SEOUL · NAKSAN

An Evening Walk Along the Naksan City Wall

Follow the city wall uphill to Naksan for a view over Seoul at dusk. Check the exhibition hall’s closing time before you set out.

Guided by Elena · Last checked: 2026-09-24 · 7 min read

A stone city wall following a hill ridge at dusk, with a city beginning to light up below. No people. Editorial image.

PlaceSeoul Dongdaemun

How to get there

4Line 4Hansung Univ.HyehwaDongdaemun

Hyehwa Station Exit 2Walk 646m · 9 minNaksan Park

The 646 m / 9 min is a map-route calculation from Exit 2 of Hyehwa Station to Naksan Park; the park’s directions say a 10-minute walk. It is uphill.

In part one Rina looked at Heunginjimun twice; in part two Maya found names carved into the stones at the foot of the wall beside it. That wall keeps climbing past the museum’s hill, and the hill at the top of it is Naksan.

Seoul at night reached Elena through a screen first. Two people leaning on a railing on a hill, the lights of the whole city laid out beyond them. She has seen that scene many times, but none of them ever showed how you get up that hill.

So today she starts with the climb. She sets off well before sunset and stays until the lights come on.

From Hyehwa Station up to the park

From Exit 2 of Hyehwa Station (Line 4) to Naksan Park, the map route is 646 m, about 9 minutes (TMAP pedestrian route calculation).

From Exit 2 of Hyehwa Station on Line 4 to Naksan Park, the map route is 646 meters, nine minutes; the park’s own directions call it a ten-minute walk. It is uphill all the way, through the back lanes of Daehangno. Elena keeps turning round as she climbs. The higher she gets, the lower the roofs below her sit. Find on map

A young woman with long brown waves walking up a sloping city lane. Editorial image. — Elena climbing a lane from the Hyehwa side toward Naksan Park

The Seoul parks website introduces Naksan as one of the four inner mountains of Seoul — the “blue dragon” on the left. Its shape, like a camel’s back, gave it the name Naktasan, and because a royal farm nearby supplied milk to the palace, it was also called Tarak-san. Elena writes both names in her notebook: camel, and milk.

The park itself is not old. According to the same website, apartment blocks and dense housing built from the 1960s erased the hill’s original shape; the city drew up a plan to restore it, and the park opened in July 2002. The hill Elena knew from the screen had disappeared once and been made again.

A broad paved plaza with trees on a hilltop park, with a stone wall along one side. No people. Editorial image. — The plaza near the top of Naksan Park

The parks website describes more than one way up. From Daehangno, it says, you get a panoramic view of Seoul; the Dongdaemun-side course, which follows the wall up from Heunginjimun, is a quiet woodland walk in the middle of the city. Elena has come up from the Daehangno side today. The path that climbs along the wall from Heunginjimun — where Rina and Maya stood in the first two parts — goes into her notebook under “next time.”

The exhibition hall, before it closes

Seoul parks website: Naksan Park is always open; the Naksan Exhibition Hall at the park entrance is open 9:00–17:00, free of charge.

The park is always open, but the Naksan Exhibition Hall at its entrance closes at 5 p.m. — which is why Elena set off so early. Entry is free. The website says the hall covers the origins of Naksan, the historical figures linked to it, and photographs and models of the city wall, and that weekend programmes about Naksan and the wall run here. Find on map

The park’s pages also tell the story of a small vegetable plot, Hongdeok’s Garden. After the Manchu invasion, while Prince Bongnim — later King Hyojong — was held hostage in Qing China, a palace maid named Hongdeok made kimchi for him every day; back home, he could not forget the taste, and gave her a plot halfway up Naksan. It is told as a story handed down. Elena underlines it. In a drama, she thinks, that would be a whole episode.

Out of the hall, Elena takes the path on the inside of the wall. A low parapet runs alongside it, and beyond the parapet the city falls away below.

A park path beside a low stone parapet, with a city beyond. No people. Editorial image. — The path inside the wall, along the low parapet

Through the hidden gate to the outer face

Seoul City Wall website: the whole Naksan section can be walked on the outside of the wall, with hidden gates (ammun) leading inside.

From the inside, the wall is a low parapet. But the Seoul City Wall website says the whole Naksan section was laid out to be walked on the outside, with hidden gates, ammun, leading back in. The parks website says the path up from the Hansung University side lets you walk with the whole outer face of the wall in view. Find on map

The tall outer face of a stone wall rising above a path. No people. Editorial image. — Beyond the hidden gate, the outer face you have to look up at

Elena steps out through a hidden gate. Here the same wall is something you have to look up at. What was a railing on the inside is a wall on the outside. On the hill in the drama, only the inside ever showed — the side that looks down on the city.

A young woman walking beneath a tall stone wall, looking up at it. Editorial image. — Elena walking along the outer face, looking up at the stones

The wall website says that on the path behind the Catholic University you can compare stones laid under Sejong, Sukjong and Sunjo. Walking along the outer face, Elena picks out with her eyes the places where the size and cut of the stones change. She does not climb it: the park rules ask visitors not to climb on or damage the city wall, a cultural heritage site.

The outer path passes close to Jangsu Village. The wall website asks walkers passing through Jangsu Village and Ihwa Village to be considerate of the people who live there. Elena lowers her voice and keeps her phone away from the houses.

Roofs of small houses gathered below a stone wall on a hill. No people. Editorial image. — The roofs of Jangsu Village gathered below the wall

Dusk, facing where the lights come on

Seoul City Wall website: pass through the hidden gate from Jangsu Village into the walled city and you reach the Naksan Park play plaza. The view is good enough that it has been called “Seoul’s Montmartre,” and the sunsets and night views are especially beautiful.

Back in through the hidden gate is the park’s play plaza. The wall website says the view here is good enough for it to be called “Seoul’s Montmartre,” and that the sunsets and night views are especially beautiful. The parks website points to Naksanjeong, a pavilion built when the hill was restored, as a place where all of Seoul comes into view. Find on map

A young woman seen from behind at a railing at dusk, watching a city light up. Editorial image. — Elena at the railing at dusk, watching the city light up

As the sun drops, Elena stands at the railing. The sky changes colour first; the city stays as it is for a while. Then windows begin to light up, the far buildings first, one by one. On the screen, this part was always cut. The scene began after every light was already on.

On the city wall website, the photo gallery holds pictures of the wall lit up at night, filed as “night views of the wall.” Elena decides to take in the evening view a little longer before heading down.

A lit stone wall winding along a ridge at night above city lights. No people. Editorial image. — At night, the Naksan wall lit along the ridge above the neighbourhood

Elena starts slowly down the lit path beside the wall. The park stays open at night, and its rules ask for no drinking and no noise. It is a quiet evening.

The last line in her notebook: “The hill on screen only ever showed its inside. The outside you have to look up at. And the city’s windows light up one by one.”

Distant view from behind of a young woman walking along a lit path beside a stone wall at night. Editorial image. — Elena heading down the lit path beside the wall

(※ This article includes staged images created with AI.)

Plan your visit

If you want to see the exhibition hall (open until 5 p.m.), set off from Exit 2 of Hyehwa Station in time to arrive before it closes, climb to Naksan Park, see the hall first, walk the path inside the wall and the outer face beyond a hidden gate, and be at a viewpoint as the lights come on. For the sunset, check the day’s sunset time separately. The 646 m / 9 min is a map-route calculation from Exit 2 to the park.

Today’s order of walking

A concept diagram showing the order only · not to scale, direction or actual path shape.

Park entrance and Naksan Exhibition Hall — Open 9:00–17:00, free. The origins of Naksan, with photographs and models of the wall. Find on map
Inside path and the outer face beyond a hidden gate — A low parapet on the inside, a wall to look up at on the outside. Don’t climb on the wall. Find on map
Play plaza and the Naksanjeong viewpoint — A good place to wait from dusk until the lights come on. Find on map

Visitor information

Getting there

TMAPChecked 2026.09.25

From Exit 2 of Hyehwa Station (Line 4) to Naksan Park, the map route is 646 m, about 9 minutes (TMAP pedestrian route calculation).

Seoul City Wall websiteChecked 2026.09.24

the Naksan section is open 24 hours. When passing through Jangsu Village and Ihwa Village, walkers are asked to be considerate of residents.