The round planters
Thousands of labelled plants.
분당선M — CC BY-SA 3.0 · 분당선M — CC BY-SA 3.0 · 분당선M — CC BY-SA 3.0 · 분당선M — CC BY-SA 3.0
An elevated park about a kilometre long, built on an old road overpass that crosses Seoul's main railway station 17 metres up. The overpass was built in 1970 and closed to cars in 2015 when it weakened; it was then redesigned by a Dutch practice and opened to walkers in May 2017, in the spirit of New York's High Line. Its name holds two numbers: 70 for the year the overpass was built, and 17 for the year the park opened and for the seventeen walkways linking it to the streets and buildings around. Along its length are round planters holding more than twenty thousand plants of hundreds of species, each labelled, along with small cafés and viewing decks. From up here you see the old Seoul Station building with its dome from 1925, trains passing beneath you, and Namdaemun gate and N Seoul Tower on the skyline. It is prettier at night, when the planters are lit blue. The walkway is free and open day and night. It links Seoul Station with Namdaemun Market, so it makes a pleasant route between the two instead of the busy streets.
Thousands of labelled plants.
A domed building from 1925.
Planters lit in blue.
Above Seoul Station, Jung-gu; Seoul Station (Lines 1 and 4), exit 2
Namdaemun MarketThe largest traditional market in Korea and one of the oldest, dating back to 1410 minutes walk4.1
Deoksugung PalaceA small palace in the middle of modern Seoul, across from City Hall, that mixes 14 minutes walk4.5
Cheonggyecheon StreamA stream running about 11 kilometres through the heart of Seoul, brought back to20 minutes walk4.5
MyeongdongSeoul's best-known shopping district and its busiest with tourists, a grid of pe21 minutes walk4.4
N Seoul Tower (Namsan Tower)Seoul's best-known landmark, a communications and observation tower on the summi22 minutes walk4.470 for the year the overpass was built, 1970, and 17 for its opening as a park in 2017 and for the seventeen walkways that connect it.