K-Royal Culture Festival (궁중문화축전)

2.0Km 2025-07-29

161 Sajik-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul
+82-1522-2295

The K-Royal Culture Festival is held at the five Royal Palaces and Jongmyo Shrine. The festival first began in 2014 and provides visitors with first-hand knowledge of these important cultural heritages through unique performances, exhibitions, experiences and programs. The festival expanded in 2021 to be hosted twice a year, in spring and in fall.

Seoul Museum of Craft Art (SeMoCA) (서울공예박물관)

2.0Km 2025-06-19

4 Yulgok-ro 3-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul

The Seoul Museum of Craft Art (SeMoCA), the first public museum of craft art in Korea, opened its doors in Anguk-dong, Jongno-gu, in July 2021 after renovating five buildings of the former Pungmoon Girls’ High School. SeMoCA studies and shares not only works, but also information, records, people, and environment related to craft art with the goal of becoming a dynamic platform for experiencing the technical, practical, artistic, and cultural values of craft.
SeMoCA holds a collection that comprises various crafts and craft materials covering multiple fields and eras from the traditional to the present. SeMoCA also holds exhibitions that feature the history of craft from traditional to contemporary art as well as local and children’s crafts, along with programs that utilize the museum’s craft installations, craft archives, craft library, and craft resource management system.
The site of the museum has deep historical roots as it is also the Andong Secondary Palace Site, where a detached palace was constructed as a royal residence for King Sejong’s son Prince Yeongeung, and served as a venue for royal celebrations, such as the wedding of King Sunjong. The site is also at the center of Jongno-gu, where Joseon-era master artisans (“gyeonggongjang”) of the royal palace produced and delivered craft works.

Cheongwadae Sarangchae (청와대사랑채)

2.0Km 2025-08-20

45 Hyoja-ro 13-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul
+82-2-723-0300

Cheongwadae Sarangchae is an “open cultural space” for everyone. Throughout the facility, travel library-themed spaces and tourism-related exhibitions are set up providing distinctive experiences for visitors interested in learning more about Korea. By exploring Cheongwadae Sarangchae and its surroundings, visitors can expand their discovery and get a deeper insight as they travel Korea. Cheongwadae Sarangchae consists of exhbition halls on the first and second floors, with convenient amenities such as a nursing room, storage lockers, accessible restrooms, a gift shop, and a cafe.

SAEWHA HOSTEL(세화호스텔)

2.0Km 2024-06-20

50 , Samil-daero 32ga-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul
+82-10-3780-5988

Located in Jongno, in the heart of Seoul, Saehwa Hostel offers a variety of guest rooms, including ondol rooms and bedrooms, for up to 3 people. There’s a bathtub in each room. Shared PCs, massage chairs, microwave ovens, washing machines and dryers are all available free of charge. A simple free breakfast is provided, plus a free international phone service and a foreign language guidance service. Seoul Station is 15 minutes away by subway, and the airport limousine bus stops at Jongno 3-ga station. Changdeokgung Palace, Jongmyo Shrine, and downtown shopping streets are all reachable on foot.

Olive Young - Hongdae Daehangno Branch [Tax Refund Shop] (올리브영 홍대대학로)

2.0Km 2024-04-16

57, Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul

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High - Anguk Branch [Tax Refund Shop] (하이엔드코리아 안국)

2.0Km 2024-04-17

1F, 62-5, Insadong-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul

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Korea Art Festival (대한민국 미술축제)

2.0Km 2025-07-31

57 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul
+82-70-7575-0980

Korea Art Festival is the nation's largest art festival that connects the 12 major art fairs and biennales taking place nationwide. The 2025 festival takes place in September, inviting visitors to enjoy the world of art.

Jihwaja (지화자)

2.0Km 2024-03-18

125 Jahamun-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul
+82-2-2269-5834

Jihwaja is a traditional Korean restaurant operated by a successor of Joseon dynasty royal dishes. Their manchan course (full course) includes menus served at royal banquets such as gungjung manchan (royal course), Jineo-byul manchan (deluxe royal degustation course), and janggeum manchan (daejanggeum degustation course) courses. The janggeum course reconstructs dishes from the drama "Dae Jang Geum." For the Jeongchan course (Set menu), they offer so galbi sura (grilled beef ribs course), jeonbok cho sura (braised abalones in soy sauce course), so galbi jjim sura (braised beef short ribs course), and haemul sinseollo sura (seafood hot pot course). Additionally, they serve milk porridge, meat and vegetable skewers, mandu, royal hot pot, and grilled marinated beef.

Nwijo (뉘조)

2.0Km 2024-03-06

27 Insadong 14-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul
+82-2-730-9311

Nwijo is a Korean table d'hote restaurant located in Insa-dong where you can enjoy course meals made from hundreds of wild herbs. Starting with pumpkin porridge and water kimchi, basic dishes such as wild herb salads, pancakes, kimchi with boiled pork slices, and mixed roots are served along with set menu and wild herb enzymes as a standard part of the meal.

Insa-dong (인사동)

2.1Km 2024-05-17

62, Insadong-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul
+82-2-734-0222

Insa-dong, located in the heart of the city, is an important place where old but precious traditional goods are on display. There is one main road in Insa-dong with alleys on each side. Within these alleys are galleries, traditional restaurants, teahouses, and cafes.

The galleries are the heartbeat of Insa-dong. There are about 100 galleries in the area offering every example of traditional Korean fine art from paintings to sculptures. The most famous galleries are Hakgojae Gallery, which functions as the center of folk art, Gana Art Gallery, which promotes many promising artists, and Gana Art Center.

The teahouses and restaurants are the perfect complement to the galleries. They are hidden deep within the twisting alleyways, making it feel like a treasure hunt. The shops in Insa-dong are very popular among all age groups, because each one is unique.

Every Saturday from 14:00 to 22:00 and Sunday from 10:00 to 22:00, the main street is blocked to vehicular traffic and it becomes a cultural space. Stores set up booths outside and Korean candy merchants and fortune teller stalls can easily be found; there are traditional performances and exhibits as well. Insa-dong is especially popular among international tourists. This is where they can experience and see traditional Korean culture first-hand, and also purchase pieces of fine art.

K-Royal Culture Festival (궁중문화축전) - Area information - Korea travel information