Seoul Subway Line 1 Guide: 10 Stops Worth Getting Off

Line 1 is Seoul’s oldest subway line and, for most of its length, not a subway at all. The part that opened on August 15, 1974 is a 7.8 km tunnel under Jongno, from Seoul Station to Cheongnyangni. At each end of it the trains surface and carry on along Korea’s oldest railways: north to the border county of Yeoncheon, west to the port of Incheon, south through Suwon to Sinchang in South Chungcheong.

For a visitor, that gives Line 1 two personalities. Inside the tunnel it is the line of the old city: Gwangjang Market, the Great East Gate, the bell pavilion at Jonggak. On the surface it is a commuter railway through markets, hiking trailheads and neighbourhoods that grew around the tracks, with an old restaurant near almost every stop.

Where does Line 1 go?

Line 1 is a Seoul Metro tunnel through Jongno with Korail railways attached to both ends. Seoul Metro runs only Seoul Station to Cheongnyangni: 7.8 km and 10 stations. North of Cheongnyangni the trains continue on Korail’s Gyeongwon Line to Yeoncheon. South of Seoul Station they run on the Gyeongbu Line to Guro, where the line splits: the Gyeongin Line goes west to Incheon, and the Gyeongbu Line carries on south to Cheonan and then Sinchang, with a branch to Seodongtan and a short spur to KTX Gwangmyeong. Even inside Seoul Metro’s tunnel, most trains are Korail’s.

🚇 Line 1 at a glance (Seoul Metro operations data, 2026)

Item	Figure
Termini	Yeoncheon in the north; Incheon, Sinchang, Seodongtan and Gwangmyeong in the south
Seoul Metro section	Seoul Station – Cheongnyangni, 7.8 km, 10 stations, 18 min, all underground
Korail sections	Gyeongwon Line (Cheongnyangni – Yeoncheon), Gyeongbu Line (Seoul Station – Cheonan), Gyeongin Line (Guro – Incheon), plus Cheonan – Sinchang and the Seodongtan and Gwangmyeong branches
Frequency	Every 3 min at the morning peak, 5 min off-peak (Seoul Metro section)
Weekday trains through the core	588: 87 Seoul Metro, 501 Korail
Riders	About 431,000 trips a day in 2025 (Seoul Station – Cheongnyangni)
Key transfers in Seoul	Dobongsan (7), Chang-dong (4), Seokgye (6), Hoegi and Cheongnyangni (Gyeongui-Jungang, Gyeongchun), Sinseol-dong (2, Ui-Sinseol LRT), Dongmyo (6), Dongdaemun (4), Jongno 3-ga (3, 5), City Hall (2), Seoul Station (4, AREX, Gyeongui-Jungang, GTX-A), Noryangjin (9), Daebang (Sillim LRT), Singil (5), Sindorim (2)

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Which Line 1 stations are worth getting off at?

Inside Seoul, these 10 have a clear reason to get off and a long-running place to eat within a few minutes of the exit. They run north to south. Seoul Station and City Hall are left out here because our Line 4 and Line 2 guides cover them; the Gyeonggi and Incheon stretches come after the list.

📍 10 Line 1 stops worth getting off at, north to south (exits: VisitSeoul, Seoul city, venues' own pages)

Station (No.)	Exit	Why get off	Local eat nearby	Transfer
Dobongsan (113)	1	Dobongsan trailhead in Bukhansan National Park	Eomma-son Gamasot Sundubu	Line 7
Hoegi (123)	1	Kyung Hee University; the pajeon alley	Imone Wangpajeon	Gyeongui-Jungang, Gyeongchun
Cheongnyangni (124)	1 / 6	Fruit, vegetable and fish markets	Hyeseong Kalguksu (since 1968)	Gyeongui-Jungang, Gyeongchun, Suin-Bundang
Jegi-dong (125)	2	Seoul Yangnyeongsi herbal market, Gyeongdong Market	Gyeongdong Market Pyeongyang Naengmyeon	—
Dongdaemun (128)	9 / 1	Heunginjimun Gate, Seoul City Wall Museum, wall walk to Naksan	Jinokhwa Halmae Wonjo Dakhanmari	Line 4
Jongno 5-ga (129)	8	Gwangjang Market	Sunhuine Bindaetteok	—
Jonggak (131)	4 / 2	Bosingak bell pavilion, Jogyesa temple, Insa-dong	Cheongjinok (haejangguk since 1937)	—
Namyeong (134)	1	Democracy Memorial Hall, free	Namyeongdon	—
Yeongdeungpo (139)	1	Yeongdeungpo Park and its 1933 brewing kettle	Haedongjip (seonji haejangguk)	Intercity trains
Sindorim (140)	2	Techno Mart’s hobby and arcade floors	Seongmun Sikdang (opens 07:00)	Line 2

What is there to do at each Line 1 stop?

Dobongsan (113): the city’s busiest hiking stop

On a weekend morning half the train gets off here in hiking gear. Seoul’s hiking-tourism guide sends you out of Exit 1 and about 20 minutes along the road to the Dobong visitor centre of Bukhansan National Park. The classic climb goes past Dobong Seowon to Sinseondae, which serves as Dobongsan’s summit because the true top, Jaunbong (740.2 m), is a sheer rock face closed to hikers: 6.3 km there and back, about 2 hours 30 minutes, rated difficult. At weekends people queue for the last 50 m, so go on a weekday if you can. Our Seoul hiking guide compares Seoul’s other mountains.

Eat: the side lanes off the road up are full of tofu houses. Eomma-son Gamasot Sundubu (Dobongsan 4ga-gil 10) serves soft-tofu 순두부 sundubu stew from an iron cauldron, perilla-seed or mushroom at about 10,000 won, and opens at 08:30 on weekdays and 08:00 at weekends, until 20:30, for breakfast before the climb. More in our Chang-dong and Dobongsan guide.

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Hoegi (123): Kyung Hee’s hill and the pajeon alley

From Exit 1, Hoegi-ro climbs to the main gate of Kyung Hee University, whose hillside campus is one of Seoul’s quieter cherry-blossom walks in early April. On the way back, the one-block pajeon alley on Hoegi-ro 28-gil is 168 m from the same exit: five or six 파전 pajeon houses that fed students on scallion pancakes and makgeolli from the boarding-house years onward.

Eat: most of the alley opens late afternoon. Imone Wangpajeon, a two-storey hall that handles groups, is the exception at 12:00–02:00; the seafood pajeon is 15,000 won and feeds three. See our Hoegi and Imun-dong guide.

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Cheongnyangni (124): the rail terminus and its markets

Cheongnyangni has been a railway station since 1911, and the trains built a block of wholesale markets around it. Seoul city’s market guide puts the Fruit & Vegetable Market 48 m from Exit 1 and the Cheongnyangni Traditional Market, with its old-style fried-chicken alley, 111 m away; the Fish Market is 176 m from Exit 6. Dongdaemun-gu dates the fruit market to the 1960s and the fish market to the 1970s. Go in the morning, when the wholesale trade is still moving.

Eat: Hyeseong Kalguksu (Wangsan-ro 247-1), in the lanes off Wangsan-ro, has been open since 1968. There are two dishes, chicken or anchovy 칼국수 kalguksu, with broad noodles cut from dough mixed with soybean flour, and extra noodles are free. Our Cheongnyangni old restaurants guide covers the markets stall by stall.

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Jegi-dong (125): Seoul Yangnyeongsi, the herbal market

You smell this station before you see it. Exit 2 is 15 m from Seoul Yangnyeongsi, the 약령시 yangnyeongsi, or herbal medicine market: glass jars of roots, sacks of dried jujubes and licorice, and a herbal medicine museum, closed on Mondays. VisitSeoul lists the market at 09:00–18:00, varying by shop. Next door is Gyeongdong Market, 381 m from the same exit, which opened in 1960; a Starbucks now fills its old cinema, raked seating included. It is also an older crowd than most of Seoul: our Jegi-dong guide cites Seoul Metro data showing that 47.2% of riders boarding here in early 2026 used seniors’ free passes, the highest share in the city.

Eat: Gyeongdong Market Pyeongyang Naengmyeon (Wangsan-ro 29-gil 4) is up on the second floor, easy to walk past. It serves rich, beefy Pyongyang-style cold noodles at 11,000 won, with Pyongyang dumplings at 10,000 won on the side. Most herbal shops shut on Sundays and Gyeongdong Market closes on the second and fourth Sundays, so come Monday to Saturday, ideally before 14:00.

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Dongdaemun (128): the Great East Gate and the wall up Naksan

Exit 9 is 74 m from Heunginjimun, the Great East Gate of the Joseon capital, ringed by traffic. Exit 1 is 317 m from the Seoul City Wall Museum, free, open Tuesday to Sunday 09:00–18:00 and closed on Mondays and January 1, and from there the wall climbs north. The official Naksan trail follows it 3.2 km from Heunginjimun to Hyehwamun, about an hour, over Naksan Park above Ihwa Mural Village. Too steep? From Exit 5, Jongno village bus 03 runs up to Naksan. Our Line 4 guide starts the same hill from Hyehwa, at the other end; the Ihwa-dong and Naksan guide has the cafés along the wall.

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Eat: the dakhanmari alley, 5–7 minutes from Exits 8–9, serves 닭한마리 dakhanmari, a whole chicken simmered at the table with potatoes, then noodles in the broth. Jinokhwa Halmae Wonjo Dakhanmari, which the Korea Tourism Organization dates to 1978, is open daily 10:30–01:00. One bird feeds two. Our dakhanmari guide explains how to mix the dipping sauce.

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Jongno 5-ga (129): Gwangjang Market

Exit 8 is 62 m from Gwangjang Market. VisitSeoul lists the shops at 09:00–18:00, closed Sundays, and the food alley at 09:00–23:00 every day. It is really two markets: about 200 fixed shops with signboards and about 250 street stalls in the aisles, run by different merchant associations. If you want a receipt and a posted price, eat at a shop with a signboard. Our Gwangjang Market guide explains the 2026 rule changes for stalls and the pharmacy street next door.

Eat: Sunhuine Bindaetteok (Jongno 32-gil 5), 10 m inside the East Gate opposite Boryeong Pharmacy, grinds mung beans for 빈대떡 bindaetteok, thick pancakes fried crisp in a shallow pool of oil, at 6,000 won each. Open 10:00–21:00; go before noon to avoid the wait.

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Jonggak (131): the bell pavilion, Jogyesa and a 1937 soup house

The station is named after the bell. Exit 4 is 63 m from Bosingak, the pavilion whose bell is rung at midnight on New Year’s Eve; VisitSeoul lists a bell-ringing ceremony in late morning, closed on Mondays. Exit 2 is 413 m from Jogyesa, the head temple of Korea’s largest Buddhist order, and Insa-dong’s craft shops and tea houses begin just east of it: see our Insa-dong guide for the side alleys worth your time.

Eat: Cheongjinok, 5 minutes from Exit 1 by its own directions, began in 1937 as a soup stall for woodcutters and early-morning labourers and is now a Seoul Future Heritage site. It is open 06:00–22:00. Order the 해장국 haejangguk, hangover soup with ox blood, tripe and dried cabbage in a soybean-paste broth. Our gukbap guide places it among Seoul’s soup styles.

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Namyeong (134): the stop most people miss

Look west from the platform and you will see a dark brick building with almost no windows. From 1976 it was the police’s anti-communist investigation office, where democracy activists were interrogated; since June 10, 2025 it has been the Democracy Memorial Hall, 164 m from Namyeong’s single exit, Exit 1. It is free and open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00–18:00, last entry 17:00. The new building takes walk-ins; the original building is by advance booking, though Seoul city says the front desk can sometimes admit you on the spot. Our Democracy Memorial Hall guide explains the room-by-room details.

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Eat: Namyeongdon (Hangang-daero 80-gil 17), a few minutes south, has been grilling pork belly and neck over oak charcoal for about 30 years and still draws an evening queue. A May 2026 listing gives 16:00–22:00 on weekdays and 12:00–21:00 at weekends. See our Namyeong and Huam-dong guide.

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Yeongdeungpo (139): a brewery park and the sundae-guk alley

Yeongdeungpo was Seoul’s first factory district, and Exit 1 is 287 m from Yeongdeungpo Park, laid out on the site of Korea’s first brewery. Its centrepiece is a copper brewing kettle made in 1933. From Exit 6, 422 m, Provoke Seoul fills a former flour mill. Times Square mall and Yeongdeungpo Market, open since 1956, face each other across Yeongjung-ro.

Eat: Haedongjip (Yeongjung-ro 52-2), on the market side, opens at 09:00 and is known for 선지 seonji haejangguk, ox-blood hangover soup with dried radish greens in soybean broth, at 9,000 won; it closes on the first Saturday and Sunday of each month. Our Yeongdeungpo guide has the rest of the market’s morning soup alley.

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Sindorim (140): Techno Mart and a 7 a.m. baekban

Exit 2 is 130 m from Sindorim Techno Mart, open 10:30–21:00 Monday to Thursday and to 21:30 Friday to Sunday. Its phone and appliance floors emptied out, and since 2025 gacha shops, a big plastic-model store on the third floor and an arcade on the eleventh have taken their place. The green D-Cube City tower opposite lost its department store in June 2025; the owner’s target for reopening is February 2027. One stop on, Guro is where Line 1 splits.

Eat: Seongmun Sikdang (Doyeong-ro 45), 5 minutes from Exit 2, opens at 07:00, which is early for a Korean home-cooking place in Seoul. The day’s 백반 baekban, rice, soup and side dishes, is 8,000 won. Open until 21:00, closed Sundays. More in our Guro and Sindorim guide.

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Past the city line: Gyeonggi and Incheon

North. Uijeongbu, 23 stops from Seoul Station, is where army stew began; Yangju has the Hoeamsaji temple ruins near Deokjeong; Dongducheon’s Soyosan Station sits at the foot of Soyosan; and since 2023 the line reaches Yeoncheon, where Jeongok Station is the stop for the Stone Age hand-axe site.

South. Anyang Station is the stop for the old town and the art park bus; Uiwang Station is next to the Railroad Museum; Suwon Station is a bus ride from Hwaseong Fortress; Byeongjeom serves the royal tombs of Hwaseong; then come Osan and Pyeongtaek, where Songtan has the base-town budae-jjigae.

Incheon. The Gyeongin branch follows the 1899 railway through Bucheon’s old centre to Bupyeong, with its underground mall below the station, and ends at Incheon Station, the stop for Chinatown and Wolmido in our Jemulpo guide.

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How do you ride Line 1 without ending up in the wrong city?

Read the destination on every train, and check whether it says express. Inside the tunnel every train goes your way; the mistakes happen at the ends.

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One-day route along Line 1

From the markets in the east to the old city centre, west along the tunnel. Go Tuesday to Saturday: the City Wall Museum and the herbal museum close on Mondays, and Yangnyeongsi’s shops on Sundays.

• 09:30 — Cheongnyangni Exit 1. The fruit and vegetable market while the morning trade is on, then walk west through the markets.
• 11:00 — Jegi-dong Exit 2. Seoul Yangnyeongsi and Gyeongdong Market; lunch at Gyeongdong Market Pyeongyang Naengmyeon, or kalguksu at Hyeseong back near Cheongnyangni.
• 13:30 — Dongdaemun Exit 1. The free City Wall Museum, then Heunginjimun, and the wall up toward Naksan if your legs agree.
• 16:00 — Jongno 5-ga Exit 8. Bindaetteok at Sunhuine in Gwangjang Market.
• 17:30 — Jonggak Exits 2 and 4. Jogyesa and Bosingak, then Insa-dong's side alleys.
• 19:30 — Dinner. Haejangguk at Cheongjinok by Exit 1, or ride two stops back to Dongdaemun for dakhanmari, served until 01:00.