Bukchon Hanok Village

About this place

An old residential quarter between Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung palaces, with hundreds of traditional Korean houses, or hanok, whose curved tiled roofs line lanes that climb the hillside. Its name means «north village», because it lies north of the Cheonggyecheon stream, and most of the houses standing today date from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The best-known view is the sloping lane in Gahoe-dong, where the hanok roofs run downhill with the towers of the modern city behind them. Among the houses are small craft workshops, private museums, tea houses and hanbok rental shops. This is a lived-in neighbourhood, not a museum, and residents have grown weary of the crowds: some six million visitors a year against about six thousand residents. For that reason tourists may enter the «Red Zone» around Bukchon-ro 11-gil only between 10:00 and 17:00, and since March 2025 anyone breaking the rule can be fined 100,000 won. Residents and guesthouse guests are exempt. Keep your voice down and do not photograph into houses or open doorways. The best time is right after ten in the morning, before the midday crowds.