Mount Inwangsan is a relatively unknown mountain near metropolitan Seoul that you can hike to get an amazing view of Seoul city. This is a guide to the Inwangsan hike in Seoul. We’ll tell you why you should hike this mountain instead of Bukhansan Mountain.

6 minute read

Although Seoul is a huge technological megacity filled with tall skyscrapers, lights and people, the interesting thing about it is that it’s surrounded by mountains, too. One of the best ways to get a handle of just how massive Seoul is, is by hiking up one of these mountains.

While going up the N Seoul Tower does give you a pretty good overlook of the city, there’s no better reward than hiking up a mountain yourself to get that elusive view. In Seoul, you have a few options – the most popular option being hiking Bukhansan Mountain in Bukhansan National Park.

While Bukhansan is no doubt beautiful, and you should also hike up that mountain if you have the time, another mountain by the name of Mount Inwangsan is almost equally stunning and much less known.

Where to stay near Mount Inwangsan

Before you embark on the Mount Inwangsan hike, you might want to find a place to stay. Luckily, this area is full of great accomodation options, so you won’t have any problems finding somewhere that suits your budget. Here are the best places to stay near Mount Inwangsan.

Budget: Hans House

South Korea is well known for its cozy, hospitable guesthouses, and Hans House is no different. Reviewers have complimented the friendly service of the host, as well as the location - very close to food options, and of course, Mount Inwangsan.

You can take a closer look at Hans House by clicking here.

Mid-Range: Hanok Guesthouse Nuha

This guesthouse is also very close to Inwangsan, and is a bit more of an upgrade when it comes to the guesthouse’s interior. Featuring traditional Korean architecture, a stay here will not only be comfortable, but cultural.

You can take a closer look at Hanok Guesthouse Nuha by clicking here.

Luxury: [NuileStay]Gorgeous Hanok near GyeongbokgungPalace

This Chalet is the ultimate in traditional Hanok luxury! Combining elements of Hanok architecture and modern touches, the [NuileStay]Gorgeous Hanok near GyeongbokgungPalace accomodation is one of Seoul’s most unique choices.

You can take a closer look at [NuileStay]Gorgeous Hanok near GyeongbokgungPalace by clicking here.

How to get to Mount Inwangsan

Getting to Mount Inwangsan is pretty easy. From wherever you are, catch the Seoul metro train on the orange line (line 3) until you reach Gyeongbokgung Station.

Take exit 3, and keep walking until you see a Starbucks. In front of that Starbucks, there will be a bus stop. Take bus number 7212, 1020 or 7022 – they all will take you to Jahamun stop, which is where you’ll want to get off the bus.

From Jahamun, the trail start is only a short walk away. For more detailed directions, please visit Out Of Your Comfort Zone as that blog post has outlined, with pictures, exactly how you can reach the trail start.

RELATED: Day Trip to Seoraksan National Park from Seoul,  Guide to Alpensia Ski Resort

How to get back to Seoul

Once you reach the peak, just keep following the stairs as they descend down to the other side. This can be a little confusing! Just remember that you want to keep going down, and stay on the steps that look well-paved.

At times, the trail will split up between concrete stairs and dirt steps – try to stay on the concrete stairs as much as possible. There will be times where you will need to descend down dirt stairs, so don’t panic if you don’t see any concrete stairs. You should be totally fine as long as you keep going down the stairs.

Once you reach the end of the stairs, you’ll arrive on an ashphalted road. From here, we suggest that you open Naver Maps or Kakao Maps and work out how to get to Dongnimmun Station (on the orange line), which will be your nearest metro station.

The GPS took us down some pretty interesting areas (a garden, a school, a winding road, an apartment block to name a few), but we eventually got to Dongnimun Station after about 15 minutes of walking from the trail end.

Why you should hike Mount Inwangsan

It’s free

It doesn’t cost you anything to hike up this mountain – it’s totally free.

It’s less effort than Bukhansan

The hike up Inwangsan is surprisingly really easy. The hike can look intimidating at times, but because the trail has been so well paved with concrete stairs almost all the way, you won’t have to scramble, slip or climb up anything. The incline isn’t too steep either – the steps are as about as high as you can find in any normal house staircase.

As long as you take it slow, the hike shouldn’t be too hard at all to conquer as you’re just going up steps.

It’s short

From the trailhead to the peak, you’re only looking at a distance of about 1.5 km (0.9 miles). We took about 45 minutes to reach the top of Inwangsan, and then another 30 minutes to descend.

The whole hike, including time taken to stop, take photos and rest, took us about 2 hours in total. Because of this, we were able to shop at Myeongdong, enjoy Korean pancakes for lunch, visit SMTOWN and the Starfield Library at the COEX Mall, all in the same day.

By comparison, the Baegundae Peak hike, the highest peak of Bukhansan Mountain, takes about 4-5 hours to complete. Unless you wake up very early, doing this hike will pretty much take up your whole day.

It’s close to Seoul

One of the great things about Inwangsan Mountain is that for a mountain, it’s super close to metropolitan Seoul. Thankfully, you won’t have to go far out to get this stunning view – it’s pretty much nestled in the Seoul CBD area.

From Myeongdong Station, Inwangsan is about 30 minutes away on public transport, and even closer if you take a taxi ride.

From Seoul Station, Inwangsan is also about 30 minutes away on public transport.

By comparison, from Myeongdong Station, Bukhansan National Park is about 40 minutes away on public transport.

From Seoul Station, Inwangsan is also about 40 minutes away on public transport.

You’re hiking along fortress walls

This is something really cool and special about hiking up Inwangsan – the whole time, you’ll be climbing up fortress walls. After you read a little history about Inwansan, it just makes the hike that little bit more interesting. It’s also a very striking visual experience.

It’s less crowded

Throughout our entire hike, we only saw three other hikers along the journey. Yes, you heard that right – only three other hikers the entire trip (and this was before the COVID social distancing era!).

Granted, we did visit when it was snowing heavily and freezing (we can’t imagine too many people were up for the adventure that day), but still, that’s pretty astonishing. We really loved having this mountain all to ourselves.

Inwangsan is far less known than Bukhansan, so it’s no surprise that far less visitors take on the trail. We wouldn’t expect the same when hiking Bukhansan, as it is a very popular day trip with both tourists and locals.

The view is stunning

The views on top of Bukhansan Mountain are gorgeous – yes, but the panorama that’s gifted to you when reaching the peak of Inwangsan is also beautiful. Given the effort-to-reward ratio, we think Inwangsan wins this one.

You can get a glance at the famous Blue House

Another unique thing about this hike is that somewhere along the trail, you’ll be able to get a bird’s eye view of the Blue House (Cheong Wa Dae), which is basically like the White House in Washington D.C., but in Seoul.

Be careful though, you’re not supposed to take pictures in the direction and apparently, guards are known to patrol the area to make sure you’re not doing this. We didn’t see any on our trip – but just something to keep in mind.

Hiked up Inwangsan before? What did you think? Let us know in the comments below!