If you follow my blog you may have heard me talk about the Seoul subway once or twice. Mostly because I spend about 3-5 hours a day on it, but also because it’s a spectacular system. Well, two weeks ago my husband had an interesting idea. He suggested we travel to both ends of every single line. To give you an idea of what that entails, there are 16 different lines and the furthest one reaches over 90 km south of Seoul. And that’s just if you draw a straight line. There are 617 different subway stops, and while we’re not getting off at every single one, we’re going to make a point to see some good stuff along the way.
gwangnaru park cheonho station
Our very first subway excursion was to check out the east end of our home line: Line 5. Line 5, also known as the Purple Line, stretches west from Banghwa station (방화역) (near Gimpo airport) all the way out past Gangnam where it branches into two pieces, terminating at Sangil-dong (상일동역) and Macheon (마천역). Line 5 is one of the few lines that remains in Seoul proper from beginning to end. I used to have a class in Banghwa, which is a lovely and quiet residential neighborhood, so we opted just to head east.
We first we headed to Gwangnaru Hangang Park (광나루한강공원) at Cheonho (천호역). Don’t be fooled. Getting off at Gwangnaru station will put you on the wrong side of the river. To access the park you have to walk from Exit 1 a Cheonho, follow the path along the raised highway, and you will come across some stairs just after the exit ramp. It reminded me a lot of Murakami’s 1Q84, but I’m pretty sure when we climbed down we were not transported to an alternate reality with two moons.
under the bridge
We sat and drank some beers next to the river in the warm, early fall afternoon before following the bike path down a little farther. There was an inline skating loop that some speed skaters were practicing on, some skateboarding ramps, a bike park, and plenty of playground for kids to play on. We walked a little further and found a 7-11 where we stopped and had one more beer before heading back to the station. I am told there are pools a little further down, but it was too cold to swim and we still had a lot of exploring to do. It was no Yeouido park (think more concrete than grass), but if you live nearby it’s a lovely place to spend an afternoon.
gwangnaru bike park
Back at the station we made our way north to Sangil-dong. Upon exiting, we were amazed. Everything was quiet. There were no flashy lights or commercial districts. Just large neighborhoods of towering apartment buildings surrounded by mountains and trees. There were no air horns blaring or cars honking. It was actually peaceful. We followed the road from Sangil-dong to the penultimate stop, Godeok (고덕역). We passed a lovely fountain nestled in the trees along the sidewalk and saw spiders living unbothered in their webs. Even the arachnids move to Sangil-dong to raise their families.
sangil-dong fountain
Most of the people we saw were families too, and we understood why they would choose to live in such a quiet and serene place. When we came upon the next station, we descended down the stairs to make our way to Macheon.
Expecting something similar to Sangil-dong, we were shocked. Macheon was as lively and brightly lit as the center of Seoul. Restaurants of every variety lined the alleys reaching in every direction, but we were hungry for only one thing: Pizza School. If you’ve never had Pizza School before, it’s basically the Korean equivalent of Little Caesar’s: cheap and decent. A pizza costs only $5, or $6 if you opt for stuffed crust. Alas, no Pizza School was to be found in Macheon. But we did pass by a strange Seoul shanty town. Small shacks made of corrugated metal with tarps for roofs were smushed into lengthy alleys. In a city as safe as Seoul, it was the first dangerous looking place I have ever witnessed. But after we passed that one block, the lights returned to the streets and the crosswalks were again filled with people heading in every direction. Maybe one of them was on their way to a Pizza School.
last stop macheon
Too hungry to explore any more, we decided to transfer at Ogeum (오금역) and knock off one end of Line 3 while we were at it. Plans to get off at Sinsa were quickly discarded in exchange for heading straight to the Pizza School near our house. We had to transfer at Jongro 3-ga (종로3가역) so we decided to pop out at Exit 9 which is smack dab in the middle of Seoul’s jewelry district. We were there to pick up a wedding ring to replace the one Hudson lost five hours after we said our vows. But it wasn’t ready yet, so we headed back to Kkachisan. Walking to the Pizza School, we were greeted with the screeching air horns and roaring motor bikes that reminded us we were finally home.
Line 5 end-to-end was officially complete. And the Pizza School was totally worth the wait.
Below is a list of every stop I have made on Line 5 during my time in Seoul. If you have questions about any of them, leave it in the comments below! This week we are tackling the west end of Line 7: Bupyeong-gu Office in Bucheon. After our first day out, I’m super excited to see where it takes us!
Banghwa
Gimpo International Airport
Balsan
Ujangsan
Hwagok
Kkachisan
Mok-dong
Omokgyo
Yangpyeong
Yeongdeungpo-gu Office
Yeongdeungpo Market
Singil
Yeouido
Yeouinaru
Gongdeok
Gwanghwamun
Jongno 3-ga
Dongdaemun History and Culture Park
Cheonggu
Cheonho
Sangil-dong
Godeok
Gangdong
Ogeum
Macheon
Wow… Cool adventure! Love your descriptions of life in all the stops, paints a distinct picture!
It’s good to know that people even in Seoul crave Pizza School. I thought that with all the other options, you Seoul people would look down your nose and something so cheap yet delicious. Anyway, I think it’s really cool what you’re doing with this. I once had a free subway card in Tokyo between my apt. and school and had 10 free stops to explore. It’s cool that you’re documenting something similar and I look forward to seeing more.
well, if there were a monster pizza on every corner, we probably would have gone there. but traveling to hongdae was not in the cards. still surprised we didn’t find a pizza school in macheon! they’re everywhere!
Pizza School is awesome, but like Taylor said. If there was a Monster Pizza as often as Pizza School it would be a no brainer. They got jalapenos and serve it by the slice. Win Win.
went to monster pizza this weekend. ate two slices. brought one home for my husband. then i ate that one too. soooo good!
What an adventure! That’s such a great way to see your city and how different each part of it is. Even in my smaller city of Cheongju, you can walk 5 minutes in one direction and be in a totally different vibe.
I love this idea, I had a goal of thinking I could do a photo of each stop during my time here and really wanted to do that. But just never got around to it. I am excited to see how this develops!
We didn’t have a Pizza School in Pohang, guess I missed out!
I really like the idea of this, looking forward reading more Seoul Subway adventures!
I gotta say, I’m kinda jealous. I always had a fantasy that I would do something like this but I always put it on the backburner. Despite a country that has a lot of uniformity, I’m sure there are a ton of hidden gems around all of the stations. Your post proves this!
Yes! Such an awesome undertaking~ I’ll have to check back on this post next time I’m in Seoul.
It is an awesome thing to do and takes A LOT of commitment. I can imagine you finding some interesting things along the way!
This is SUCH A GREAT IDEA!!! I’m so inspired to A. Check out these spots and do this in Seoul. B. Do this in my own city of Daegu and check out what there is to see. I’d have to seriously budget this one out, though… $1,200 Won per stop is pretty pricey! What about walking down the line?
Well, we usually only get out at 4 or 5 stops on our way down the line. We’ve been to so many others before just in daily life, so we’re trying to stick to the unknown. We have also been walking above ground between stops a lot as a way to get a feel for a place and then hop right back on the train. And 1200 won doesn’t seem so bad when you compare it with the subway in New York or Washington, DC! I think it’s like $4 a ride now!