Guidebrooks: Namsan Seoul Tower

Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day so I decided to head into Seoul to do a bit of sightseeing. I had been told that the views from the Namsan Seoul Tower were amazing, so jumped off the subway at Seoul Station as my Lonely Planet guidebook told me it was around a 30 minute walk. They lied, it was more like a 90 minute walk, all uphill. If it wasn't for the subway map, Lonely Planet would now be in the bin.

It was worth it when I finally made it to the top though. Once I had recovered from jelly legs and gasping for air, I was able to take in the amazing views over Seoul. I paid 7,000 won (around £3.50) to take the lift to the observatory at the top of the tower and took about 300 photos (luckily for you, Blogger only lets me upload 5 photos at a time, but you can see the whole collection on Facebook). From the observatory, you get a panoramic view over Seoul and the mountains of Bukhansan National Park, but the smoggy haze over the city makes it clear just how much pollution there is in the city.

After taking my fill of views and vertigo, I decided to try out the restaurant on the floor below. For 33,000 won, I stuffed my face with pork ribs and a taste of just about everything (bar the shellfish) from the buffet bar. Quite expensive for Korea, but the eat as much as you can aspect and the views (although they should have taken a tip from the TV Tower in Berlin and had a revolving restaurant) meant it was worth it.

I decided to give my weary legs a rest and take the cable car down from the top of the mountain so that getting down the mountain took approximately 88 minutes less time than climbing up it.

View of Seoul Tower from just outside Seoul Station. Doesn't look that far does it?!