Up by the Oreumi, down by the lanes: Maya’s trip to the Namsan Cable Car using two exits of Myeongdong Station

On a Wednesday morning in the second week of November, Maya comes through the ticket gates at Myeongdong Station and stops in front of the exit signs. At the top of her phone’s photo album are three shots from Namsan last Saturday night, still just as she left them. That night, she simply followed Lulu down a dark mountain path. Today, on her own and while the sun is up, she has decided to go from Myeongdong up to the Namsan Cable Car. Maya, 21, from Singapore, is someone who always steps back to take in the whole scene first, wherever she goes.

When she looked up the way from Myeongdong Station to the cable car, she found two routes. One is to leave by Exit 3 and walk up through the lanes. The other is to leave by Exit 4 and ride the Namsan Oreumi (incline elevator). Maya decides not to pick one but to use both. She will go up via Exit 4 and the Oreumi, then, after riding the cable car back down, walk the Exit 3 route back to the station. That way she can take one wide shot of each route, standing well back.

The Cue — At a glance

To get from Myeongdong Station to the Namsan Cable Car, leave Myeongdong Station (Line 4) by Exit 3 or Exit 4. From Exit 3 you walk through the lanes, and from Exit 4 you use the Namsan Oreumi. From Exit 3, walk the 7-Eleven lane and then the road between the Pacific Hotel and GS25 to reach the station. From Exit 4, go straight on, turn left at Hoehyeon Intersection and take the Namsan Oreumi near the Namsan Tunnel No. 3 completion monument. The Oreumi is a free elevator that goes up towards the cable car, not to the summit, and when you step off, the cable car is on your left. Cable car tickets are 15,000 won return for adults, paid on site only.

Which Myeongdong Station exit to use — Exit 3 on foot, Exit 4 by the Namsan Oreumi

To reach the cable car station, leave Myeongdong Station (Line 4) by Exit 3 or Exit 4. Exit 3 is a route you walk from start to finish, so there is nothing to ride and nothing to wait for. Come out of the exit and turn into the lane by the 7-Eleven. Then follow the road between the Pacific Hotel and GS25, and you come to the cable car boarding building. The destination to put in your map app is the station address, 83 Sopa-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul.

Open in Kakao Map — Myeongdong Station

Exit 4 is a route where you walk and then ride an elevator once. From the exit, walk straight ahead and turn left at Hoehyeon Intersection. Then take the Namsan Oreumi near the Namsan Tunnel No. 3 completion monument. Ride the Oreumi up, and you come to the cable car boarding building. Instead of having to climb Namsan’s slope on foot, you can let the Oreumi take care of that stretch.

In front of the ticket gates, Maya looks one way, then the other. For her, the first question is not which way is faster but which will let her shoot wider. If the Oreumi climbs along the slope, she thinks, the whole route might fit into one shot looking up from below. The lanes, on the other hand, would probably look longer from above. Maya types “Up 4 — down 3” into her phone notes and heads towards Exit 4.

Coming out of Exit 4 — straight on, then left at Hoehyeon Intersection

Out of Exit 4, first walk straight ahead. Then turn left at Hoehyeon Intersection and look for the Oreumi. The landmark to look out for is the Namsan Tunnel No. 3 completion monument. Remember three things in order — the exit number, the intersection and the monument — and even a route you are taking for the first time gets less confusing. Waiting for the lights at the intersection, Maya glances down at her notes once more and adds a small “left” beside the “4”.

The names are easy to mix up. “Namsan Tunnel No. 3” is not the Oreumi’s name but a landmark for finding it. The Oreumi is beside Namsan Tunnel No. 3, and you board it near the completion monument at the tunnel entrance. So after turning at the intersection, look for the tunnel name and then the monument. Maya, too, misread the tunnel name as the Oreumi’s name the first time she looked at the map, and only read it right the second time.

After turning left at the intersection, Maya doesn’t walk on straight away but steps aside to the edge of the pavement. She wants the road ahead in one shot, from start to finish. About three steps back, the road fits long into the frame. To keep out of the way of passers-by, she presses close to a building wall to shoot. Only after checking the day’s first photo does she walk on towards the monument, and in the photo the road looks much longer than it does to the eye.

Where to take the Namsan Oreumi — near the Namsan Tunnel No. 3 completion monument, two minutes up

You board the Namsan Oreumi near the completion monument at the entrance to Namsan Tunnel No. 3. It is an incline elevator that travels along Namsan’s slope, and the ride up takes about two minutes. There is no separate fare, so apart from the cable car ticket it costs nothing extra. The elevator opened on Namsan on 30 June 2009. Before boarding, Maya steps back once more and takes a shot from below, looking up the route that runs on up the slope.

There is one mistake people often make here. Many assume the Oreumi will take them all the way to the top of Namsan, but it only goes as far as the cable car boarding area. To reach the summit, you take the cable car from there. In fact, when Maya looked only at the map before setting out, she thought the top of the Oreumi was the summit, and only on rereading the information did she realise the Oreumi and the cable car are two stages you ride one after the other.

The Oreumi stops running on days of strong wind or heavy rain, and there is maintenance on Monday mornings. On a day of bad weather, or on a Monday morning, it helps to have the Exit 3 walking route in mind. Maya glances up at the clear sky and smiles to herself, thinking there is no need to worry about that today. For the two minutes up, she keeps her phone in her pocket. The promise she made with Lulu last Saturday, “phones in pockets while we walk”, has stayed with her.

Stepping off the Oreumi — the cable car building is on your left

When you step off the Oreumi, the Namsan Cable Car boarding building is right on your left, on the side the elevator brings you up. Stepping off, Maya looks left and nods. The last stretch she had pored over on the map at her accommodation turns out to be far shorter than she expected. Counting from the station below, there were just two places to remember on the way: Hoehyeon Intersection and the monument.

On the Exit 4 route, the Oreumi handles the sloping stretch. You walk the stretch from the exit past Hoehyeon Intersection to the monument. If your bag is heavy, or you want to save your energy for walking up top, this route is easier. If you would rather look round the Myeongdong lanes as you walk, the Exit 3 route suits you better. Instead of explaining this difference in words, Maya plans to show it with the two photos she will take today.

In front of the building, Maya doesn’t go straight in but steps back a few paces again. To fit the glass-fronted station building and the car park in front of it into one shot, she has to go further back than she expected. Only once she reaches the edge of the car park does the whole building fit into the frame. Looking at the photo, Maya’s mouth curls up in satisfaction. That makes three shots from the way up: the intersection, the foot of the Oreumi and the front of the building.

Namsan Cable Car fares — 15,000 won return for adults, tickets on site only

Cable car fares are 15,000 won return and 12,000 won one way for adults. Children pay 11,500 won return and 9,000 won one way. Tickets are sold on site only, and there is no way to book or buy them in advance. Buy one at the ticket office on the 1st floor, then go up to the 3rd floor and board. Maya plans to ride the cable car back down too, so from the start she means to buy a return.

One-way tickets are available too, so decide how you plan to come down before choosing your ticket. At the ticket office, Maya hesitates for a moment between return and one way. If she could come down another way, one way would cost 3,000 won less. But today’s plan is to stop at the upper station and ride the cable car back down, so in the end she sticks with her first idea and picks a return.

The 15,000 won return ticket is all Maya spends on the cable car today. The Oreumi is free, and the walk from Myeongdong Station to the Oreumi costs nothing either. The shuttle from in front of Myeongdong Station Exit 1 is free too, so apart from the subway fare, the only cost of setting out from Myeongdong is the cable car ticket. Tickets are paid for on site only, so just decide beforehand how you will pay at the ticket office. Maya tucks her ticket into the chest pocket of her overshirt rather than her wallet.

There are discounted fares as well. Groups of 30 or more pay 13,500 won return and 11,000 won one way for adults, and 10,500 won return and 8,500 won one way for children. Residents of Jung-gu and Yongsan-gu pay 7,500 won return and 6,000 won one way. For this you need ID showing your address, and the discount applies only to the holder. Seniors, national merit recipients and some others pay the child fare on showing proof.

When it gets busy, particularly at weekends and in peak season, allow plenty of time for the queue. Mornings are generally quieter than afternoons. That is also why Maya chose a weekday morning. Ticket in hand, she steps aside behind the queue and takes one wide shot of the backs of the people standing at the ticket office.

What time does it run today? — service notices on the website, ticket times by phone

Check what times the cable car runs that day before you set out. First look at the service notice on the operator’s website (namsancablecar.com), then call the information line for the opening time and the last ticket time. Before leaving her accommodation, the very first thing Maya opened was the service notice on the website. Only after reading it did she choose her clothes and pack her bag, and she settled on setting out in the morning, when it is less crowded. If your plans are for the evening and you need to reach the ticket office in time, phone first and ask about the last ticket time.

Keep an eye on the weather too. Strong wind or bad weather can pause the cable car for a while. The official Namsan Cable Car website and Instagram show in real time whether it is running. On a windy day, it is worth checking once at your accommodation and once more before you get off at Myeongdong Station. The Oreumi also stops in strong wind or heavy rain, so remember to check its service information separately.

The cable car after dark is worth seeing in its own right. Ride at night and you see Seoul lit up, and the operator itself picks the time from sunset into the night as a good time to ride. At weekends, though, the wait can get longer. Maya has come today to photograph the wide daytime view, so she leaves the cable car at night for another time. The Namsan night she saw last Saturday was on the mountain path, not on the cable car, so the cable car by night is still a scene waiting for her.

What is on each floor of the station building — tickets on 1F, boarding on 3F

In the station building, you buy your ticket on the 1st floor, head past the 2nd floor, and board the cable car on the 3rd. The 1st floor has the ticket office, lockers, an ATM and an AED. The lockers are in front of the 1st-floor toilets. The 2nd floor has the waiting room and a nursing room, and there is a lounge on B1. Checking that her bag holds only a power bank and a bottle of water, Maya walks past the lockers and goes upstairs.

Prams and wheelchairs can use the cable car too, and if you need help, staff on site will guide you. Pets can ride with you in a carrier. For enquiries, call 02-753-2403 (day) or 02-757-1308 (night). Passing through the 2nd-floor waiting room, Maya glances for a moment at the people sitting and waiting. She is glad there is somewhere to rest after buying a ticket, instead of heading straight to the 3rd floor.

On reaching the boarding area on the 3rd floor, Maya steps half a pace further back from the end of the queue. She wants the arriving cabin and the backs of the people in front of it in the same shot. Most of the people queuing are holding up their phones and facing the doors, and to Maya those backs make the best foreground of the day. After taking one shot as the doors open, she lowers her phone and follows the person in front inside. This time she doesn’t press up against the window but stands somewhere near the middle.

Three minutes in the cable car — cabins for 48, on a line first run in 1962

Each cable car carries up to 48 people, and it takes about three minutes one way to the top. The line is 605 m long, with a height difference of 138 m between the start and end points. It runs at about 3.2 m/s. There are two lines, with two cabins in all. On paper it is a short distance, but for Maya, taking photos, three minutes is barely enough time to choose a single shot.

The Namsan Cable Car opened on 12 May 1962. It is Korea’s first passenger cable car. The 48-seat cabins came in during the second modernisation, in 2005. Maya read up on this on her phone while waiting in the queue. Thinking of a cable car that has gone up and down this mountain since 1962, she finds herself curious about the cable overhead before the view outside.

As the cabin moves off, most people crowd to the windows. Maya does the opposite and steps back a pace. With her phone against the glass she would get only the view outside, but standing back, the window frames and the backs of the people fit into the shot too. The city falling away below and the people looking down on it, together in one frame, is the shot Maya wants. The three minutes pass faster than she expected, and in that time she takes exactly two photos.

Stepping off at the upper station — what is up top

Up top are N Seoul Tower, the love locks, Namsan’s Palgakjeong Pavilion and Namsan Bongsudae, the old beacon-fire site. If you set out from Myeongdong, the cable car is the last stage of the way up to those places. This piece goes no further and stops at the upper station. Maya, too, plans to take a few photos outside the station today, save the top for another day and ride the cable car back down.

Once outside the station, Maya looks for a spot where she can see a descending cabin at a glance. To fit the line running down the slope into one shot, she has to move a little away from the station. She steps aside to the edge of the path so as not to block passers-by, and waits. She backs up a few times until the whole line fits into the frame, and each time, just as Lulu says, she looks down at her feet first. When a cabin starts to descend, she presses the shutter the moment that small box reaches about halfway along the line.

Checking the photo, Maya lets out a short laugh. The shot looking up the Oreumi route from below and the shot looking down the line from above look like a pair. She watches the people walking towards the tower for a moment, but she doesn’t go that way. Today’s aim was not the top but the two routes from Myeongdong to here. Maya takes out her return ticket again and heads back into the station.

During the three-minute ride down, Maya stands at the window too. She has the photos she took from the back on the way up, so this time she decides to put her phone away and just look. Watching the city come closer below, Maya counts off on her fingers what is left to do. Find the top end of the lane, take one shot there, and walk down to Exit 3. Having only three things left makes her step much lighter.

Coming down by the Exit 3 lanes — the road between the Pacific Hotel and GS25, then the 7-Eleven lane

After riding the cable car back down, Maya doesn’t head straight outside but first looks for the lounge on B1. She wants to sort through the photos she took up top and look over the walk down once more. With a lounge right inside the building, it is a good place to sit for a moment after coming down and settle on your next route before walking. There, Maya flicks through her photos and sorts them into two rows, the ones taken from below and the ones taken from above. Only the slot for the lane she is about to walk down is still empty.

Leaving the lounge, Maya walks this time not towards the Oreumi but along the Exit 3 route. The route runs out of the station building, down the road between the Pacific Hotel and GS25, and past the 7-Eleven lane towards Exit 3. Unlike the Oreumi route she took up, this one is on foot from start to finish. So on this route you see the Myeongdong lanes up close. It isn’t tied to a service like the shuttle or the Oreumi, so you can use it even on bad-weather days when the Oreumi stops, or on Monday mornings during maintenance.

To go up this way, just remember the order in reverse. Come out of Exit 3, turn into the 7-Eleven lane, then walk along the road between the Pacific Hotel and GS25. At the end of that road is the cable car boarding building. You only need to remember the names of two convenience stores and one hotel, so there is no need to keep opening the map. Beside the “3” in her notes, Maya writes these three names in the order she walks past them.

Before turning into the lane, Maya steps well back one last time today. To fit the lane running downhill into one shot, she has to shoot from its top end. When the long lane running down between passers-by fills the frame, she takes a breath and presses the shutter. It is the lane looking down from above, to pair with the Oreumi route looking up from below. Only after taking that shot does Maya slowly walk down the lane.

If you don’t want to walk — the free shuttle from Myeongdong Station Exit 1, and Namsan loop bus 01B

If walking feels like too much, there is a free shuttle bus. It runs between Myeongdong Station and the cable car station, and you board it in front of Myeongdong Station Exit 1. 12:00 noon is the first departure from the cable car car park. The timetable is based on departures from the car park, and the ride to Myeongdong Station Exit 1 takes about ten minutes. Maya came in the morning, before the shuttle starts running, so from the start she chose between the two routes on foot.

Namsan loop bus 01B runs via the Namsan Seoul Tower and Namsan Library · Yongsan Library stops and passes the “Namsan Cable Car · Namsan Trail Entrance” stop (남산케이블카·남산산책로입구), so if you come by bus, remember this stop name. The fare is 1,500 won, and transfers are allowed. If you bring a car, the cable car car park is small, so you are better off using a nearby car park such as Cygnus Parking Tower in front of Myeongdong Station Exit 2 (2,000 won for the first 30 minutes, then 1,000 won per 10 minutes) or Namsandong Public Parking (500 won per 10 minutes). Inside Namsan Park, ordinary cars and taxis have been barred from the roads since 1 May 2005, and large tour buses since August 2021. So it is easier to leave the car below and go up on foot, by the Oreumi, by the shuttle or by the loop bus.

As the station gets closer, Maya thinks of Exit 1. Had she come after midday, when the shuttle starts running, she could have taken the shuttle instead of the Oreumi. With that thought, she adds one more line at the bottom of her notes: “1 — shuttle, first run from the car park 12:00”. With three lines for Exits 4, 3 and 1 side by side, the note looks like a small map on a single page. If a friend asks, she thinks, she can simply show them these three lines.

One shot of the way up, one of the way down — outside Myeongdong Station Exit 3

At the end of the lane, Maya steps aside and flicks through the day’s photos. She picks one of the Oreumi route looking up from below, and one of the Exit 3 lane looking down from above. Just as she learned walking with Lulu last Saturday night, instead of keeping only the single best shot, she puts the two side by side. The way up goes on the left, the way down on the right. Set out like that, her day from Myeongdong Station to the Namsan Cable Car is there at a glance.

Maya names the set “Namsan, day, two routes”. It sits right next to “Namsan, night, not one shot”, the set she made last Saturday. She sends the two photos to Lulu with a short message: “Next time we come without the festival, you choose the way up.” There is no reply yet, but Maya guesses that Lulu, who loves routes you only understand by walking them, will probably pick the Exit 3 lane. After sending it, Maya puts her phone in her pocket.

Common Mistakes

• 01

  Thinking the Oreumi goes to the summit

  the Namsan Oreumi is an elevator that goes up to where you board the cable car. To reach the summit, take the cable car from there.

• 02

  Reading “Namsan Tunnel No. 3” as the Oreumi’s name

  the tunnel is a landmark for finding your way. You board the Oreumi near the completion monument at the tunnel entrance.

• 03

  Trying to book tickets in advance

  cable car tickets are paid for on site only. There is no booking or advance sale.

• 04

  Going by operating hours you memorised

  before you set out, check the service notice on the website, and call the information line for the opening and last ticket times. On windy days the service can stop.

• 05

  Waiting for the shuttle in the morning

  12:00 noon is the first departure from the cable car car park. In the morning, take the Exit 3 or Exit 4 route.

• 06

  Trying to drive up to the summit

  ordinary cars and taxis can’t use the roads inside Namsan Park. The cable car car park is small too.

FAQ

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