Hotels near Inwangsan

Inwangsan is 338 m of exposed granite on the western edge of the old walled city, and no other hike in Seoul returns this much view for this little effort. The official Inwangsan Mountain Trail along the Seoul City Wall measures 4.0 km and takes about 2 hours 30 minutes, with roughly 250 m of elevation gain from the Dongnimmun side. Difficulty: easy to moderate. There are no cables and no scrambling, but long flights of rock steps and a few slabby sections along the ridge make this a genuine climb rather than a park stroll, and the granite gets treacherous in the wet.

The trailhead sits beside Guksadang, the shamanist shrine moved here from Namsan under Japanese rule, and the path passes Seonbawi (Zen Rock) where people still leave rice and candles. From the summit ridge the whole city reads as a map: Gyeongbokgung and Cheongwadae below, Namsan and N Seoul Tower opposite, Bukhansan filling the northern skyline. The ridge is open 24 hours in 2026 and free, and the wall section connects onward to Bugaksan at Changuimun Gate if you want to link two of these hikes into one day.

Pro Tip: Go up for sunset rather than sunrise - Inwangsan faces east over the city, so the light lands on the skyline while you stand in shade. Bring a phone torch for the descent, because the rock steps below Guksadang are unlit and the stone is polished smooth.