After dark

Seoul reads better at night. The bridges over the river, the lit city wall, the view down from a tower — all of it is a different picture after dark. Every course here can be started once the sun has gone.

The last subway is generally around midnight. Work out how you get back from the final stop before you set off.

15 courses

Full day

Jung-gu, Seoul

Myeongdong & Namsan

Start in the shopping district, ride the cable car to the top of Namsan, then come down the other side to a hanok village.

4 stops4h 42m

Half day

Songpa, Seoul

Jamsil Skyline Half-Day

Up to the 123rd floor, then down to the lake to look back up at it. Half a day is enough.

2 stops2h 40m

Half day

Mapo, Seoul

Hongdae & Yeonnam

Start on a street of buskers and drift into a long thin park built over a dead railway line. The two run into each other.

2 stops2h 15m

Half day

Yeongdeungpo, Seoul

Yeouido Riverside Half-Day

From the widest of the river parks to an island in the middle of a bridge. Start near sunset and it carries into the night view.

2 stops3h

Half day

Seocho, Seoul

Banpo River by Night

Watch a fountain pour off the side of a bridge, then walk out to an island on the river. This one only works after dark.

2 stops2h 42m

Half day

Jongno & Jung-gu, Seoul

Ikseon-dong & DDP After Dark

Start in hanok alleys, end under the lit curves of a Zaha Hadid building. A century-old lane and contemporary architecture, two subway stops apart.

2 stops2h 42m

Half day

Jongno, Seoul

Gwangjang Market & Naksan Wall

Start in a market that has run for over a century and end on a wall-topped hill at sunset. Begin late afternoon and you catch both at their best.

2 stops2h 55m

Half day

Mapo, Seoul

Mangwon Market & the River

Buy something at a neighbourhood market and walk it down to the river. This stretch of riverside is the least crowded, so you will find a spot.

2 stops2h 35m

Half day

Jongno, Seoul

Daehangno & the Naksan Wall

Start on a street with a hundred small theatres and climb to the old city wall. Whether or not you see a play, going up near sunset puts the whole city below you.

2 stops2h 32m

Full day

Yeosu

Odongdo and Yeosu by Night

Walk a breakwater into a camellia-forest island by day, then ride a cable car across the water and watch Yeosu light up from Dolsan Park.

3 stops4h 27m

Half day

Haeundae, Busan

Korea's best-known beach, with a wall of towers behind it. A path runs from the far end around Dongbaekseom island.

1 stops2h

Half day

Gyeongju

Daereungwon and Cheomseongdae

Twenty-three royal tombs sit like grass hills in the middle of town, with a seventh-century observatory a few minutes' walk away. Best near sunset.

2 stops1h 50m

Half day

Jung-gu, Busan

Jagalchi and Old Downtown Busan

Start among the tanks of a fish market, cut through the Gwangbok-ro shopping lanes, and climb to the tower in Yongdusan Park. The half-day that shows Busan as a port most plainly.

2 stops3h 15m