Around Seoul on Line 2, the green loop

Seoul's Line 2 opened on October 31, 1980, and it only became a circle on May 22, 1984, when the last section closed the ring. Since then trains have gone around it without stopping at an end. In our data, forty-three stations are strung along about 46 kilometers, which makes the average gap between stops just over a kilometer. It is the best line to learn the city on, because the loop passes the old center, the east, the south bank and the west, in that order.

City Hall and the old center

Start at City Hall. Deoksugung Palace is right there, a Joseon royal palace that later served as the main palace of the Korean Empire. What makes it unusual is that traditional wooden halls and a Western-style stone hall share one compound.

Two stops east, at Euljiro 3-ga, you can reach Myeongdong Cathedral, the first Western-style Gothic cathedral in Korea, finished in 1898. One stop later, at Euljiro 4-ga, is Gwangjang Market, the country's first permanent market, opened in 1905. It is known for bindae-tteok, the mung bean pancakes, and for a kind of gimbap that locals call mayak.

East: the gate and the old factories

At Dongdaemun History and Culture Park the line goes past Heunginjimun, the eastern gate of the old Hanyang city wall and one of the best preserved Joseon-era gates still standing in the city. Farther along, Seongsu is the opposite of all that. The streets there are lined with large cafes in former factory buildings, which people come for because of the interiors.

Crossing the river to the south bank

Between Gangbyeon and Jamsilnaru the train crosses the Han River. By our coordinates it is one of the longest gaps on the whole line, about 1.8 kilometers. The next big name is Jamsil, home to Lotte World, which Guinness certified as the largest indoor theme park in the world, with rides and an ice rink under a glass dome.

Then comes Samseong, where the COEX Mall holds the Starfield Library, an open library with bookshelves 13 meters high. It is one of the most photographed spots in the city. And at Seolleung, the burial mounds of King Seongjong, King Jungjong and Queen Jeonghyeon sit in dense forest in the middle of the city.

West: ironworks, a river island and a railway turned into a park

Mullae is the stop where the line passes through an artists' quarter that grew inside an old alley of ironworking shops, and the steel murals and sculptures are still visible throughout. Dangsan, just before the river crossing back to the north, has Seonyudo Park, an ecological park built on an island in the Han on the site of a former water treatment plant. The next gap, Dangsan to Hapjeong, is the longest on the loop by our coordinates, about 1.9 kilometers.

At Hongik University you can walk the Gyeongui Line Forest Park, a long park built along the route of the old Gyeongui railway after the track was moved underground. Near Hongdae it is lined with cafes and shops. And the last stop before the circle closes at City Hall, Chungjeongno, is about a ten-minute walk from Seosomun Historical Park, which stands on the former execution ground outside Seosomun Gate and is now surrounded by high-rise buildings.

Ride it yourself

You can type the whole loop in Line 2. If you want something shorter first, the Sillim Line is only eleven stations, and it connects to Line 2 at Sillim.