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Four Places to Visit in Myeongdong: Namdaemun Market, the Cathedral, Shinsegae Main Store and N Seoul Tower

Four places within twenty minutes of each other, compared on what you see, when each one opens and which day to avoid. No two of them keep the same hours, so when you go decides the list before what you want to see does.

Updated Sep 2, 20263 min read

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The main Myeongdong shopping street at night, crowded between street-food carts under winter illuminations

These four sit within twenty minutes' walk of each other, and not one of them keeps the same hours as another. The market runs overnight and shuts on Sunday; the department store opens at 10:30 and closes one day a month; the tower never closes at all; and the cathedral publishes no visiting hours, because it is a parish and publishes a Mass timetable instead.

Hours and closing days, side by side

HoursClosed
Namdaemun Market00:00–23:00 on weekdays; stalls set their ownSundays
Myeongdong CathedralNo visiting hours published. Mass 07:00–21:00 Sunday, 07:00–19:00 weekdays. 1898 Plaza underneath 09:00–22:00Never. The plaza closes only on Seollal and Chuseok
Shinsegae Main Store10:30–20:00, extended to 20:30 on marked days; restaurants 11:00–21:30One day a month, on the store calendar
N Seoul Tower10:00–22:30; 10:00–23:00 Saturdays, Sundays and holidaysNever — open all 365 days

Reading down the "closed" column sorts out which day allows what. A Sunday here is a cathedral-and-tower day. A weekday is a market-and-store day. Trying to do all four on a Sunday means walking to a market that is shut.

Namdaemun Market to N Seoul Tower, over one weekday

  1. Namdaemun Market at first light. It is the only thing open, and the wholesale end of it is a genuinely different market before the retail crowds arrive. Individual stalls keep their own hours, so this is the part of the day with the least certainty in it.

  2. Myeongdong Cathedral mid-morning. Weekday Masses are at 07:00, 10:00, 18:00 and 19:00, so late morning is the longest clear gap. 1898 Plaza, the archdiocese-run arcade underneath, opens at 09:00 if you want coffee first.

  3. Shinsegae from 10:30. Buy lunch in the food market in The Estate's basement, or go up to the free museum on the fourth floor of The Heritage — a 1935 bank building restored to about 90 per cent of its original condition.

  4. N Seoul Tower at the end. It closes latest, and it is the one of the four that needs the dark to be worth doing. Entry to the observatory stops 30 minutes before closing.

The route also runs in the right order for the terrain: Namdaemun and Shinsegae are at the bottom, the cathedral is on the rise above Myeongdong, and Namsan is above that.

Don't put the street food in the plan

Myeongdong's cart food is an evening thing, and the carts are not on anyone's published timetable. Treat them as what happens between the tower and the subway, not as a stop you can schedule.

Not being on a timetable is not the same as being unregulated. A stall that meets the conditions trades under a road-occupancy permit and pays an occupancy fee, under Seoul's street-vendor permit scheme.

The numbers attached to what you buy there are not set by the street either. How much you have to spend, whether the downtown counter has a ceiling, and how long you then have to leave the country are all fixed by the VAT refund scheme.

In this list

  1. Namdaemun (Sungnyemun) gate viewed head-on, with modern skyscrapers behind it
    Seoul

    Namdaemun Market

    A large general market divided into zones by category — kitchenware, clothing, eyewear, accessories — and led by wholesale rather than retail. Its trading pattern is the opposite of everything else here, so the wholesale end before the retail crowds arrive is effectively a different market. Stalls keep their own hours, which makes it the least certain part of a day.

    What you'll see
    A wholesale general market zoned by category
    What kind of place
    Open market lanes; each stall sets its own hours
    Best time of day
    First light
    Best for
    Arriving with something specific to buy

    Mon~Fri 00:00–23:00 · varies by shopEvery SunNo entry fee — you pay each vendor

    See details

  2. The brick Gothic bell tower and clock face of Myeongdong Cathedral, seen from the garden steps in autumn
    Seoul

    Myeongdong Cathedral

    A red-brick Gothic cathedral on the rise above the shopping street, and still a working parish. That is why it publishes a Mass timetable rather than visiting hours, and why the real way to see it is to go in quietly between services. There is an archdiocese-run arcade underneath it.

    What you'll see
    A red-brick Gothic cathedral, and the arcade below
    What kind of place
    A working parish, not an attraction
    Best time of day
    Late morning
    Best for
    Architecture, and somewhere quiet

    not published by the operator · 1898 Plaza 09:00–22:00 · the spirituality centre's permanent confessional Mon 13:00–17:00 · the spirituality centre's permanent confessional Tue~Fri 11:00–20:00 · the spirituality centre's permanent confessional Sat·Sun 10:00–20:001898 Plaza Seollal · 1898 Plaza ChuseokNot published by the operator

    See details

  3. The 1930 Shinsegae main store building — now named The Reserve — with its corner clock and SHINSEGAE lettering, and the Mesa tower behind
    Seoul

    Shinsegae Department Store Main Store

    The oldest department store in Myeongdong, split since 2025 across four named buildings. It is not only shopping: you can buy lunch in the basement food market and then go up to a free museum on the fourth floor of one building — a 1935 bank restored to about 90 per cent of its original state.

    What you'll see
    Four store buildings, and a 1935 bank as a museum
    What kind of place
    Indoors, no ticket but real hours
    Best time of day
    Midday into the afternoon
    Best for
    A wet day, or an interest in the building

    Shinsegae Department Store Main Store 10:30–20:00 · Shinsegae Main Store restaurants 11:00–21:30 (last entry 21:00)

    See details

  4. N Seoul Tower rising above the city skyline
    Seoul

    N Seoul Tower

    The observation deck on top of Namsan, with the whole city and the river laid out below. Of the four it is the one that means anything after dark, and it stays open latest, which makes it the natural thing to end on. Cable car, shuttle bus or a walk up.

    What you'll see
    The city and the Han River after dark
    What kind of place
    A paid deck reached by cable car or bus
    Best time of day
    After sunset
    Best for
    Seeing the skyline once, at night

    Mon~Fri 10:00–22:30 (last entry 22:00) · Sat·Sun·holidays 10:00–23:00 (last entry 22:30)₩29,000

    See details

Frequently asked questions

Can I go on a Sunday?

You can, but the list shrinks. A Sunday here is a cathedral-and-tower day: Namdaemun Market closes on Sundays, and Shinsegae takes one closing day a month that is worth checking on its calendar. Trying to do all four on a Sunday means walking to a market that is shut.

What order should I visit them in?

Namdaemun Market at first light, the cathedral mid-morning, Shinsegae from 10:30, and N Seoul Tower after dark. That is not only the timetable order but the terrain order: Namdaemun and Shinsegae are at the bottom, the cathedral is on the rise above Myeongdong, and Namsan is above that.

Can I go into the cathedral at any time?

It publishes no visiting hours, because it is a parish rather than an attraction — what it publishes instead is a Mass timetable. Weekday Masses are at 07:00, 10:00, 18:00 and 19:00, so late morning is the longest clear gap. 1898 Plaza, the arcade underneath, opens at 09:00 if you want coffee first.

What if it rains?

Shinsegae is the safest answer: the basement food market, the stores and the fourth-floor museum all connect indoors. The cathedral keeps the rain off once you are inside it, and 1898 Plaza below is underground entirely. Namdaemun is market lanes, so you get wet; and while N Seoul Tower's deck is indoors, there is nothing to look at on a grey day.

Why isn't the Myeongdong shopping street itself on the list?

Because it has no operator, no hours and no single set of facts to check — it is a street, and every stall on it keeps its own timetable. That is not something a guide can be honest about in a table; it is something you walk into. Myeongdong Underground Shopping Center below the main street is missing for a different reason: its hours and current tenancy have not been verified to the standard used for the four above.

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