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City Walking Tour

Seoul might be a sprawling city, but it's nonetheless one best explored on foot. Seoul has tons of great walking courses that will put visitors in touch with the city's history, culture and vibrant lifestyle. This section introduces just a few recommended courses to get you started. In the downtown area, there are several great walking courses that will take you around Seoul ancient palaces and royal shrines and expose visitors to Korea's rich historical legacy. The Bukchon course, meanwhile, will take you through Seoul's quaint Bukchon neighborhood, which is full of traditional Korean tile-roofed homes. The Cheonggyecheon tour will take you through the recently restored Cheonggyecheon Stream, a historic waterway that point to Seoul's more eco-friendly future. The Daehangno tour will bring you to Seoul's youthful street of theaters, cafes, restaurants and parks. Finally, the Namdaemun and Myeongdong course brings you to the heart of Korea's most famous shopping district---if you can't find it here, you can't find it anywhere.

> Guided Tour Courses

Ancient Culture-Centered Area
Amsa-dong & Mongchontoseong (Mud Rampart) Course

This course offers a glimpse at historical changes from the pre-historic period to the Three Kingdoms period and at the lifestyles of the Baekje people through visits to the Amsa-dong Prehistoric Settlement Site and Mongchon Museum of History. Enjoy strolling along a romantic urban castle wall by way of the mud rampart and walk the paths of Olympic Park that have been used as shooting sites for famous Korean dramas and TV commercials.|

Reservation

Modern Culture Centered Area
Deoksugung Palace - Jeongdong Course

The beautiful stone-walled Jeongdong Street is more than just a place where lovers come to walk; it is also the location of some of the most historically significant places to modern Korea. This course is wonderful because of its focus on sites with such modern historical importance. |

Reservation

Modern Culture Centered Area 2
Choi Sunu House & Gilsangsa (Temple) Course

This course offers a journey through the historical and cultural records hidden in the back streets of Seongbuk-dong. These streets trace the historical paths of some of the great figures of Korean history including Choi Sunu, Manhae Han Yongun and Yi Taejun. Seonjamdanji, Gilsangsa, and Seoul Seonggwak have important stories to tell about Korean history, religion and architecture.|

Reservation

Traditional Culture Centered Area 1
Gyeongbokgung Palace - Hyojadong Course

This trip will take you from the palaces of former kings of the Joseon era, to the modern residence of Korean presidents. Probably the most fabulous and famous palace in Korea, representing nearly 500 years of Joseon Kingdom history, is Gyeongbokgung Palace. |

Reservation
* Please note that Hyojadong Sarangbang is excluded from the tour until February 2010, when its remodeling gets completed.

Traditional Culture Centered Area 2
Jongmyo - Changgyeonggung Palace Course

Begin at Jongmyo, a Confucian shrine dedicated to memorial services of past kings in the Joseon Kingdom. Pass through the surrounding dense forest to see the unique architecture of Changgyeonggung Palace, another of the "Five Grand Palaces" of the Joseon kingdom. |

Reservation

Traditional Culture Centered Area 3
Bukchon - Unhyeongung Palace Course

Bukchon, a special area in Seoul where traditional Korean homes called hanok are gathered together. Walking through the alleys amid this hanok houses and various other museums and cultural centers tourists are provided with an opportunity to have diverse experiences. |

Reservation

Traditional Culture Centered Area 4
Seolleung - Bongeunsa (Temple) Course

This tour course is aimed to help with an understanding of the history of the Joseon Dynasty and its royal tombs, which have recently been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage, via visiting two royal tombs: Seolleung, where King Seongjong is buried with his consort Queen Jeonghyeon and Jeongneung. This course also takes visitors to Bongeunsa (Temple), a Buddhist temple related to many historic figures of the Joseon Dynasty. |

Reservation

History - Ecological Restoration Area
Cheonggyecheon

Through the newly revitalized Cheonggyecheon, with its fountains and waterfalls, one can see the magnificent restoration of this important water way in downtown Seoul. At the Cheong Gye Cheon Museum you can see images from Cheonggyecheon's past and present that are on display. |

Reservation

Mixed Modern-Traditional Area 1
Seoul (Namsan) Fortress - Hanok Village Route

This is a very interesting walking-route that will give you good impressions of Korea's dynamic history, including sites of the Joseon Dynasty to modern times. Climbing up the steep slopes of Mt. Namsan in the center of Seoul, you will also enjoy some beautiful and photogenic scenery.
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Reservation

Mixed Modern-Traditional Area 2
Dongdaemun - Seoul Fortress (Naksan Section)-Ihwajang

This walking-tour route will show you some very interesting sites of Seoul's long history that foreign visitors rarely get to visit, including a section of the old stone city wall and the restored residences of a Joseon aristocrat and Korea's first President. There is some notable natural and urban scenery along the way.|

Reservation

Mixed Modern-Traditional Area 3
Hangang (River) & Jeoldusan Catholic Martyrs' Shrine

Mangwonjeong takes you into the poetical world of our ancestors and offers anecdotes pertaining to the kings of the Joseon Dynasty. Walk along the historic Hangang and you will soon arrive at Yanghwajin Naruteo, one of the three major ferry points of the Joseon Dynasty and the Jeoldusan heritage site.|

Reservation

> Need a Tour Guide for the Insadong, Bukchon and Namsangol Areas?

Check the Insadong Info Center and Namsangol Hanok Village(maps below) where they have tour guides ready to serve you. No prior reservation is required. Just show up at the time indicated for the language guide service you seek.

Hours

* Insa-dong Info Center

- Tour Guidance in Korean: 10:00~17:00 every day
- Tour Guidance in Foreign Languages

Hours/Days	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
10:00~13:30	Chinese	Japanese	Chinese	Japanese		English/ Japanese	English/ Chinese
13:30~17:00	English					English/ Japanese	English

* Namsangol Hanok Village

- Tour Guidance in Korean: 10:00~17:00 every day
- Tour Guidance in Foreign Languages

Hours/Days	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
10:00~13:30	Japanese	Not Available	Japanese	English/ Japanese			English
13:30~17:00	English	Not Available	English	English/ Japanese			English


	* Insa-dong Info Center Tel. 02-737-7890 - From Jogyesa (Temple) : 30m from Nokyawon Buddhist Shop across from Jogyesa - From Insadong- gil : 100m from the road across from Insa-dong Ssamzi-gil


	* Namsangol Hanok Village Tel. 02-2266-6923 Get off at Chungmuro Station on Subway Lines 3, 4 and go out Exit 3, walk 200m on the road between Chungang University Medical Center and Maeil Business Newspaper Building.

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