5 Best Sights in City Hall, Seoul

Located next to Seoul City Hall, Deoksugung is an oasis in the heart of downtown Seoul. Originally built as a residence for the crown prince, Deoksugung was the only palace to survive the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592. Today, it is the most modern of the palaces, blending a European-style garden and fountain with traditional palace architecture. It is also home to the National Museum of Contemporary Art, which features rotating exhibitions of Western and Korean artists. Deoksugung is notable for its contrast to the chaos and bustle of the surrounding downtown and makes an excellent stop after a day of sightseeing or shopping. At night the main hall and other buildings are illuminated, giving the palace a quiet, mysterious air.

The ultimate combination of old and new, Seoul City Hall is made up of two buildings: the original city hall built in 1926 and the annex added in 2012. The original city hall building is now used as a library and is officially referred to as the Seoul Metropolitan Library, while most administrative duties are conducted in the stunning annex. Not your average city hall, the eco-friendly annex has wavelike architecture and one of the tallest vertical gardens in the world, the Green Wall, that make it well worth a visit. The plaza outside Seoul City Hall often holds events and free performances. On the lower floor is Citizens Hall, a community gathering place with art exhibitions.

Housed in Seoul's former city hall, this bookworm's paradise is worth a look for the historic architecture alone, but it also has 5-meter (16-foot) tall book shelves and more than 510,000 books. Open to everyone, it's a good place to stop for a quiet moment of refuge during city exploration. There is also a decent collection of books in several languages including English, French, and Spanish.

One of the city's main art museums, the Seoul Museum of Art's collection is a balanced mix of Korean and foreign as well as classic and modern art. In addition to its permanent collection, the museum often holds special exhibitions ranging from classic foreign masters to new Korean talent. This is a good stop to see what is happening in the Korean art world. The building itself is a grand colonial-era structure that, though it began life as a gallery, later housed the Korean Supreme Court.

The green space outside Seoul City Hall frequently holds events such as the Seoul Kimchi Festival, Seoul Queer Culture Festival, and the Hi Seoul Festival (dedicated to street arts). International sports games, like the World Cup, are screened here when Korea is playing.