Bukchon Hanok Village is one of Seoul's most quietly astonishing places — a densely packed hillside neighbourhood of around 900 traditional hanok houses that has somehow survived the city's relentless modernisation. Wedged between Gyeongbokgung Palace and Changdeokgung Palace in the heart of the city, Bukchon was historically home to high-ranking government officials and aristocrats during the Joseon Dynasty, and the architecture still carries that sense of refined, understated status. Walking its narrow lanes, with their sweeping tiled roofs and whitewashed walls, it genuinely feels like a different Seoul — one that predates the concrete and neon by several centuries.
Neighbourhood