Jongno and Euljiro are some of the best places to understand Seoul on foot. In a short stretch, palaces, old alleys, long-running local shops, and newer cultural spaces all sit side by side. For readers more used to planning a city around driving, this area works in the opposite way. The point is not how many places you can cover by car, but how much you notice while walking. This route, from Euljiro to Jongno, shows how old and new Seoul overlap in a very natural way.

A good starting point is the Seoul Cinema Center. It screens independent films, classic movies, and other works that are not always easy to find at regular theaters. One of the best parts is that screenings are currently free, with reservations available online or tickets sometimes offered on site. On the fourth floor, there is also a pop-up exhibition recreating famous scenes from major Korean films such as A Moment to Remember, Oldboy, and Christmas in August. It gives visitors the feeling of stepping into a movie scene rather than simply looking at a display.

From there, the mood changes quickly once you enter the alleys of Euljiro. The area is known for its old workshops, narrow streets, and weathered signs, but newer spaces have moved in without completely changing the neighborhood’s character. Hana Bank Heart One is a good example. It is a former bank branch turned into a cultural complex, where visitors can view artworks from the bank’s collection for free. The open-storage style display makes the space feel more relaxed than a traditional museum. In the middle of an industrial alley, that contrast makes the art stand out even more.

The walk between Daelim Arcade and Sewoon Arcade is one of the most memorable parts of the route. The two buildings are connected by elevated walkways, so you can move through them while looking out over the streets below. Because both buildings are older, the atmosphere feels layered and cinematic. At the same time, the interiors now include cafes, bookstores, and restaurants alongside older businesses. That mix is what makes the area interesting. It does not feel polished in a uniform way. Instead, it feels like different decades are still sharing the same building.

Part of Euljiro’s appeal is the pleasure of finding small places hidden inside these older structures. One stop on the walk is Bbau Euljiro, a donut shop on the third floor of Daelim Arcade. It is known for chewy glutinous rice donuts sold at a reasonable price. Fresh, warm donuts eaten while walking through the alley fit the neighborhood especially well. Not far away, Sewoon Arcade also carries traces of its past as a major electronics hub. At the Sewoon Electronics Museum, visitors can see radios, early computers, and other objects tied to the history of Korea’s electronics industry.

Food is another important part of the area. Around Euljiro 3-ga, many long-established restaurants are packed into a small radius. Eulji Kalguksu is one of the best known. The restaurant is famous for knife-cut noodles and dumplings, and the signature menu combines both in one bowl. The broth is rich without feeling heavy, the noodles are thick and chewy, and the large dumplings are filled generously. It is the kind of meal that feels simple at first, but stays in your mind afterward.

After that, the route continues to Coffee Hanyakbang, a cafe hidden deep in one of Euljiro’s narrow alleys. The name references the area’s old connection to traditional medicine, and the interior leans into that idea with a retro concept. Small details, from the furniture to the hanging lights, give the cafe a strong identity. Upstairs, the seating area and terrace look out over the alley, where faded walls and older storefronts create a view that feels very different from the polished image many visitors first associate with Seoul. That is part of what makes it memorable.

Crossing into Jongno, the walk becomes quieter and more historic. Next to Jongmyo Shrine, the UNESCO World Heritage site dedicated to the royal ancestors of the Joseon Dynasty, Seosulla-gil runs along the wall and has become a popular walking street lined with cafes and restaurants. From there, the Palace Wall Road connecting Jongmyo and Changgyeonggung offers one of the calmest stretches in central Seoul. It is a route where the pace slows down on its own.

Inside Changgyeonggung, the city noise fades even more. From higher ground, visitors can look down at broad rock formations and palace buildings at once, which makes the setting feel less like a decorative complex and more like architecture placed carefully into an existing landscape. If you look farther out, tiled palace roofs and the modern skyline appear together in a single view. That is the core feeling of this walk. Seoul’s past and present do not sit far apart here. They share the same frame.

A Seoul Travel Route Foreign Visitors Love, from Historic Landmarks to Trendy Neighborhoods


The final stop is the Seoul National University Hospital Medical Museum. Located in the former main building of Daehan Hospital, one of Korea’s earliest modern hospital buildings, the museum can also be visited for free. Inside, exhibitions trace the development of Korean medicine from the late Joseon period through the colonial era and beyond. The creaking wooden floors, barred windows, and red-brick exterior preserve the atmosphere of another time. It is a quiet ending to a route that begins with film, moves through art, food, and industry, and ends with history.

Walking from Euljiro to Jongno is not just a way to see a list of attractions. It is one of the clearest ways to understand Seoul slowly. In this part of the city, old workshops, palace walls, cafes, museums, and long-running restaurants are not separated into different districts or different eras. They remain side by side, and the best way to see that is simply to walk.


A Seoul Travel Route Foreign Visitors Love, from Historic Landmarks to Trendy Neighborhoods