If you are passionate about photography or into Instagram, you will never want to miss any instagrammable spots in Seoul, South Korea. In this post, I would like to introduce my recent favorite neighborhood, Ikseon-dong to you. Ikseon-dong has some historical significance which makes it a good place to experience Korean culture and every corner there can be turned into pictures. Make sure your camera and phone are fully charged and if you are ready, let’s go!
Ikseon-dong
Ikseon-dong Hanok Village is located in Jongno, the center of Seoul. When you exit from Exit 3.4 of Jongno 3-ga Station on Line 5, you will see a narrow alley across the street. It is a narrow alleyway where cars cannot get in. More than a hundred of Hanoks (Korean traditional houses) measuring 10 to 30 sqm are gathered to form a cozy village. The twists and turns of narrow alleys may seem all the same, but each path is lined with attractive shops and cafรฉs decorated with unique characteristics of their own.
A Little Bit of History
During the Japanese colonial era of Korea, land ownership in Korea greatly changed. The purchases made by Japanese people have reduced the number of private properties with 35% of owned land belonging to the Japanese.
And with the increase of Seoulโs population, a lot of Koreans failed to find houses to live in. Thankfully, Koreaโs first modern architect Jeongsekwon or Mr. Jeong, bought a large portion of land. He then built 30 square meter hanoks which later would be known as Ikseon Dong Hanok Village. A village for the common people who could not afford homes during those hard times.
The village wasnโt really anything special and residents began to move out as Korea prospered.
After years, smart entrepreneurs and businessmen saw this as an opportunity. They bought the empty houses and started restaurants and shops in the area. The bustling businesses eventually became so famous that the entire village became a tourist spot.
My experience in Ikseon-dong
It was a random spring afternoon. I was craving for a cup of good coffee and hence I dragged my friends to Ikseon-dong which is a stone’s throw away from my house. After we arrived on the street, we were quite lost. Not much direction was in Kakao Map. All the alleys looked the same to us and I can say that it was like a maze. Thanks to one of my friends who suggested us to follow the crowd, we finally found a nice coffee shop called Dongbaek Yanggwajeom (๋๋ฐฑ์๊ณผ์ ) after wandering for about 15 minutes.
Dongbaek Yanggwajeom (๋๋ฐฑ์๊ณผ์ )
This coffee shop looks simple on the outside but the atmosphere inside was out of our expectation. Imagine drinking a cup of Americano in a Korean traditional house with Jazz music on, life is pretty great! We were lucky as we only waited for less than 10 minutes to be seated. I heard that the cafe is always full-house, especially long lines on weekends.
The coffee came to around 8,000 KRW. It was small but worth it. The souffle was awesome too although the price is a bit too much (around 20,000 KRW). It was soft and spongy and we really enjoyed it because it wasn’t too sweet. While they also have you to wait for up to 30 minutes for souffle as it is made on-spot once the order is received. Try it out if you are not in a rush.
Address: 166-73, Ikseon-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul (์์ธํน๋ณ์ ์ข
๋ก๊ตฌ ์ํ๋ก 28๊ธธ 17-24)
Business hour: 10:00 โ 23:00
Rent a vintage dress
After a cup of coffee, my friends and I went into a random dress shop and rented the Edwardian style of dresses. We were thrilled beyond words as we are big fans of Mr. Sunshine, one of the most popular Korean dramas. The rental fee was 9,000 KRW per person if my memory is not wrong and we had 3 chances to try on the dresses according to our preferences.
Samgyupsal Alley
We accidentally discovered an alley full of a bunch of Korean barbecue places in Ikseon-dong. It was heaven to my friends and me who were really exhausted after taking thousands of pictures with the vintage dress on. The pork was served up fresh and we would need to cut them into pieces. We had some soju as well while having a feast. What a good way to end our day.
Start exploring and immerse yourself in the beauty of Ikseon-dong!
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