Around Seoul City Hall, traffic tends to catch your attention first. Cars and buses fill the broad roads, tall buildings rise on either side, and crowds move quickly across the crossings.
Walk past Daehanmun, the main gate of Deoksugung Palace, and turn toward the palace wall. Your attention begins to settle on closer things: the surface of the stone, the trees beside the path, a roof briefly visible above the wall.
Along Jeongdong-gil, a historic street in central Seoul, you can see traditional tiled roofs, Western-style stone buildings, and a red-brick church within a short walk. Each change in material and shape offers a glimpse of a different period in the city’s history.
This route begins inside Deoksugung Palace, follows its outer wall, and continues to the Seoul Museum of Art and Chungdong First Methodist Church. Finish with a café break nearby. The stops are close together, but each invites you to spend your time differently: crossing a palace courtyard, pausing before a painting, or looking up at a church window.
Why are there Western-style buildings in Jeongdong?
Jeongdong’s architecture makes more sense with a little background on the late Joseon period and the Korean Empire.
Deoksugung was previously called Gyeongungung. It served as the imperial palace of the Korean Empire, proclaimed in 1897. Foreign legations, missionary institutions, schools, and churches were established in the surrounding area. Diplomacy, education, and religious activity brought different building styles into the neighborhood.
The streets you see today have continued to change. Buildings have found new uses, and some have been preserved or remodeled. Jeongdong’s present appearance includes those later chapters, too.
As you walk, compare materials and shapes rather than trying to remember every construction date. Look at the eaves of a traditional palace hall, the columns of a stone building, and the windows of a brick church.
You don’t need to know the whole history before arriving. Let a building catch your attention, then read a little about it while you’re there.
1. Deoksugung Palace: Tiled roofs and stone columns
If you’re arriving at City Hall Station, begin at Daehanmun, the main entrance to Deoksugung Palace.
Inside, take some time to look at the traditional halls and their courtyards. Rather than viewing each building only from the front, walk across the open space and look back from another angle. Up close, you notice columns and eaves. From farther away, the roofline and neighboring buildings become easier to see together.
The courtyards deserve attention as well. The distance between buildings and the openings between them shape how you move through the palace. Try taking one photograph focused on a building, then another with more of the courtyard included.
Continue toward Seokjojeon, a Western-style palace building completed in 1910. Its tall columns and symmetrical façade create a different impression from the traditional halls. Compare the windows, entrance steps, and roof.
Why does a Korean palace contain a building like this? Deoksugung’s role as an imperial palace helps explain it. Western architectural forms were introduced during this period, and today you can see them alongside traditional palace architecture.
After looking closely at both, step back and take in the surroundings. The details of one building tell you something different from the view of several styles sharing the same grounds.
2. Deoksugung Stonewall Walkway: Follow the curve of the wall
Leave the palace through Daehanmun and follow the stonewall walkway.
Inside the palace, halls and courtyards guide your attention. Outside, the wall leads you along the street. Because you can’t see everything beyond it, small glimpses become noticeable: a branch reaching overhead or part of a roof appearing above the tiles.
Start by looking at the stones nearby. Notice their colors and surfaces, then move back a little to see how the wall follows the road.
You can approach photographs in the same way. A close view captures the texture of stone and roof tiles. A wider view includes the trees and the bend of the path.
The trees change the walk throughout the year. When they’re in leaf, sunlight falls through the branches in small patches. In the colder months, the shapes of the bare branches are easier to see above the wall.
You may recognize a tree or roof you were looking at from inside the palace. Walking on both sides of the wall gives you a better sense of how the palace fits into the surrounding city.
3. Seoul Museum of Art: From the street to the gallery
From the walkway, head to the Seosomun Main Branch of the Seoul Museum of Art, often shortened to SeMA.
The building is worth looking at before you enter. Its design combines the preserved façade of the former Supreme Court with modern architecture. A place once used for legal proceedings now welcomes visitors to exhibitions and cultural programs.
Outside, notice the arrangement of the windows and the structure of the front of the building. Inside, look at how the lobby connects to the galleries. Compare the impression you had from the street with the scale and light you experience indoors.
Is it worth visiting if you don’t know much about art? If an exhibition interests you, give yourself time to explore it. You don’t have to understand every work.
Choose something that holds your attention. It might be a color you like or a material you haven’t seen used that way before. Look first, then read the description. You may notice something new when you return your eyes to the work.
If you’re visiting with someone, compare what caught your attention. Two people can leave the same gallery remembering entirely different things.
After looking up at buildings along the street, standing still in front of a single artwork changes the pace of the afternoon.
4. Chungdong First Methodist Church: Look closely at the brickwork
Return to Jeongdong-gil and continue to Chungdong First Methodist Church.
The church was established in 1885, and its historic Bethel Chapel was built in 1897. It remains an active place of worship.
Compare its form with the palace buildings you saw earlier. The red-brick walls, tall windows, and roofline create another distinct architectural setting within the same neighborhood.
From a distance, the brickwork may appear to be a single color. Closer up, individual bricks and the joints between them become visible. Look at how the edges of the windows are shaped within the wall.
Do you need an interest in religion to include this stop? The exterior offers plenty to observe if you’re curious about architecture or Jeongdong’s history. If the interior is open to visitors, you can also see how the windows shape the light inside.
By this point, you’ll have moved from an imperial palace to an art museum and a church. The buildings differ in appearance, but also in the ways people use them.
5. Jeongdong-gil and a café: Continue the walk from a window seat
After looking around the church, walk a little farther along Jeongdong-gil and choose a café for a break.
You don’t need to add another attraction immediately. Think back over what you’ve seen. Was it the palace eaves, Seokjojeon’s columns, a work in the museum, or the church windows that stayed with you?
Check the menu and prices, then look for somewhere comfortable to sit. After a few hours on your feet, a good chair may matter more than a café’s popularity.
If you find a window seat, watch the street for a while. A doorway or tree you passed while looking for the next stop may catch your attention now.
Have tea or another drink if you don’t want coffee, or make this a meal break instead. Afterward, you can return to City Hall Station or continue toward Gwanghwamun, depending on the rest of your day.
A suggested walking route for your first visit
Follow this order:
City Hall Station → ① Deoksugung Palace → ② Deoksugung Stonewall Walkway → ③ Seoul Museum of Art, Seosomun Main Branch → ④ Chungdong First Methodist Church → ⑤ Jeongdong-gil and a café → City Hall Station
The route begins inside the palace, continues along its outer wall, and links the museum and church. Choose a café along your return route.
How much time should you allow?
Set aside roughly half a day, including palace and museum visits and a meal or café break. You may want longer if you spend more time in an exhibition or join a separate palace program.
Do you need to go inside every place?
No. If the museum’s current exhibitions don’t interest you, you can spend some time looking at the building and its surroundings instead. If art is your main interest, shorten the palace visit and leave longer for the galleries.
You can also compare this walk with Seoul’s hanok neighborhoods. In Ikseon-dong, you may have noticed small shop entrances; in Bukchon, roofs at different heights. Here, pay attention to building materials and windows. Different parts of Seoul leave you remembering different shapes.
Visiting hours and practical information
Deoksugung Palace
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Opening hours | 9 a.m.–9 p.m. |
| Last admission | 8 p.m. |
| Regular closing day | Monday |
Closing arrangements may change when a public holiday falls on the regular closing day. Interior visits to Seokjojeon and individual exhibitions or guided programs may have separate booking requirements and schedules.
Seoul Museum of Art, Seosomun Main Branch
| Day or season | Opening hours |
|---|---|
| Tuesday–Thursday | 10 a.m.–8 p.m. |
| Friday | 10 a.m.–9 p.m. |
| Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, March–October | 10 a.m.–7 p.m. |
| Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, November–February | 10 a.m.–6 p.m. |
| Regular closing days | Monday and January 1 |
The museum is listed as open when Monday is a public holiday. Last admission is one hour before closing. General admission is free, although some special exhibitions may charge a fee. Gallery access can vary during exhibition changes or events.
Church visits and the walking route
Follow the church’s on-site guidance for interior visits and photography. During services, adjust your visit to viewing the exterior.
The public sections of the stonewall walkway and Jeongdong-gil are separate from admission to Deoksugung Palace. Individual passages and facilities around the palace may have their own opening hours.
Restaurants and cafés set their own schedules. If you want to visit both the palace and the museum interiors, plan this walk for a day other than Monday.