BTS in Seoul: A Walkable Pilgrimage Route (and Where to Eat)

Of the 40 BTS locations in the EatHub BTS collection, a little over half are in Seoul. That's still too many for one day, but they fall into three clean clusters — Yongsan, Seongdong, and Jongno — and each cluster is walkable and has good food in it. Here's how to do them properly.

Cluster 1: Yongsan — HYBE and the museum

HYBE's Yongsan headquarters (한강대로 42) is the obvious first stop and the one that needs the clearest expectation-setting: it is an office building, exterior viewing only. Big Hit Music is inside; you are not going inside. What you get is the building, the plaza, and the sense of standing where the group's professional life happens. Photos from the street are fine; loitering at the staff entrance is not.

Two other BTS-linked stops sit in the same district. The National Museum of Korea in Yongsan has hosted BTS performance and Billboard-related filming, and it's a genuinely excellent museum with a reflecting pool that frames Namsan Tower. Nodeul Island, a cultural complex on an island in the Han River, was used for the RUN music video and the 2021 season's greeting — go an hour before sunset.

Yongsan Station is right there, which means the station food halls, and Itaewon and Samgakji are both a short ride for a proper meal.

Cluster 2: Seongdong — the benches

Seoul Forest holds one of the most purely fan-made landmarks in the country: benches funded by ARMY donations, dedicated to members and songs. It costs nothing, it's a large public park, and it's the stop most people say they're glad they didn't skip. Nearby, Seokchon Lake in Songpa is a place RM has posted photos from — a flat lakeside loop that's especially good in cherry blossom season.

Seoul Forest sits at the edge of Seongsu, which is now Seoul's café district and one of its better dinner neighborhoods. This is the easiest cluster to turn into a real afternoon: park, coffee, dinner, done.

Cluster 3: Jongno — palace, square, bookstore

The historic core has the highest density of BTS locations in Seoul and it's all on foot.

• Gyeongbokgung — Geunjeongjeon Hall and Gyeonghoeru Pavilion, where the IDOL and Mikrokosmos stages were filmed. Go right at opening; closed Tuesdays.
• Gwanghwamun Square — the ceremonial center of Seoul, tied to BTS performances and official events. Two minutes from the palace gate.
• Daeo Bookstore — a tiny, old bookstore in Seochon that RM reportedly visited and signed the guestbook at. It's a small private business in a residential lane. Buy something, keep your voice down, don't crowd the doorway.
• Sungnyemun — the great south gate, used for a Global Citizen Live performance, a walk down from Gwanghwamun.

Jongno is also where Seoul's oldest restaurants are. Haejangguk, hand-cut noodle soups, jeon and makgeolli in Insadong — you can eat extremely well here without planning, and a meal here beats one at a tourist food court by a wide margin.

The extras, if you have time

Scattered around the city and worth a detour only if they're near something else you're doing:

• Yeouido Han River Park — official content filming, and the best place in Seoul to sit by the river.
• Euljiro — Seoul promotional content was shot around these blocks; the area is now full of retro bars and printing-shop alleys.
• Vinyl & Plastic in Itaewon — a record store used for Billboard-related content.
• Hakdong Neighborhood Park and the former Big Hit building in Gangnam — the trainee-era stops. The old office is exterior-only.
• Seoul Olympic Stadium in Jamsil — where HYYH ON STAGE: EPILOGUE and the major concerts happened.
• VR Square Hongdae — from Run BTS! episode 81, and a fun stop if you're in Hongdae anyway.

A realistic one-day version

Morning: Gyeongbokgung at opening → Gwanghwamun Square → Seochon and Daeo Bookstore. Lunch in Jongno — pick a noodle or gukbap house near where you end up.

Afternoon: subway to Yongsan for HYBE, then the National Museum if you have the energy.

Late afternoon: Seoul Forest and the benches, then coffee and dinner in Seongsu.

That's four to six locations, two good meals, and no more than a couple of subway rides. Trying to add Gangnam and Jamsil to the same day is how people end up seeing the inside of Line 2 and nothing else.

Before you go

• Weekdays are dramatically better at every one of these stops.
• Exterior-only is not a suggestion — HYBE, the old Big Hit building, and the schools in the wider collection are working buildings.
• Small businesses are small businesses. Daeo Bookstore in particular is a real shop in a real neighborhood.

For the locations outside Seoul — Busan, the Gangwon coast, Wanju, Jeju — see the companion guide in this series. And when you need somewhere to eat between stops, open the EatHub map and search around the pin you're standing on.