Konkuk University & Gwangjin: The Student Side of the Han River

Gwangjin-gu sits on the north bank of the Han River, east of Seongsu and across the water from Jamsil. Travelers rarely plan a day here, which is exactly why it's worth one: it has a real neighborhood feel, prices set by students rather than tourists, and three sights that are genuinely good.

The three things to do

• Seoul Children's Grand Park. Free to enter, with a zoo, botanical garden, and a large park. It's the local answer to a lazy afternoon and it costs nothing.
• Achasan. A low ridge on the eastern edge of the city with the best sunrise view in Seoul and the ruins of Goguryeo-era fortresses along the trail. It's under 300 meters — an hour up, in ordinary shoes.
• Ttukseom Hangang Park and the river. Bike paths, a swimming pool in summer, and the Ttukseom Resort area with its glass observatory over the water.

What to eat around Konkuk University

Konkuk University Station is the center of gravity here, and the streets around it — Hwayang-dong, Neungdong-ro, the "Rodeo Street" strip — are dense with cheap, high-turnover restaurants. This is student Seoul: portions are big, prices are low, and places stay open late.

The specific things worth crossing town for:

• Tteokbokki and bunsik. Gwangjin has one of the master-designated tteokbokki shops in Seoul, in the Norunsan market area. The bunsik (snack-food) tradition here is a serious one, not a tourist product.
• Pyongyang naengmyeon. One of the century-old cold-noodle houses in the country is in this district — a quiet, unglamorous room that people travel across Seoul for.
• Homemade dubu (tofu). Old-style shops that grind their own soybeans and serve tofu with kimchi and makgeolli.
• Hoe and sushi. A strong, unpretentious raw-fish scene priced far below Gangnam.
• Hotel Chinese. Walkerhill sits on the hill above the river with a long-running Chinese restaurant if you want the opposite of a student meal.

Making it a day

A clean version of the day: morning at Achasan for the view, walk down into Gwangjang-dong for lunch, afternoon in Children's Grand Park or along the river at Ttukseom, then dinner and drinks around Konkuk University Station. Everything is within two or three subway stops.

Each restaurant below has a video on its EatHub page — useful here, because a lot of the best rooms in this district look like nothing from the street.

Practical tips

• Getting there: Konkuk University Station (Lines 2, 7), Achasan Station (Line 5) for the mountain, Children's Grand Park Station (Line 7) for the park.
• Achasan trails are well marked but there are several trailheads; Achasan Station's is the most direct.
• The Konkuk strip gets loud after 9pm. If you want a quiet dinner, eat at 6.
• Common Ground, the blue shipping-container mall by the station, is a decent rainy-hour backup.

Pick a restaurant below, then decide whether you're climbing the mountain before or after.