Myeongdong for First-Timers: Exits, Street Food, the Cathedral and the Cable Car

Myeongdong sits between two subway stations: Myeongdong Station on Line 4, whose exits 5 to 10 open onto the shopping streets, and Euljiro 1-ga Station on Line 2, whose exit 5 is closest to the tourist information center. Most shops keep their own hours; Olive Young’s two big Myeongdong stores, for example, open 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Street-food stalls set up on the main street every evening; each licensed stall trades every other day, so the line-up changes nightly. Bring small notes: only about a third of stalls had card terminals in 2024. Myeongdong Cathedral is free to enter and holds an English mass at 9 a.m. on Sundays. The Myeongdong Tourist Information Center is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. The Namsan Cable Car, about 10 minutes on foot from Myeongdong Station exit 3, runs 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. and costs adults ₩15,000 return.

Which subway exit should I use for Myeongdong?

Use Myeongdong Station on Line 4 for the shopping streets: exits 5 to 10 serve the area, and the main street where the food stalls set up starts in front of exits 6 and 7. The other side of the block is reached from Euljiro 1-ga Station (Euljiro Ipgu, 을지로입구) on Line 2. Pay the fare with a T-money card; if you are coming straight from the airport, see Incheon Airport to Seoul.

Exits 1, 3 and 4 are for the cable car and Namsan, not the shopping streets. Distances are walking distances from Visit Seoul and the cathedral’s directions page; the walking time to the cable car is from N Seoul Tower’s directions.

How are Myeongdong’s streets laid out?

Myeongdong is built around two main streets that meet in the middle of the block: one starts at Myeongdong Station on Line 4 and the other at Lotte Department Store on Euljiro, by Euljiro 1-ga Station. Brand shops, restaurants and department stores line both streets and the alleys between them, so walking from one station to the other takes you through the middle of the area.

Set a meeting point by subway exit number, not shop name: the same cosmetics and fashion chains have several branches within a few blocks. Find your way with Naver Map. Underneath the streets, the Myeongdong underground shopping center runs from Lotte Department Store to the main street; see Seoul’s underground shopping malls.

For the shopping itself, see which Olive Young to visit, how the instant tax refund on cosmetics works and how Seoul’s duty-free shops work; Namdaemun Market, nearby, has its own hours.

When do the Myeongdong street food stalls open?

The stalls trade from late afternoon into the evening: an Edaily TV news report found stalls on both sides of the street cooking at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, and the cable car operator’s posts on its home page call the main street in front of Myeongdong Station exits 6 and 7 the “Myeongdong Street Food Night Market”.

The stalls are licensed by Jung-gu, the district office, under the street-stall real-name system it introduced in 2016. In its 2023 report, the district counted 359 licensed stalls in Myeongdong, each allowed to trade only every other day, so the line-up changes from one evening to the next.

Under the district’s street-stall rules, stalls may sell accessories, small goods, fruit, recorded music and simple cooked food, and may not sell alcohol. For a drink with your food, go into a restaurant or a convenience store.

How do I pay at Myeongdong street stalls?

Bring cash in ₩1,000 and ₩10,000 notes, and ask before ordering whether a stall takes cards. Jung-gu began putting card terminals into Myeongdong stalls in February 2024, the first district in Korea to do so, and by July 2024 118 stalls had one, about a third of the 359 licensed in 2023. Cash still matters.

Myeongdong’s shops must display prices; stalls are held to price labels through the district’s own stall rules. Ahead of a March 2026 concert at Gwanghwamun, Jung-gu said in its plan for the event that it would use mystery shoppers to check for missing or false price labels and for higher prices charged to foreigners, and that stall inspections cover the prices of main items, whether cards are accepted, and hygiene. Buy from stalls that show prices, and if you are charged more than the board says, report it to 120, the Seoul city call line, for overcharging, or to 1330, the Korea Travel Hotline, for any tourist complaint, the two numbers Jung-gu gives for complaints.

What are Myeongdong Cathedral’s hours and mass times?

Myeongdong Cathedral is free to enter. Visit Seoul gives its visiting hours as 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday, closed on Mondays. These are the same hours as the parish office, which also closes from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday to Friday. Masses are still said every day, Mondays included, so on a Monday come for a mass time. The address is 74 Myeongdong-gil.

The English mass is at 9 a.m. every Sunday in the main church, and English confession is available before that mass and from 4 to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. The mass schedule, in effect since January 2026, is:

All masses are in the main church. The cathedral asks worshippers to arrive 10 minutes before mass, switch phones off, dress neatly without sportswear or slippers, and stay quiet, above all during the readings, the Gospel and the homily. To see the building only, go between masses, and sit quietly at the back if one is under way.

The church was consecrated on May 29, 1898. The cathedral’s history page describes it as the first brick church in Korea built in the Gothic style, a designated Historic Site (formerly No. 258), with a 45-meter bell tower.

What does the Myeongdong Tourist Information Center offer?

The Myeongdong Tourist Information Center is on the first floor of the annex of the Hana Financial Group Myeongdong building, 66 Eulji-ro, about 211 m from exit 5 of Euljiro 1-ga Station, and is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day except the day of Seollal (Lunar New Year) and the day of Chuseok. Staff speak English, Chinese and Japanese, and the phone number is +82-2-778-0333. A souvenir shop keeps the same hours, and the Discover Seoul Pass can be bought or collected only during those hours.

Staff help with questions, hand out maps and guidebooks, assist on site with reservations for shows, transport, accommodation and restaurants, and give information on Seoul City Bus tours and walking tours.

Out on the street, walking guides in red uniforms marked with an “i” work the Myeongdong area from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., based in front of Myeongdong Theater. After hours, the Korea Travel Hotline, 1330 (+82-2-1330 from a foreign phone), answers 24 hours a day.

Where can I exchange money in Myeongdong?

Change money at a private money changer or a bank branch in the area, and bring your passport. Visit Seoul describes Myeongdong as a hub of banking as well as shopping, and the Seoul city government lists banks in downtown Seoul and private exchange offices as places to change foreign currency into won. The city says you must show a passport or residence card, and that you can exchange up to the equivalent of $10,000 at a time.

Changing more than $2,000 of foreign cash at once at a private changer ($4,000 at changers with computerized records) gets you an exchange certificate, under the Korea Customs Service’s rules for changers. Keep it: without one you can change won back only up to $2,000 a day at a changer ($4,000 at a computerized one), or up to $10,000 at a bank, which notes the exchange in your passport, according to the Korea Federation of Banks. With it, you can change back up to the amount on the certificate.

The city says most private exchange offices open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., with hours varying by branch. Our advice: compare the rate for your currency at two or three counters before handing over cash, count the won at the counter before you leave, and change only what you need for cash-only spending such as stalls, since cards work in most shops. For a prepaid card that also handles currency exchange, see the Travel Card+ in our T-money guide.

How do I get from Myeongdong to the Namsan Cable Car?

Walk from Myeongdong Station exit 3: turn into the alley by the 7-Eleven, then walk up the road between the Pacific Hotel and a GS25 convenience store for 7 to 8 minutes to the boarding building at 83 Sopa-ro. Two alternatives:

• Namsan Oreumi inclined lift. From exit 4, walk straight to Hoehyeon intersection, turn left, and ride the Namsan Oreumi up from near the Namsan 3 Tunnel monument. N Seoul Tower says the lift is free and runs 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., except before 2 p.m. on Mondays for inspection, stops in high wind or heavy rain, and takes about 2 minutes to the cable car.
• Free shuttle bus. Buses leave the cable car car park every 30 minutes from noon to 8:30 p.m. and reach exit 1 about 10 minutes later, where they pick up for the ride back. Departures skipped: 2:30 and 5:30 p.m. on weekdays and Sundays; 2:30, 5:00 and 5:30 p.m. on Saturdays.

Seniors, veterans and people with disabilities pay the child fare on showing proof of eligibility.

The cable car runs every day of the year from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Return tickets are sold until 10:30 p.m. and one-way tickets until 10:45 p.m., the operator’s FAQ says, and sales can close earlier; the ride takes about 3 minutes. The cable car can stop or close early in bad weather or high wind. Tickets are sold only at the booth, for the same day, and are valid at any time that day. The operator’s posts on its home page say the two cars leave about every 8 minutes whatever the crowd, and N Seoul Tower is a 2-minute walk from the top station. For the observatory’s hours and tickets, see N Seoul Tower in our K-drama locations guide. You cannot board after drinking alcohol, which matters if you are coming up after dinner.

What is the best time of day to visit Myeongdong?

Arrive in the afternoon and stay into the evening: shops are open, and the street stalls are cooking from late afternoon. A suggested order:

1. Afternoon. See the cathedral between masses, stop at the tourist center before it closes at 6 p.m. if you need a map, a pass or help with a booking, then shop, change money if you need cash, and walk between the two stations.
2. Evening. Eat at the street stalls, then walk or take the lift up to the cable car.

Ride the cable car in the morning for a quieter day view, or after the stalls for the night view; the operator says mornings are quieter than afternoons, and that queues build around sunset on weekdays and in the afternoon on weekends and public holidays. On a Sunday, the 9 a.m. English mass is a reason to start early.

Steve OH edits Seoulpin. Steve runs Standardpin, a Seoul-based web studio that also builds websites for clinics; that work has no effect on whether or how any clinic appears here. Articles are drafted with AI assistance from the sources listed and reviewed by Steve before publishing. How we work