Time of the visit: the 3rd of nov.,2025

The Namhansanseong Fortress is a mountain fortress located southeast of Seoul, built to defend the capital during times of invasion. It served as a strategic military stronghold with walls stretching over 12 km. The site became a temporary capital in emergencies.

It was a quite tiresome journey to reach Namhansanseong by public transport.Although Namhansanseong seems like it's just a stone's throw from Seoul, the reality is quite different. I had to take three different metro lines before reaching the "Sanseong" metro station. From there, I took bus number 9, which runs every 20 minutes. More than two hours of travel time. Very unpleasant.

My intention was to get off at the stop by the Provisional Palace. I spontaneously changed my plans and got off at the South Gate, which later proved to be an excellent decision.

At the South Gate I carefully studied the walking routes and decided to walk from there to the East Gate.

It took me approximately 60-75 minutes to reach the East Gate, during which time I frequently took photos and admired the scenery. Along the way, I also went through a so-called secret door to view the wall from the other side.

At the East Gate I turned into the inner heart of the fortress, so to speak. The fortress center basically consists nowadays of restaurants, cafes, a police station, a Korean version of a church, and a small temple, but few residential buildings.

The provisional palace can also be found there.

A provisional palace is a place where the king temporarily resides when leaving the palace in Seoul and traveling outside the capital.The Joseon kings could govern and take refuge in the palace complex inside the fortress during wartime. It included royal residences, administrative halls, and shrines, functioning as a kind of backup capital.

Since it was monday I couldn't enter the palace.. closed on mondays.

I walked around the entire Provincial Palace complex and then climbed up to Sueojangdae - the highest command post in Namhansanseong--from where I walked along the wall to the West Gate and then to the North Gate.

From the North Gate it's just a few minutes down to the bus stop. There are also two pensions near the north gate if you'd like to stay overnight in the fort.

I managed to visit all 4 gates,and some auxillary gates as well as some so-called secret doors.

The Four Main Gates of Namhansanseong are:

North Gate (Bukmun) – Used mainly for military movement and supplies.

South Gate (Nammun) – Connected the fortress to nearby villages and transport routes.

East Gate (Dongmun) – Principal entrance toward Seoul, symbolically important.

West Gate (Seomun) – Linked to mountain trails and used for flank defense.

I also visited some temples.The temples,the Prisional Palace,the bastions,the main gates,even the observatory decks( on a clear day you can see the capital very well) were all very nice to see,but my personal highlight was the hike along the fortress walls...just amazing...even fabulous at times with the wonderful autumn colours.

The weather was excellent, around 14-15+, sunny and windless.

I spent almost 6.5 hours in the fortress complex enjoying every minute of my time there. Admittingly,I have a weak spot for fortresses.

The fortress is vast, large, and quite impressive given its sheer size. A bit underrated on our website IMO.

If short of time,skip the South and East Gate....just visit the Provisional Palace and go up from there to the West Gate and walk along the fortifications to the North Gate. The walk from the South Gate to the East Gate and from there to the North Gate is tough and strenuous..and may be even dangerous after a rainfall.The way between the West and North Gate is easy and relatively short.