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You Know Bukchon — But Gyedong Is Another Story

Walking Gyedong again after four years: the things that only begin to reveal themselves on the same old alley

Words · Boutiquers Photographs · Boutiquers October 2026 6 min read

When people think about visiting Seoul, Bukchon almost always comes to mind. Alleyways lined with hanok, low-slung tiled rooftops, the lingering atmosphere of an older city.

Tucked inside that Bukchon is a neighbourhood called Gyedong. Bukchon may feel familiar, but the name Gyedong might still draw a blank.

나뭇가지 사이로 보이는 계동길 도로명 표지판 — Gyedonggil. The name may be unfamiliar — yet you may have already walked this very street.

There is a good chance you have already passed through here. Perhaps you simply didn't know it was called Gyedong, or perhaps you never had the chance to linger long enough to take it in.

We were in exactly that position.

01. The Same Neighbourhood, A Different Journey

Four years ago, we spent a night in a hanok in Gyedong. It was a well-known guesthouse, and the Bukchon address alone was enough to make the trip feel exciting.

Travelling with a young child, however, turned out to be busier than expected. The uphill streets were no small effort, and there was little room to wander the alleyways at leisure.

Still, the small curiosity shops dotting the lane were a delight. We spent our day in Gyedong drifting from one to the next, each stocked with its own entirely different collection of things.

가게 앞에 걸린 나무 탈들 — Wooden masks hanging outside a shop. Every boutique along Gyedonggil has its own distinct character.

Time passed. And four years later, we found ourselves back in Gyedong — just the two of us this time, walking slowly with nowhere in particular to be.

02. On an Unchanged Alley

Gyedonggil was as lively as ever. Small shops and restaurants lined the street, and travellers speaking a dozen different languages moved along the pavement.

나무 대문이 있는 한옥 상점이 늘어선 계동길 — Gyedonggil, where centuries-old hanok and characterful independent shops stand comfortably side by side.

Old hanok and idiosyncratic little shops coexisting without a hint of awkwardness. Gyedong was still unmistakably itself.

But something was different this time. Gates we had once walked straight past now caught our eye. Narrow side alleys we had barely registered now made us curious.

입춘대길 글귀가 붙은 나무 대문 — Ipchundaegil — a spring blessing still keeping watch over the gate well into autumn.

현판과 입춘첩이 붙은 한옥 대문 — A nameplate, a spring charm, and a potted plant — all gathered to greet you at the gate.

나무 대문의 쇠 문고리와 장식 — A door ring worn smooth by years of hands.

거북이 모양의 나무 대문 빗장 — A tortoise-shaped door latch. Every gate here has its own expression.

A thought surfaced, quietly.

Nothing here has changed.
Perhaps the thing that's changed is me.

We were walking the same neighbourhood — and yet, one by one, things we had never noticed before were beginning to appear.

03. Deeper Into the Alley

We step off the main lane and into a narrower passage. Unlike the tourist-filled streets, life here moves at its own unhurried pace.

화분이 놓인 좁은 골목 끝의 나무 대문 — One step off the main street. A trail of potted plants leads you all the way to the gate.

Weathered gates and old stone walls, small potted plants and earthenware jars. Objects touched by someone's hands compose the quiet scenery of the alley.

담장 아래 나란히 놓인 장독과 화분 — Earthenware jars lined up neatly beneath the wall.

담장 기둥에 걸린 빨간 우편함 — A red letterbox. The place where someone's every day arrives.

한옥 담장에 걸린 나무 상자 — A wooden box hung on the wall. Even the smallest things here bear the mark of someone's care.

창가에 놓인 백자 항아리 한 쌍 — A pair of white porcelain jars on a windowsill.

You find yourself treading more carefully here. What is a remarkable scene to a visitor is, after all, the front doorstep of someone's daily life. Rather than wondering what lies beyond the closed gates, we turn our attention to the small traces the alley has left in plain sight.

Then we look up. Above the tiled rooftops, persimmons hang heavy and ripe on the branch.

기와지붕 위로 감이 열린 감나무 — Persimmons ripening beside the tiled rooftop. This is Gyedong in autumn.

A persimmon tree in autumn beside a hanok roof. It is simply there — and yet you find yourself standing still, looking at it for a long time.

Moments like this are easy to miss when you are ticking off famous sights. The charm of Gyedong may lie precisely in these ordinary scenes.

04. A Place Where It's Fine to Walk Slowly

The uphill stretches of Gyedong are still no pushover. Even a short climb leaves you a little breathless, and you find yourself wanting to pause.

한옥 사이로 가파르게 이어지는 돌계단 — Stone steps winding between hanok. The uphill climb is still no pushover.

This time, though, there is no reason to hurry. We stop and look around.

A sliver of sky between the alleyways. Rooftops stretching low in every direction. A small ornament beside an old stone wall.

양쪽 처마 사이로 보이는 골목 위 하늘 — Sky framed between two eaves.

골목 위로 낮게 드리운 한옥 처마 — Eaves hanging low over the alley.

돌담 위로 줄지어 놓인 기와 — Roof tiles lined up along the top of a stone wall.

담장 위에 놓인 고양이 두 마리 모양의 장식 — A pair of cat figurines strolling along the top of a wall.

Scenes you would have walked straight past if you had been moving any faster.

In Gyedong, what stays with you longest is not how much you saw, but where you chose to stop.

05. Spending a Day Here

Walking through Gyedong, it is only natural to start imagining an overnight stay. You find yourself curious not just about the neighbourhood in the bustle of the day, but about what the alleyways look like once the visitors have gone home.

What does it look like in the evening, when the shops have pulled their shutters down? What sounds greet you if you step outside early in the morning?

화분이 늘어선 한산한 한옥 골목 — A quiet hanok alley. You find yourself wondering what it looks like once the visitors have gone.

A day of eating in the neighbourhood, browsing the small shops, and retracing a favourite alley on foot. Then a quiet night in a hanok. It feels like the kind of trip that needs no itinerary to be deeply satisfying.

기와 처마 아래 켜진 등 — A lantern glowing beneath the eaves — an invitation to imagine a night spent in a hanok.

Some places are complete in a brief visit. Others make you want to live out a full day within them. Gyedong, we found, belongs firmly to the latter.

06. Meeting Gyedong Again

The Gyedong of four years ago and the Gyedong of today have surely shifted in small ways. New shops will have opened; certain scenes will have disappeared.

But the most significant change we felt on this trip was not in the neighbourhood — it was in ourselves. The same place becomes an entirely different journey depending on when you visit, who you are with, and what you are carrying inside.

한옥 담장을 따라 이어지는 오르막 골목길 — A lane that follows the hanok wall uphill. What will we notice next time?

If Bukchon is familiar but Gyedong still feels like uncharted territory, try walking it a little more slowly this time. Instead of seeking out the well-known spots, pause in an alley that simply appeals to you. And let yourself imagine spending a whole day there.

Gyedong may just be the kind of place you fall for more on the second visit than the first.

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