Namsan Seoul Tower: Two Visits, Two Years Apart
Namsan Seoul Tower is one of those Seoul landmarks that I knew long before I ever stood beside it.
Before coming to Korea, when I first started studying Korean in Uzbekistan, there were photographs of Korea on the walls where I studied. Namsan Seoul Tower was one of the landmarks I remember seeing there. At that time, it was simply one of those images that represented Korea to me.
I think Namsan Tower is one of those places that many international visitors want to see when they come to Korea. Even before you know Seoul well, the tower can already feel familiar from photographs and images of the city.
Years later, after Korea had become part of my everyday life, Namsan was no longer just a landmark in a photograph. It became somewhere our family visited more than once.
Our family's first Namsan Tower visit was in September 2022, when my husband and children went without me. Two years later, in April 2024, we returned together. The destination was the same, but the two visits showed us very different sides of Namsan and Seoul.
Our First Namsan Tower Visit in 2022
In September 2022, my husband and children visited Namsan Seoul Tower for the first time. Their visit took place later in the day, which meant their photographs captured Seoul as daylight gradually gave way to evening.
The views from that visit show just how much of Seoul can be seen from Namsan. Dense neighborhoods stretch toward the horizon, with apartment complexes, roads, the Han River and mountains appearing as different layers of the city.
At street level, Seoul can sometimes feel like an endless collection of roads, buildings, shops and neighborhoods. From Namsan, those separate pieces seem to come together into one enormous landscape.
Sunset Over Seoul
One of the most striking parts of the 2022 photographs is the changing evening sky.
As the sun moved lower, the city below became darker while warm colors appeared along the horizon. Mountains formed dark silhouettes in the distance, while Seoul continued spreading below them.
The combination of mountains and city is something I find especially interesting about Seoul. It is a huge, densely built city, but the mountains are always part of its landscape. From Namsan, that relationship becomes much easier to see.
Watching Seoul Change From Day to Night
Some of the photographs from the first visit are not simply pictures of the skyline. They also capture quiet family moments while looking over the city.
As daylight faded, individual buildings became less noticeable and the city lights gradually took over. Roads turned into illuminated lines, windows began to glow, and Seoul took on a completely different appearance.
Seeing the photographs from different times of the same evening shows how quickly the view from Namsan can change. The geography of the city is easier to see before sunset, while after dark, the lights become the main feature of the landscape.
Returning Together in April 2024
Two years later, in April 2024, we went to Namsan together as a family, and this time I joined them.
Instead of simply reaching the tower area, we walked up Namsan. The weather was comfortable for walking, and the spring greenery made the route itself an enjoyable part of the visit.
Walking made the experience very different from simply arriving at the tower. As we climbed higher, the city appeared little by little through gaps in the trees.
Namsan is surrounded by a densely built city, yet parts of the walk feel surprisingly green and peaceful. Then a break between the trees suddenly reveals apartment buildings, office towers and mountains stretching into the distance.
That contrast between nature and city became one of the things I remember most clearly from our walk.
Reaching N Seoul Tower
As we approached the top, N Seoul Tower became more visible above the trees.
The atmosphere also changed. The walking paths had felt much quieter, but the area around the tower was crowded. There were many visitors, including many foreigners.
It reminded me again of the photographs I had seen while studying Korean in Uzbekistan years before. Namsan Tower is not only a Seoul landmark for people who live here. It is also one of the images through which many foreigners first become familiar with Korea.
And now I was standing beneath the same landmark that I had once known only from photographs.
The Famous Love Locks
Around the tower, one feature is particularly difficult to miss: the thousands of colorful love locks attached to the railings.
We did not add a lock ourselves. We simply stopped to look at them.
There were so many different colors, shapes and messages that together they had almost become part of the landscape around the tower.
Seoul From Namsan in Spring
Although the weather was good for walking, the sky was not completely clear. Even so, we could see a large part of Seoul from the viewpoints around Namsan.
From above, the scale of Seoul becomes much easier to appreciate. Dense neighborhoods spread between the mountains, while high-rise buildings and apartment complexes continue toward the horizon.
The view also makes Seoul's geography easier to understand. When travelling underground by subway or moving through busy streets, it can be difficult to see how closely the city is connected with its mountains. From Namsan, that relationship becomes much clearer.
Something Left for Our Next Visit
We did not go up to the N Seoul Tower observation deck during our 2024 visit. We stayed around the tower and enjoyed the views from Namsan itself.
There was also a traditional performance planned near the tower that day. We could have stayed longer to watch it, but eventually we decided to walk back down.
So even after two visits, there are still things we would like to experience another time.
I would like to return on one of Seoul's bright, clear days, when the sky is blue and visibility is especially good. Next time, we would also like to go inside N Seoul Tower and up to the observation deck.
And I would like to stay long enough to see the full night view together.
Two Visits, Two Different Memories
Looking at our photographs from 2022 and 2024, I realized that the same place can create very different memories.
The 2022 photographs show my husband and children watching Seoul change from evening into night. The 2024 photographs remind me of walking up Namsan together in spring, seeing the city through the trees, reaching the busy tower area and finally standing beside a landmark I had first known from photographs in Uzbekistan.
Namsan Tower itself had not changed very much between those visits, but our family's story had moved forward by two years.
Perhaps that is one of the nice things about returning to familiar places. A destination does not have to be new for the experience to feel different. The season changes, the weather changes, children grow, and we notice things we may not have noticed before.
And our Namsan story is probably not finished yet.
There is still a clear sunny day, a trip to the observation deck, and another Seoul night view waiting for our next visit.
