Seoul: A City for Lovers

The quintessential example of the city for lovers is Paris.  Don’t get me wrong, Paris still very much retains this title.  Yet, Seoul is unexpectedly an amazingly romantic city. From the Sky Rose Garden to the traditional Hanok villages of  Bukchon and Namsangol, there are endless possibilities for the young in love to impress that special person in their life. Perhaps nothing is more romantic than making the trek to N Seoul Tower on Mt. Namsan at night.   At the foot of the tower, couples can immortalise their love by placing a personalised lock on the fence already containing tens of thousands of other such “love locks”. I made the trek myself a couple of days ago when the tower was engulfed in fog creating a fairy tale atmosphere.  I stood by myself in the queue at the Namsan Cable Cars along with dozens of couples young and old.  Once the cable cars dropped us off at the foot of the tower, we all climbed up several flights of stairs to the viewing deck and the love lock fence.  We then descended to our own world and we each immortalised our love for our special person as the fog and darkness of the night enveloped us. Have your own Seoul love lock fence experience?  Please leave a comment or send  an image of your lock immortalising your love. How to Get There: The directions provided by travel guides and hotel concierges seem to be overly complicated. The most straightforward way to get to N Seoul Tower is as follows: Take subway line 4 to Myeong-dong Station and take Exit 4.  Walk straight out of the station towards the Hoehyeon intersection.  You will see the Shinsegae Department Store and Woori Bank in front of you and across the street.  Do not cross the street at this intersection, but turn left.  Keep walking straight until you reach Namsan Oreumi, which is Seoul’s outdoor elevator.   Take the elevator to level 2, which is where you can board the Namsan Cable Cars that take you to N Seoul Tower. Things to Know: At the foot of the tower, there are two stores where you can purchase locks to personalise.  Two types of locks are offered – one that you can get engraved and one that you can personalise with a permanent marker. Estimated Costs as at January 2014: (1) Namsan Oreumi – free (2) Namsan Cable Cars – 8,500 won for adult round-trip fare and 5,500 won for senior/child round-trip fare; note that special fares are offered for groups over 30 (3) N Seoul Tower – 9,000 won for adults; 7,000 won for seniors/teenagers; 5,000 won for children (4) Love Locks – roughly 9,000 won to 15,000 won to purchase the locks Note that there is no cost to access the love lock fence at the base of the tower.