemun Market and the streets leading to Myeongdong.

A new piece for “Namsan and the Neighbourhoods Below.” Construction of N Seoul Tower as a broadcasting tower began in 1969, and it opened to the public in 1980. The observation deck opens every day of the year, and adult admission is ₩29,000. Elena, who reads cities as scenes, climbs up to the tower that stands in the background of so many images of Seoul — and looks back at the city from the other side.

Seoullo 7017 is a walkway on the old Seoul Station overpass, 180 metres from Exit 1 of Seoul Station on Lines 1 and 4, and it is open all day and night. The 70 in its name is 1970, when the overpass was built, and the 17 stands for 2017, when it reopened as a walkway, and for its height of 17 metres. Cross above the railway, see the fork at the rose garden towards Cheongpa-dong, Malli-dong and Jungnim-dong, then walk towards Hoehyeon to reach the spot where Sungnyemun comes into view.

Namdaemun Market has no single opening time for the whole market. Maya arrives expecting the pre-dawn lights from a video she saved, and on a weekday walk through the lanes she learns that when you go depends on what you want to buy.

The fourth part of “Namdaemun & Myeongdong.” Eight minutes on foot from Namdaemun Market, the granite building on the main road is a former bank head office completed in 1912. It was the first building in Korea to have a lift. Admission is free, and it opens Tuesday to Sunday. Lulu, who is choosing where to take a friend visiting from abroad, checks the English tour time before anything else.

Start at Heunginjimun, follow the wall toward Naksan, then look beyond it to DDP and Gwangjang Market.

By Jegi-dong Station — the food lanes of Gyeongdong Market, with the old units asked again in grams.

The second part of “Jongno and Dongdaemun.” At the entrance to Heunginjimun Park, where the city wall meets the main road, some of the stones low in its outer face are carved with writing. They are called gakja seongseok — inscribed wall stones — and more of them are gathered beside Dongdaemun Seonggwak Park than anywhere else on the wall. The early ones name a section and a county; from Sukjong’s reign on, they name a supervisor, a builder and a date. Maya looks at the stones, then walks up to the Seoul City Wall Museum on the hill to read about the people who defended the wall.

Stepping out of Jegi-dong Station, the first thing to reach Noah is an unfamiliar smell of dried herbs. He starts copying the Chinese characters on the shop signs into his notebook — and, while filling in the time column, realises he has written down the museum’s October closing time.

Naksan Park is a hilltop park a 10- to 20-minute walk uphill from Exit 2 of Hyehwa Station on Line 4. It is always open, and the Naksan Exhibition Hall at the entrance is free until 5pm. In Seoul the sun sets around 5.40pm in late October and around 5.20pm in mid-November, so set off about two hours before sunset to see the exhibition hall and the outside face of the wall too, or about an hour before if you only want the sunset.

When they last parted, Mali put their next plan in her calendar: “Cheonggyecheon — Gyeongdong”. On a Thursday afternoon during her fourth work trip, they follow four periods of the stream’s history through the museum, then walk down to the water and three piers left behind by the elevated expressway.

The national museum and a quiet room inside it, the war memorial nearby and an art museum on the Hannam hill — one place per piece.

Riverside parks from Yeouido to Banpo and Mangwon, and Seoul Forest upstream — how to reach the water and what is there.

By Noryangjin Station — a fish market read by weight and by count, then a meal upstairs.

Part two of “Yongsan.” The Room of Quiet Contemplation, on the 2nd floor of the National Museum of Korea’s Permanent Exhibition Hall, opened on 12 November 2021: a 439 m² gallery that shows two national-treasure pensive bodhisattva statues side by side. Before then, the pair had been shown together in a room of their own only three times. On her first visit Rina reached this room almost last, after every other floor. This time she comes for this one room.

In October the Banpo Bridge Moonlight Rainbow Fountain runs for 20 minutes at noon and at 7.30, 8, 8.30 and 9 p.m. To see the bridge that pours out water in every video she has saved, Maya walks down to the river from Express Bus Terminal Station and waits for the first evening show.

To the message “Next trip, a morning, the forest path, the three of us”, Maya replied, “Let’s choose somewhere new for the first walk of the three of us.” The place they chose was Boramae Park, on the site of the old Korea Air Force Academy, where eight aircraft stand beside the lawn.

From the old rail line in Yeonnam through the Red Road and the busking street to Mangwon Market and the river — seven pieces on foot.

Seoul Botanic Park: a free lakeside park and a round greenhouse, right by Magongnaru Station.

Back in Seoul a month later, Hina has kept the night before her concert free. She heads out alone to explore Hongdae’s busking zones, curious to see how street performances work through the eyes of someone who promotes concerts for a living.

Lulu mentioned it when they met at Mangwon Market. “You’re an engineer. I think you’d like it.” Ethan decides to spend the last Sunday of his short holiday aboard the warships beside the Hangang.

The day after saying goodbye to Hina at Mangwon Hangang Park, Noah comes out of Hapjeong Station Exit 7. Of the two places he plans to draw in his notebook, one does not open to general visitors on Sundays.

In her second week in Seoul, Maya visits Hongdae for the first time. Rina brings a photo of a ginkgo leaf sent from Gyeongui Line Forest Park and suggests following Red Road in order, starting at R1.

An old railway turned forest trail with an evening light garden, and a forest park whose observatory faces the northern mountains.

A hanok museum and a new hanok village below Bukhansan, then up the valley to Jingwansa Temple.

Noah’s time maps have always been drawn on streets. But today he is going to floors, not streets. To draw a map upwards for the first time, Noah heads out of Hagye Station Exit 3 on Line 7.

After days of palaces, markets, Hongdae and Seokchon Lake, Maya sends Rina a simple request: “This time, could we go somewhere other than a tourist sight? A park where people in Seoul walk on a weekday.” Rina chooses Dream Forest in Gangbuk-gu.

A temple beside the trade centre, a library under a 13-metre shelf, a tower lookout and an Olympic park — one place per piece.

By Nambu Bus Terminal Station — a whole building of figures and gacha, browsed from the top floor down.

Starfield Library is a free space on two levels at the centre of COEX Mall, open every day, 10:30–22:00. Walk in through the connecting passage towards Samseong Station Exits 5·6, via Millennium Plaza. Look up at the 13 m shelves from below, then down across the space from the upper floor. Leave time to sit at a table or browse the magazines and foreign-language books.

Library scenes in dramas always begin among the shelves. Elena, who writes scene directions in square brackets, heads to the National Library of Korea in Seocho to write down the part the screen cuts: the scene of walking into a library.

Part three of “Gangnam · Songpa.” Seoul Sky is an observatory at 500 metres, in Lotte World Tower: 123 floors and 555 metres tall. Noah, who reads streets and routes by eye, looks at a city from above rather than from the side for the first time — to see what a string of corners becomes when you rise high enough.

Part four of “Gangnam · Songpa.” At the heart of Olympic Park stands an earthen wall from the early Baekje period: Mongchontoseong Fortress. The National Heritage Service gives its circumference as about 2.7 km, while the park’s website gives the length of the wall as 2,285 m. On her first visit Rina saw the big gate and the lawn and went home. This time she walks through the gate and up onto the wall.

Spend a day in Seongsu, from your first coffee to the evening light. Explore walking routes, outfits for a day on foot, and the café culture along the way.

Seoul Children’s Grand Park: a free park with a zoo and outdoor stages, from the main gate to the back gate.

Bring the muted colours and neat lines of an office romance to a day in Seoul. Choose shoes, a bag and fabrics around the forecast and your walking plans, then check that you can move comfortably.

You can feel comfortable outside and chilly once you sit down in a café. Look at how the season, your seat and the time you spend there may affect comfort, and how to prepare with a thin extra layer.

What would it take to enjoy the atmosphere of a drama café scene on your own trip? Look at the light and composition, then think through seating, ordering, travel time and clothes.

Uncomfortable shoes, extra shopping bags or a long queue can change your day. Prepare comfortable footwear and a light layer, and decide which stop you could skip if time runs short.