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.

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.

Several traditional hanok buildings at Seoul's popular Ikseon dong Hanok Village. They are identifiable by the slanted roofs. Alongside them are a series of more generic buildings in the background — Ikseon-dong Hanok Village from above. There were better views on the other side, although they were spoiled by an electricity pylon in the middle. So this will have to do

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 used the local rideshare app Kakao T. However in Seoul it is more expensive than Uber, therefore I’d recommend not using it there.

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 at Ikseondong?

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 Hanok Village.

Thai, Italian, French, you name it. Various restaurants are tucked into the narrow streets that make up this 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.

Madang Flower Cafe in Ikseon-dong Hanok Village, Seoul.

The cafe is inside a traditional Korean building (hanok) with a series of cakes listed above the counter and ice creams and fruit deserts advertised below.

The cafe is given character by fairy lights hanging from the roof and a dim lantern on the right — Madang Flower Cafe was my favourite treat stop in Ikseon-dong

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.

I gave it a go and it was good fun! It only takes around 5 minutes for a single session, but you get to keep the paper target at the end, and see how accurate you were.

Ikseon-dong Shooting Range. You can see a series of paper targets stuck to the window — Ikseon-dong shooting range. Apologies for the bad photo, but it’s the only one I took. Did think I’d taken more here but apparently that’s not the case!

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!

A photobooth in Ikseon-dong Hanok Village. This one is called Self Photo Studio and offers 2 photos for the price of one for just ₩4,000 — You can’t say you’ve truly experienced Korean culture without visiting a photobooth, such as this one 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.

Three mechanical brown cows eating hay outside Cheese Industry in Ikseondong Hanok Village — Cheese Industry is one of the coolest spots in Ikseondong Hanok Village, especially with these cows outside!

Enjoy Activities at the Pop-up Store

Ikseondong is home to a building which changes purpose on a regular basis. I’ve seen it used as a mini theme park promoting a peanut butter brand called Skippy, a cider display and a place showcasing men’s fashion.

I went in when the peanut butter factory was there and experienced a range of games and activities.

In the end I went up to 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. Hopefully you will find an enjoyable event there during your own visit to Ikseondong.

Never expected to spend my Saturday morning watching peanut butter move around a conveyor belt, but here we are

Play Games at Saeseoul Arcade

Video games are a big deal in East Asia. Japan is the gaming capital of the world, Taiwan is believed to have over 10,000 claw machine arcades and South Korea, whilst not quite on the same level as its two near-neighbours, still has a passion for gaming.

Saeseoul is great because of the variety it offers over two floors. On the bottom floor you have claw machines and several large gaming machines where you can sit down and play some Sega classics.

On the second floor, there are retro games from the 1980s and 90s including Street Fighter II and a few other classics.

The second floor also had a couple of darts boards where you could compete with friends, and a Whac-A-Mole machine if you want to get hands-on with an interactive experience.

Saesoul even had Mario Kart machines, so you can come to relive your childhood if you get the chance! I’d certainly say it’s worth checking out.

Oh, and there’s even a rooftop cocktail bar if the games don’t entice you in. There’s something for everyone here.

Mario Kart and a basketball game at Saeseoul arcade in Ikseondong Hanok Village

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, photobooths and Saeseoul arcade.

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.

You can get the best views from going up to a rooftop spot, such as the one in Saeseoul. I don’t recommend the rooftop views at the pop-up building as there is a large electricity 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 or two in Seoul.

I went here alone and would say it’s a great spot for solo travellers in South Korea. But you will also have a lot of fun with friends or family. In fact it’s a place with a lot of appeal for couples too.

Check it out and you may just find you love it!

A Guide to Visiting Ikseon-dong Hanok Village in 2024