Bukchon Hanok Village

A must visit and strongly recommended place to see while in Seoul is Bukchon Hanok Village (서울 북촌한옥마을).

This is Seoul’s representative traditional Korean residential area, reflecting 600 years of its history.

It is situated between Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung palaces, making it an easy spot to find and tour around.

Bukchon Hanok Village

I’ve already been there twice. Once during the day and once at night time. Awesome place. Very peaceful and quiet, giving you the impression you are out of the busy Seoul, while being just a few steps away from popular Insa-dong and Samcheon-dong areas. Both good places to enjoy some Korean food while touring around.

It is named Bukchon, which means ‘Northern village’ because of its location to the north of Cheonggyecheon strean and Jongo. And ‘Hanok’ means ‘traditional Korean house’.

What makes it really unique as a place is the fact that Bukchon is a residential neighborhood where people actually live. This is why noise levels should be kept to minimum while visiting. Also some interesting sign can be seen all over the place.

If you really want to experience and feel the vibes of this place, then don’t hesitate much. Simply take the orange line to Anguk station and take exit 3. Bukchon is at a walking distance of 10 minutes. Be ready to climb some hills and steps while there!

If you get hungry, which I am sure you will, there are numerous of places to get food, starting from street food places, restaurants and some convenient stores. Don’t worry you won’t be hungry. There are some tasty delights, waiting at every corner.

Bukchon is one of those places, having its own energy. I can compare it to Montmartre in Paris. Being there you get rid of the feeling of insignificance, you get when you are in the city center of Seoul, for example. The noise is gone, the cars and huge buildings reaching the sky, too. It is just peaceful. Once you are there you can enjoy some nice landscape views, which give you a different perspective of Seoul.

While there you might also want to visit one of the few museums, like Gahoe Museum or Han Sangsu Embroidery Museum or the Museum of Korean Art. There are a lot of workshop places, where you can get to do some painting and other funny stuff. Visiting the traditional liquor brewery might be interesting for all those of you who love Makgeolli (raw rice wine).

All in all, Bukchon is a place with big charisma and lots of things to offer to its visitors. While in Seoul, definitely find some time to spend there. You won’t regret it.

By Jani from Bulgaria