Gyeongbokgung Stone Wall Road, Cheongwadae, Gwanghwamun Square, Yulgok-ro Palace Wall Road... 3 New Routes Starting from the 9th
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul City is operating the area around Cheongwadae, Gwanghwamun Square, and Changgyeonggung-Jongmyo, which have returned to the citizens, as courses of the ‘Seoul Walking Guided Tour’ so that they can be enjoyed together with nearby historical sites and attractions.
On the 5th, Seoul City and the Seoul Tourism Foundation announced that they will operate three new courses of the Seoul Walking Guided Tour. The Seoul Walking Guided Tour is a free guided program where visitors walk with cultural tourism guides through major tourist attractions in Seoul such as Gyeongbokgung Palace, Bukchon, and Seochon, appreciating the history, culture, and nature embedded in these sites.
The city aims to support citizens to enjoy more broadly by developing and operating new walking guided tour courses utilizing the history and culture of Seoul’s new landmarks?Cheongwadae, Gwanghwamun Square, and the Changgyeonggung-Jongmyo area?and to strengthen the foundation for attracting domestic and international tourists.
The three new courses are: Gyeongbokgung Stone Wall Road and Cheongwadae, Gwanghwamun Square, and Yulgok-ro Palace Wall Road. The ‘Gyeongbokgung Stone Wall Road and Cheongwadae’ course follows the stone wall path of Gyeongbokgung Palace and allows visitors to explore the area around Cheongwadae, which has been the center of power for 600 years from the Joseon Dynasty to the present. The total course is 2.8 km and takes about 2 hours.
‘Gwanghwamun Square’ is a plaza embracing a park, centered on the Gwanghwamun Square reopening on the 6th. It is an exploration course where visitors can feel the historical and cultural storytelling of the surrounding spaces and Seoul’s future as an ecological civilization city, with a total length of 2.5 km. From September, a one-hour nighttime walking guided tour course will also be operated at Gwanghwamun Square. The nighttime course at Gwanghwamun Square, scheduled to start in September, is designed to provide an in-depth explanation of the restoration process of Gwanghwamun’s historical and cultural heritage, focusing on Yukjo Street.
The ‘Yulgok-ro Palace Wall Road’ course is a walk around the Changgyeonggung-Jongmyo pedestrian path area, which Seoul City has reconnected and restored after a long restoration project for the first time in 90 years. The total course is 2.6 km and takes about 2 hours.
The ‘Seoul Walking Guided Tour’ operates twice a day on weekdays and three times on weekends. Each group can accommodate up to 10 people. A professionally trained cultural tourism guide accompanies the group, providing services in seven languages (Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Malay-Indonesian, and Thai).
Meanwhile, as demand for family-oriented leisure activities has increased since COVID-19, the city plans to operate family-type tourism courses and guided services for families with children starting in October. Popular courses currently in operation will be selected and reorganized with routes and themes suitable for children’s perspectives, offering friendlier guided services.
Choi Kyung-joo, Director of the Seoul Tourism and Sports Bureau, said, “The Cheongwadae, Gwanghwamun Square, and Changgyeonggung-Jongmyo area, which have returned to the citizens amid much interest, will establish themselves as representative spaces symbolizing Seoul.” He added, “As people have waited a long time, I hope they can spend meaningful time with cultural tourism guides.”
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