The N Seoul Tower, officially the YTN Seoul Tower and commonly known as the Namsan Tower or Seoul Tower, is a communication and observation tower located on Namsan Mountain in central Seoul, South Korea.

Observation deck tickets cost 10,000 won for adults (about $9) and 8,000 won for children 12 years old and younger as well as seniors (just over $7). The observatory welcomes visitors 10 a.m. until 11 p.m. from Monday through Friday and on Sundays. On Saturdays, you can marvel at Seoul’s skyline until midnight.

There are a few ways to get to the top of Mount Namsan. The hale and hearty may opt to walk up a long stairway – a 20- to 30-minute trek beginning from Hoehyeon Subway Station on Line 4. Others may choose to take the cable car that leaves from Myeong-dong Subway Station on Line 4, Exit 3; round-trip cable car tickets cost 8,500 won (about $7.60) for adults and 5,500 won (about $4.90) for kids (one-way tickets cost slightly less).

We were staying at Grand Hyatt Seoul and decided to walk up to the N Seoul Tower. We recommend hiking there because the base of the park is more beautiful than the area where the tower is. The landscaping around the base of the park has so many types of flowers and trees, and there is also a wonderful botanical garden to walk around. It probably takes about 20 minutes to walk around the base of the park, and then it takes another 35 – 40 minutes to walk up to the tower. On the walk up, there is great look-out point, and there usually aren’t too many people there. If it seems like it will take too long to walk up, consider that there is often quite a long line to take the cable car up to the tower, and so walking is better.

The day we visited it was a bit cloudy so we didn’t get the spectacular views but we did enjoy sitting and watching the world go by. The history information, the many places with the padlocks (some just seemed to be from people visiting – rather than symbols of enduring love). Despite the numbers of visitors it also seemed peaceful under the trees. We were lucky enough to catch a great, free show of Korean culture. This included music and dance tricks and marital arts displays. This occurs 2 to 3 times a week and worth being up there for. I think there are other display events too such as the lighting of the beacon torches which must be spectacular as well.

This place is very famous for both Seoul citizens and foreigners. Kids enjoyed their scenic walk through the beautiful shrubs and trees. The paths are well landscaped and maintained. We loved this place and would be amazing to go in Autumn to see the beautiful colours of the trees on the mountain slopes.