Two Quiet Hours After Work in Seoul — 7 Places by Day of the Week

Skip Mondays

Curtain Call Garden, Cheongun Literature Library and Seoul Book Bogo are closed on Mondays. On a Monday, choose from the Nowon Moonlight Walk, the Banpo rainbow fountain or Naksan Park, which are open every day.

Wed–Fri · One jazz set in Gwanghwamun

Curtain Call Garden behind Sejong Center has free jazz Wednesday to Friday, 6:30–7:20 p.m.; the garden is open until 11 p.m. It is about 200 m from Gwanghwamun Station exits 1 and 8.

On a Friday, go on up to the Seoul City Hall Sky Observatory (8th–9th floors): open until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays only (pilot), free, no booking. Monday to Thursday it closes at 6 p.m.

Wednesday · A museum open until 9 p.m.

The National Museum of Korea's permanent galleries stay open until 9 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays (last entry 8:30, free). From Oct. 23, Dunhuang Buddhist sutras go on view for the first time in the Central Asia room on the 3rd floor. It is by Ichon Station exit 2.

A weeknight museum with few people is a good quiet walk.

Tue–Fri · A library beside a hanok

Cheongun Literature Library is open until 9 p.m. Tuesday to Friday. The hanok reading room and pavilion close at 6 p.m., though, so after work only the main reading room is open. It is free; from Gyeongbokgung Station exit 3, change to a bus.

On the Jamsil side, Seoul Book Bogo stays open until 8 p.m. on Fridays (about 1 min from Jamsillaru Station exit 1).

Every day · Walk or watch

The Nowon Moonlight Walk along Danghyeoncheon is lit daily 5:30–10 p.m. until Nov. 8 (free, near Junggye Station).

The Banpo Bridge Moonlight Rainbow Fountain runs at 7:30, 8, 8:30 and 9 p.m. in October, 20 minutes each (free, about 15 minutes' walk from Express Bus Terminal Station exits 8-1/8-2). It stops in strong wind or rain.

Naksan Park is always open: about 10 minutes' walk from Hyehwa Station exit 2, with a night view along the old city wall.

NOW's call

To be alone, take the museum (Wed) or the library (Tue–Fri); as a pair, the Curtain Call jazz (Wed–Fri). To walk and talk, Naksan Park or the Nowon Moonlight Walk.

To finish in two hours, pick one place. Only the Friday pairing of Gwanghwamun jazz and the City Hall observatory, in the same neighborhood, is worth combining.