K-Drama Filming Locations in Seoul: Verified Spots Grouped Into Walks

What a filming location can give you, and what it cannot

Seoul is the backdrop for a large share of Korean television, and the same palaces, stone walls and footbridges reappear across decades of series. That makes the city rewarding for fans, and it also makes it a place where fan-made lists repeat each other's mistakes. Every drama and location pairing in this guide comes from Seoul Metropolitan Government, the Korea Tourism Organization's VisitKorea, the Seoul Tourism Organization's Visit Seoul or the city's own news service. When official pages disagree about a spot, as they do about which Itaewon building played the pub Danbam in Itaewon Class, we leave it out.

The best locations share three traits: they are public, they still look like the screen, and they sit near other things worth your time. A city-wall rampart, a stone-walled street or a pedestrian overpass passes all three tests. Restaurants and cafés from older series often fail the second, because businesses change hands and interiors are sometimes built in a studio. Schools and private homes fail the first. Photograph those from the street, briefly, and move on.

Seoul's own answer to scattered fan lists is SOUL SPOT (소울스팟), a map of drama, film and K-pop locations run by the city government's tourism industry division, with spoken commentary you can play on your phone in English, Korean, Japanese or Chinese. In October 2026 its English site featured 20 spots, from Naksan Park for Doona! and Jeongdong-gil for Gyeongseong Creature Season 2 to Hyoja-ro, the road along Gyeongbokgung's west side, for When Life Gives You Tangerines. The city has also put up clapperboard-style plaques at some of them, which make a tidy photo frame of their own.

Verified pairs, and the Hangul to type into Naver Map

English place names often fail in Korean map apps, so the middle column gives the search term to paste into Naver Map or Kakao Map. The last column tells you which of the walks below each place belongs to. Scenes are described only where an official source describes them; for the rest, the source confirms the location but not the moment, so you will have to match the frame from memory.

Anguk to Samcheong-dong: Goblin's alleys, a 1913 mansion and a school gate

Start at Anguk Station on Line 3. Visit Seoul's Goblin walk begins beside Unhyeongung (운현궁), where an early modern Western-style building served as the Goblin's private house; frame it from the surrounding grounds and street rather than expecting to walk in. The same feature places Eun-tak's first meeting with the Goblin in a stone-walled alley near the station, and their many dates in the café and boutique lanes of Samcheong-dong. Treat those two as atmospheres rather than exact frames: the walls, not one particular stone, are the point.

Cross toward Bukchon for Baek In-je House (백인제가옥) at 16 Bukchon-ro 7-gil, which Visit Seoul lists as a Reborn Rich location. Built in 1913 by Han Sang-ryong of Hanseong Bank and opened as a museum by Seoul in 2015, it is run by the Seoul Museum of History. The courtyard and exteriors are free to see from 9:00 to 18:00 (last entry 17:30), closed Mondays unless a holiday and on January 1. The rooms open only on guided tours booked through Seoul's public reservation site; the English tour runs on Fridays at 16:00. From Anguk Exit 2, walk about 500 meters toward the Constitutional Court.

Choong Ang High School (중앙고등학교), at 164 Changdeokgung-gil, is the school Choi Ung and Kook Yeon-soo attended in Our Beloved Summer, according to VisitKorea, and Seoul's news service lists it among Lovely Runner's locations. It is a working school: photograph the gate from outside and leave. Lovely Runner also used Bokjeong Well (복정우물), where Sol appears in a monk's robes trying to change Sun-jae's fate; the city's report places it in Bukchon beside the old Korea bathhouse building (코리아목욕탕). Search the Hangul names and let the map pick the lane.

Finish downhill on Gamgodang-gil (감고당길) in Anguk-dong, which VisitKorea identifies in Our Beloved Summer's last episode and in a flashback of the pair getting drunk. The narrow alley where Yeon-soo carries Ung on her back is Yunboseon-gil (윤보선길), opening off the middle of Gamgodang-gil. It is a short loop back to Anguk Station, which makes this the most efficient drama walk in the city: six locations and four series in about two hours.

Timing matters because the route crosses Bukchon. Seoul's red zone on Bukchon-ro 11-gil admits tourists only from 10:00 to 17:00, and an officer can fine you KRW 100,000 if you stay after being warned. Start at 10:00 on a Tuesday to Friday: Baek In-je House closes on Mondays, and Seoul asks visitors to give Bukchon's alleys a rest on Sundays. Be out of the red zone well before 17:00. Our Bukchon guide explains the zones in full.

Jeong-dong: three series on one curve of the Deoksugung wall

The road that curves along Deoksugung's stone wall (덕수궁 돌담길) is the most dependable drama street in Seoul, because it changes so little from one decade to the next. Visit Seoul identifies it as the place where Do Min-joon walks with his lawyer friend Jang and takes a call from Cheon Song-yi in My Love from the Star. The city's tourism site lists it for Reborn Rich, and Seoul's news service names it among the locations of Chief Detective 1958. Begin at City Hall Station on Lines 1 and 2; Visit Seoul directs walkers to Exits 11 and 12 for the Seoul Museum of Art, which stands beside the road.

Follow the wall west onto Jeongdong-gil (정동길), a SOUL SPOT for Gyeongseong Creature Season 2, and keep going to Gyeonghuigung (경희궁) at 45 Saemunan-ro. In Kingdom, its throne hall Sungjeongjeon stood in for Gangnyeongjeon, the quarters of the zombie-stricken king, and the boulder called Seoam at the back of the palace is where the young Crown Prince Lee Chang hid and was found by Lord Ahn Hyeon. Gyeonghuigung is free, open Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 to 18:00 and closed on Mondays.

Gyeonghuigung is also the easiest palace in Seoul in which to compose a period-drama shot without a crowd, because few visitors know it. For the stone-wall road, come early on a weekday if you want the curve empty, or late afternoon for warmer light on the wall. Avoid Mondays for this walk, since Gyeonghuigung is closed that day.

Kingdom in the royal palaces, and the costume rule

Kingdom is the most useful historical series for a location hunt because it filmed in sites you can enter on an ordinary ticket. Visit Seoul records that Crown Prince Lee Chang's first appearance, kneeling at what the drama calls Gyotaejeon, was shot at Tongmyeongjeon, once the queen's bedchamber, in Changgyeonggung; that the Secret Garden of Changdeokgung appears several times, with its Gwallamji pond as the place where bodies were hidden; and that in season 2 Seo-bi rescues the queen's baby during a zombie attack at Jeongjeon, the main hall of Jongmyo Shrine.

Plan around the calendar. Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung close on Mondays and Jongmyo on Tuesdays, and the Secret Garden can be seen only on a capped, timed tour with its own ticket. Our guides to Changdeokgung's Secret Garden, Jongmyo and the five grand palaces cover booking, guided-only days and fees, so check them before building a Kingdom day around Gwallamji.

Recreating a scene has limits. Under the visiting rules of the Korea Heritage Service's royal palaces office, ordinary souvenir photos count as already permitted, but shoots using character costumes, mascot suits or similar non-everyday outfits and props need a permit, because they disrupt other visitors and the dignity of the site. Filming for dramas, films or advertising is commercial and needs a paid permit, and drones are limited to approved public-interest work. Hanbok is everyday dress here and fine; a full costume with prop sword or zombie makeup is not.

Naksan Park and the city wall: KPop Demon Hunters after dark

Naksan Park (낙산공원) sits on the ridge where the old city wall climbs east of Daehangno. Visit Seoul places the scene in KPop Demon Hunters where Rumi meets Jinu along the city wall here, and SOUL SPOT lists the park for the series Doona! as well. The Seoul City Wall office keeps the trail open 24 hours and calls the hill the Montmartre of Seoul for its sunsets and night views. From Hyehwa Station Exit 2 on Line 4, the top of the park is about 15 minutes' walk uphill.

Below the park lies Ihwa Village (이화마을), which the wall office describes as a long-neglected neighborhood transformed after 2006, when government support helped artists add murals and sculptures. People live behind those painted walls, and the office asks walkers on this stretch of wall to keep quiet for residents. Walk through Ihwa in daylight, in small groups, without speakers or long photo sessions on doorsteps, and save your evening for the park and the ramparts.

For a Lovely Runner stop, add the footbridge over Seongbukcheon (성북천) that SOUL SPOT calls Yeouldari, the bridge where Seoul's news service says the drama's time slip begins. The stream runs through Seongbuk-gu near the northern end of the Naksan wall trail, whose entrance is about three minutes from Hansung University Station Exit 4. A good sequence is the bridge in late afternoon, then the wall south to Naksan Park for sunset, then down through Ihwa to Hyehwa for dinner in the Daehangno theater district.

Namsan to Itaewon: My Love from the Star and Itaewon Class

N Seoul Tower is the one location that links generations of fans. Visit Seoul lists it for scenes between Min-joon and Song-yi in My Love from the Star, SOUL SPOT for the film Single in Seoul, and Visit Seoul's KPop Demon Hunters guide notes the tower appears several times in that film. On Namsan's east side, the National Theater of Korea (국립극장) is where My Love from the Star's final-episode kiss was filmed, about 1 kilometer from Dongguk University Station Exit 6 on Line 3. Korea House (한국의집), a SOUL SPOT for The Whirlwind, is on the mountain's north foot.

Baekbeom Square (백범광장) in Namsan Park, five minutes from Hoehyeon Station Exit 4 on Line 4, is where Park Sae-ro-yi and Jo Yi-seo share the final-episode kiss in Itaewon Class, with the tower and the city wall behind them. The series' other signature, the Noksapyeong overpass at 195 Noksapyeong-daero, is just across the crosswalk from Noksapyeong Station Exit 3 on Line 6. Visit Seoul points out that the wide road beneath it runs toward Namsan and the tower, which is why the shot works. It is a working footbridge, so shoot from the side and keep the walkway clear.

If you walk on from the overpass into Itaewon, remember that a narrow sloping alley there is where 159 people died in the crowd crush of October 29, 2022. In October 2023 it was marked as the Path of Memory and Safety, with boards explaining what happened and messages of mourning in 14 languages. It is a place to pause quietly, not a photo backdrop. For the cable car, buses and tower tickets, use our Namsangol and Namsan guide.

Cheonggyecheon to Sewoon: Marry My Husband, Queen of Tears and Vincenzo

Cheonggye Plaza (청계광장), where the restored stream begins, is the location Visit Seoul pairs with Marry My Husband, and the city's news service adds Gwangtonggyo (광통교), the stone bridge a few minutes downstream, as a location for both Marry My Husband and Queen of Tears. Jonggak Station, one block north of the stream, is SOUL SPOT's stop for Squid Game Season 2. Walk down to the water level, where the noise of the city drops away and the bridges frame each other.

Continue east along the stream to the bridge in front of the Sewoon arcade (세운상가), which Visit Seoul's SOUL SPOT course lists for Vincenzo, whose fictional Geumga Plaza tenants gave the series its warmth. Sewoon is still a working shopping center, so come on a weekday daytime if you want to see it open rather than shuttered. Gwangjang Market is a further walk east along the stream, and our market guide makes it the natural end of this route, with mung bean pancakes and makgeolli.

Yeonnam and the riverside: lighter scenes for a second visit

Some locations reward a relaxed afternoon more than a pilgrimage. Gyeongui Line Forest Park (경의선숲길), the linear park laid over the old Gyeongui rail line, is the SOUL SPOT for Daily Dose of Sunshine; its Yeonnam-dong stretch near Hongik University Station is the liveliest part. Visit Seoul notes that Twenty Again also filmed in Yeonnam-dong and nearby Mangwon-dong. These are residential neighborhoods with cafés, not sets, so the right way to see them is with a coffee on a bench rather than a tripod in a doorway.

Along the Han River, SOUL SPOT pairs Yeouido Park with Melo Movie, Yeouido Hangang Park with A Time Called You and Jamsugyo Bridge with the film Single in Seoul. None of these needs a ticket, and all are better at dusk, when office workers and families come out and the bridges light up. If you have only one evening for drama sites, though, choose Naksan Park or the Namsan route over the riverside: the frames there are far more recognizable.

Photo timing, and the courtesy that keeps these places open

Most of these locations are quiet streets, schools and homes that never asked to be famous, and Seoul has already restricted visiting hours in Bukchon because of tourist pressure. Fans who keep the habits below make it easier for the next fan to be welcome. They also make for better photos, since a calm weekday morning beats a crowded weekend afternoon at almost every spot in this guide.

• Walk Bukchon's red zone only between 10:00 and 17:00, and keep your voice low in every residential lane.
• Avoid Mondays for the Anguk and Jeong-dong walks: Baek In-je House, Gyeonghuigung, Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung are closed. Jongmyo closes on Tuesdays.
• Photograph schools from the gate only, and never during arrival or dismissal times.
• Leave character costumes, prop weapons and mascot suits at home for palace visits unless you hold a filming permit.
• On overpasses, bridges and stairways, shoot from the side and keep moving so others can pass.
• In cafés and shops that appeared on screen, ask before photographing inside, and buy something if you stay.
• Treat the Itaewon memorial alley as a place of mourning: no posing and no filming of people paying respects.