A Guide to Visiting Ikseon-dong Hanok Village in 2024
What is Ikseon-Dong Hanok Village?
A hanok is a traditional Korean home dating back to the early Joseon Dynasty era in the 1400s. Ikseon-dong is a neighbourhood in Seoul. Since the area is made up primarily of hanoks, it became Ikseon-dong Hanok Village.
The area is mostly full of businesses these days. Cafes and restaurants dominate by far. Although photo booths (very popular in South Korea) are also plentiful and there are some quirkier places such as a shooting range, a cheese factory-turned-shop and even an interactive peanut butter adventure park.
It gave off a bit of a hipster vibe when I visited, similar to Tokyo’s popular Golden Gai. By this I’m referring to the quirky nature of the place, and its draw towards tourists who fancy seeing something a little different.
One major difference however is that the bar-heavy Golden Gai is very much geared towards adults, whereas Ikseon-dong is more suitable for anyone of all ages.
There are some residential homes. As evidenced by a “no photography – respect Korean residents” banner which I saw. Or words along those lines. I don’t recall the exact wording as I respected their wishes not to take photos. However, the majority of the village is fine for taking pictures.
Where Is Ikseon-dong Hanok Village and How Do You Get There?
Address: Ikseon-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea
By Metro
The nearest station on the Seoul subway is Jongno 3-ga. It takes you right to the entrance of Ikseondong from exits 3-6.
Anguk is a 7 minute walk away if you leave via exit 6 and head down Samil-daero.
By Bus
There are numerous bus arteries that pass Ikseon-dong Hanok Village on all sides. Many surround the nearest subway stations: Anguk and Jongno 3-ga.
By Uber
Uber works in Seoul. Obviously it’s impossible to say how much it will cost without knowing your location, or taking surge pricing into account. But to give you a rough guide it costs an average of ₩9,950 (£5.75/US$7.15) to reach Ikseon-dong Hanok Village from N Seoul Tower, ₩7,800 (£4.51/US$5.60) from Gyeongbokgung Palace and ₩7,700 (£4.45/US$5.53) from Myeongdong Street.
It is a ₩71,100 (£41.07/US$51.07) journey to the village from Incheon International Airport.
As an expat living in South Korea, I occasionally use the local rideshare app Kakao T. However in Seoul it is more expensive than Uber, therefore I’d recommend not using it.
Walking Distance From Other Attractions
Jongmyo Shrine: 6 minutes
Insadong Street: 7 minutes
Changdeokgung Palace: 9 minutes
Jogyesa Temple: 12 minutes
Gwangjang Market: 14 minutes
Bukchon Hanok Village: 17 minutes
Gwanghwamun Square: 20 minutes
Changgyeonggung Palace: 23 minutes
Myeongdong Street: 25 minutes
Gyeongbokgung Palace: 27 minutes
Namsangol Hanok Village: 27 minutes
Deoksugung Palace: 32 minutes
N Seoul Tower: 1 hour 26 minutes
When is the Best Time to Visit Ikseondong Hanok Village?
I would say that spring is the best time to visit the village (and the country overall). This is because the weather is warm without being too hot and humid.
It is also quieter with most tourists not arriving until the scorching summer season.
What Can You do There?
Eat at the Many Cafes and Restaurants
There’s no shortage of options for foodies here. You can find all sorts of food and drink at Ikseondong.
Thai, Italian, French, you name it. Various restaurants are tucked into the narrow streets that make up this hanok village.
And you can add a lot of cafes and dessert shacks on top of that. One which caught my eye was Madang Flower Cafe (마당). This scenic little corner spot sells a wide range of tasty treats.
Go Shooting at the Local Range
Perhaps my biggest surprise from this unassuming village was stumbling across a shooting range. Not something you’d associate with traditional Joseon-era housing that has a family-friendly feel to the place.
For just ₩5,000 (£2.89/US$3.60) you can have a go firing at targets which probably isn’t your average weekend activity.
Unfortunately, a weekend activity is all this can be. The shooting range is open from midday until 9pm on Saturday and Sunday only.
Visit a Photobooth
Photobooth culture is BIG in South Korea. Even if you’re only spending one day in Seoul, or any other city within the country, you will probably come across these places.
A photobooth is a popular pastime in South Korea, where groups of friends will go inside and take several photos together using various props and filters. Lots of the props are typical of Korean “cutesy” culture, where it isn’t uncommon to see even young men dressing up as Hello Kitty or a fruit for example.
They will print out photos for lasting memories, and go back for more and more every few weeks, or even sooner.
It generally costs around ₩4,000-5,000 (£2.32-2.90/US$2.89-3.61) for a trip to one of these quirky places.
The most popular photobooth chain in the country is Life4Cuts with an estimated 2 million visitors per month.
If you haven’t been to one elsewhere, then why not consider visiting one of the many that can be found in Ikseondong!
Enjoy the Freshest Cheese at Cheese Industry
Cheese Industry is a quirky little spot, nestled amongst the small hanoks. It will catch your eye due to three mechanical cows “eating” hay outside in a little space that has been designed to look like a dairy farm.
To the left of the “farm” you have a live bakery, and to the left is the main cafe where you can go inside and purchase all sorts of cheese-based goods.
Outside was a sign advertising the types of cheese being made and at what times. They had Emmental at 10am, Burrata at 10:30am, Gouda at 12:30pm and Burrata again at 3pm.
I had heard that Cheese Industry drew big crowds and was hard to get into without a long wait. This was not my experience whilst visiting at 11am on a Saturday. I was able to walk straight in and there were only two other groups browsing the cheesy goods, whilst a handful of people were seated for their mid-morning snack.
Engage in Games and Activities at Skippy Land
This crazy little building is almost like a mini theme park dedicated to peanut butter. I don’t even like peanut butter, but was curious since there was a big cart full of it outside the entrance with some ladies who were there to promote the brand: Skippy.
I went inside and they offered to give me fake tattoos with the Skippy branding on them. I’m a 30-something male and didn’t fancy walking around Seoul for the rest of the day with “Skippy” on my hands or cheeks so I politely declined and was directed into the first room.
In there I queued for a few minutes. The first stop was meant to be a talk, but it was only in Korean, therefore I was waved straight through by the friendly lady inside.
The next stop was more talking, which meant I started at the third stop: a machine where you put a ball in and win a “toppings” sticker for your (fake) peanut butter sandwich.
I won chocolate chips and went to stop four. The lady at this one put a pin badge into a machine and placed the chocolate toppings sticker on top.
She pressed down, and voila! Suddenly I had a pin badge of a peanut butter and chocolate sandwich. I’ll wear that with pride until the day I die.
Anyway, that was the last stop in this room. Thinking that was that I went to the entrance, only for a guy to point me upstairs.
On the second floor there was a claw machine. The queue was long though and I was in a hurry, thus deciding to give it a miss.
In the middle of the room was a conveyor belt with several jars of Skippy peanut butter going around a motionless “Skippy Land” ferris wheel model.
At the end was a stand promoting Skippy hats, more peanut butter jars and offering free balloons to children under 14.
Next up was the rooftop. Aside from great views of the Hanok village (annoyingly spoiled by a massive electricity pylon in the middle), there was one more fun activity up here.
For no entry cost you would be given three darts and you had to pop three balloons to win a prize.
I’ll never know what the prize was because my first dart deflected off the balloon and resulted in a score of two out of three.
They gave me a recipe for a Skippy peanut butter chocolate bar, and that was the end of that.
The Skippy building was surprisingly good fun. And afterwards it was time to head to my next stop, nearby Jogyesa Temple.
Is Ikseon-dong Hanok Village Worth Visiting?
I would say Ikseondong Village is pretty cool. If you’ve never seen Korean houses before, then it may be of interest to you.
If you have however, then there’s nothing spectacular about these houses compared to others. And your main reason to come here would be for the unique activities such as the shooting range and Skippy building.
It’s also hard to get good pictures of the hanoks themselves. In most cases, all you can see are the roofs slightly jutting out.
Unfortunately the best vantage point (Skippy’s rooftop) is ruined by the large electric pylon in the way.
This is certainly a less touristy village than its more famous near-neighbour Bukchon. Albeit with its fair share of visitors still.
I came to South Korea to teach English (and these are the requirements if you’re interested in doing the same) and have been lucky enough to see many hanok villages dotted around the country.
This village doesn’t have the glamour of a Beopjusa Temple or Gyeongbokgung Palace. And it certainly isn’t as memorable as a trip to the DMZ.
But it’s still a fun spot to kill a couple of hours and combine with a few other nearby destinations during a day in Seoul.
I went here alone and would say it’s a great spot for solo travellers in South Korea.
Check it out and you may just find you love it!
