Go Now! Euljiro, the Vanishing “Hipjiro,” in 9 Themes—Weekdays 5–9 pm Are Best, Sundays Close the Markets and Print Alleys, and Eulji Myeonok Isn’t in Euljiro Anymore

Euljiro is the place in Seoul where you can watch a neighborhood change in real time. Above the print shops, lighting stores, tile dealers and hardware wholesalers, unmarked cafes and bars moved into the 4th and 5th floors, and around 2018 the area picked up the nickname Hipjiro (“hip” + Euljiro). Euljiro 3-ga Station passed 71,631 daily riders in 2025, its first time above 70,000 in 28 years.

At the same time, the neighborhood is disappearing. Under the Sewoon Redevelopment Promotion District (439,000 m², target 2035), the block where the Pyongyang-style noodle house Eulji Myeonok stood has already gone from vacant lot to office tower, and the site next to Nogari Alley is under office construction until September 2026. Sampoong Sangga becomes a temporary park in 2026; PJ Hotel is to be replaced by a 47–54-story complex by 2031. Here’s the thing: go now.

“So what is where?” This guide cuts Euljiro into nine themes (sights, food, shopping, beauty, wellness, nature and walks, nightlife, play, art) and lists only places whose address, hours and rating we verified on Google Maps. To be candid: beauty and play are Euljiro’s weak spots, and we send you to neighboring Myeongdong for them. That, too, is what the area is like right now. Let’s get into it.

The Rooftop Deck Is Free! Sights and History: Sewoon Sangga Rooftop, Cheonggyecheon, the Print Alleys

✔ Korea’s first mixed-use megastructure, rooftop free
Sewoon Sangga (세운상가): 159 Cheonggyecheon-ro, Jongno-gu, 4 min from Euljiro 3-ga Exit 6. Designed by Kim Swoo-geun and built 1967–72, it was Korea’s first mixed-use residential-commercial megastructure, eight blocks running north-south from Jongno to Toegye-ro. Shops 9 am–7 pm, closed Sunday; the rooftop deck “Seoul Rooftop” is free, with Jongmyo and Namsan in one view. The Sewoon Electronics Museum on the 3rd floor (★4.6, 8 reviews, Mon–Fri 10 am–7 pm) covers radios and vacuum tubes. The Google rating is a harsh ★3.9 (1,728 reviews), because this is a working electronics arcade, not a tourist attraction.

Cheonggyecheon (Gwanggyo to Sewoongyo section): the restored stream along Euljiro’s northern edge. 5 min from Euljiro 1-ga Exit 4, open 24 hours, free. Lit at night, and the venue for the lantern festival in Nov-Dec. The print alleys are the north-south lanes between Euljiro 3-ga and 4-ga; thesis-binding season peaks in winter, and weekday afternoons are the only busy time. Together with the lighting, tile and tool alleys, this industrial heritage is what Hipjiro grew out of.

Bank of Korea Money Museum: 39 Namdaemun-ro, Jung-gu, 5 min from Euljiro 1-ga Exit 7. ★4.5 (1,772 reviews), Tue-Sun 10 am-5 pm, closed Monday, free. Housed in the 1912 former Bank of Chosen headquarters, it is the only proper museum on the Euljiro-Myeongdong border.

Euljiro at a glance (verified 6 Sep 2026)

Item	Details
Nearest stations and exits	Euljiro 3-ga (Lines 2/3): Exits 1-3 = Cheonggyecheon and Hipjiro cafes; Exits 10-12 = Joseonok and Nogari Alley; Exits 6-7 = Sewoon Sangga / Euljiro 4-ga (Lines 2/5): Exit 4 = Woo Lae Oak, Exit 6 = Bangsan Market / Euljiro 1-ga (Line 2): Exits 5-6 = toward Myeongdong
Best time	Weekdays 5-9 pm (shops close, bars open). Print alleys and markets are liveliest on weekday afternoons
Closing days	Sunday: markets, arcades and print alleys closed. Most Hipjiro bars close Sun-Mon. Woo Lae Oak closes Monday
Toilets and Wi-Fi	Subway stations, Sewoon Sangga, Euljiro underground arcade. Free “Seoul_WiFi” along Cheonggyecheon, at stations and Sewoon Sangga
Tourist info	Myeongdong Tourist Information Center (66 Euljiro, Euljiro 1-ga Exit 5, 9 am-8 pm); Cheonggye Plaza booth
Redevelopment 2026	Zones 3-2/3-3 (old Eulji Myeonok) under office construction / Sampoong Sangga temporary park 2026 / PJ Hotel rebuilt by 2031 / Sewoon Sangga itself undecided
Rain or winter	Continuous underground walkway from City Hall to Dongdaemun (about 30 min). Use the Euljiro underground arcade to move around

✔ Want to go a level deeper? “Seoul Coffee Is a Question of Neighborhood” digs into what comes after this.

Eulji Myeonok Isn’t Here Anymore! Food: Pyongyang Cold Noodles, Nogari Alley, Golbaengi

✔ Start with the naengmyeon house founded in 1946
Woo Lae Oak (우래옥): 62-29 Changgyeonggung-ro, Jung-gu, 3 min from Euljiro 4-ga Exit 4. ★4.2 (6,534 reviews), Tue–Sun 11:30 am–9 pm, closed Monday. The famous Pyongyang naengmyeon house founded in 1946; cold noodles 18,000 won, bulgogi 46,000 won, and waits over 30 minutes go through the Tabling kiosk. Eulji Myeonok (을지면옥) closed in 2022 for redevelopment and reopened in May 2024 at 12 Samil-daero 30-gil, Jongno-gu (Nagwon-dong; ★4.2, 232 reviews, Mon–Sat 11 am–2:30 pm and 5–8:30 pm, closed Sunday). Remember: it is no longer in Euljiro.

Nogari Alley (Chungmuro 9-gil, 2 min from Euljiro 3-ga Exit 10): a standing-drink culture of dried pollack at 2,000 won and draft beer at 5,500 won. Designated a Seoul Future Heritage site in 2015, but street-trading permission was revoked in 2022 and the adjacent block is under office construction until September 2026. The original Manseon Hof (만선호프), ★3.8 (5,008 reviews), is still open. The golbaengi (spicy sea-snail salad) alley is on Supyo-ro: Yeongnak Golbaengi (영락골뱅이) ★3.8 (963 reviews), 52 Supyo-ro, 2:30 pm-2 am; Pungnam Golbaengi ★3.9 (629 reviews). Golbaengi is 25,000-30,000 won, served with thin noodles.

Joseonok (조선옥): 6-5 Euljiro 15-gil, Euljiro 3-ga Exit 10. ★3.8 (1,062 reviews), a galbi house founded in 1937, Mon-Sat 10:30 am-2:30 pm and 4:30-9:30 pm, closed Sunday. Tongiljip (통일집): 31-3 Mareunnae-ro 4-gil, beef grilled over briquettes, Mon-Fri 3-9 pm, closed weekends, ★3.7 (126 reviews). Wonjo Nokdu (원조녹두): 26-2 Euljiro 11-gil, mung-bean pancakes, ★4.0 (362 reviews). Jungbu Dried Seafood Market (★4.1, 1,757 reviews, 5 min from Euljiro 4-ga Exit 8) for laver, anchovies and dried pollack as gifts. Honest note: Euljiro’s old houses score modestly on Google (3.7-4.2). Choose them for their 70-year histories, not their stars.

Restaurant Supply Meets Paper Goods! Shopping: Bangsan Market, Jungbu Market, the Lighting Street, Sewoon Electronics

✔ Wrapping paper at a fraction of prices back home
Bangsan Market (방산시장): Bangsan-dong, Jung-gu, 2 min from Euljiro 4-ga Exit 6. ★4.0 (4,021 reviews). About 250 wholesalers of packaging, baking supplies, chocolate, flavorings and wallpaper; think of it as a restaurant-supply district and a paper-goods district combined. Cafe owners and bakers come here to stock up. Closed Sunday, weekdays roughly 9 am–6 pm. Wrapping paper and ribbon cost a fraction of prices back home.

Jungbu Dried Seafood Market (중부건어물시장): Ojang-dong, 5 min from Euljiro 4-ga Exit 8. ★4.1 (1,757 reviews). Wholesalers of laver, anchovies, dried pollack and dried shrimp from early morning to afternoon. Small packs of laver make ideal gifts, and prices are negotiable. The Euljiro lighting street is in the lanes south of Euljiro 4-ga Station, weekdays 9 am-7 pm: dozens of LED and fixture specialists, and the photogenic “LED wall” is here.

Sewoon and Daelim electronics arcades: audio gear, tube amplifiers, retro game consoles, components. Closed Sunday. Sampoong Sangga is being converted into a temporary park in 2026, so check before you go. Vintage clothing is almost absent from Euljiro; the second-hand streets at Dongmyo or Gwangjang Market are the alternative.

Honestly Weak Here! Beauty and K-Care: Walk 5 Minutes to Myeongdong

✔ For K-beauty, Myeongdong is 5 minutes away
Inside Euljiro there are almost no foreigner-friendly dermatology clinics or large cosmetics stores, just a few small nail salons above the tool shops. If K-beauty is the goal, the right move is a 5-minute walk from Euljiro 1-ga Exit 5 into Myeongdong, where the Olive Young flagship, the clinics and the hair salons cluster.

Euljiro’s own kind of “beauty” may be watching how young Seoulites dress in the Hipjiro cafes. Coffee Hanyakbang and Hyemindang (16-6 Samil-daero 12-gil, 2 min from Euljiro 3-ga Exit 1, ★4.5, 2,398 reviews) is styled after a 1930s herbal pharmacy and never lacks people taking photos.

Our Myeongdong and Gangnam K-care articles (the three big dermatology treatments, personal color analysis, hair salons) are reachable from Explore by Area. If you are staying in Euljiro, schedule beauty appointments in Myeongdong or Gangnam.

The Old Bathhouses Are Gone! Wellness: the 24-Hour Sauna Is Over by Dongdaemun

✔ The nearest full jjimjilbang is one stop away
Most of Euljiro’s old bathhouses have closed with redevelopment. The nearest full jjimjilbang is 24-hour Sparex Good Morning City (스파렉스): 247 Jangchungdan-ro, Jung-gu, connected to Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station (one stop from Euljiro 4-ga). ★4.0 (1,678 reviews), open 24 hours. Useful for killing time before a late-night bus or showering after an early arrival.

For hotel spas, Euljiro’s PJ Hotel is part of the redevelopment due by 2031 and its status changes year to year. The spas in the Euljiro 1-ga to Myeongdong hotel cluster (Lotte, Westin Josun and others) are mostly guests-only, so confirm when booking.

How a jjimjilbang works, prices and etiquette are covered in our “Jjimjilbang full course” article. From Euljiro, Sparex at Dongdaemun is the shortest trip.

Two Good Walking Routes! Nature and Walks: 1.6 km of Cheonggyecheon, the Sewoon Rooftop, On to Jongmyo

✔ Route one runs from the stream to Jongmyo
Euljiro is short on greenery but has two good walking routes. The first is Cheonggye Plaza to Sewoongyo, 1.6 km (about 40 min). Drop down to the stream from Euljiro 1-ga Exit 4 and walk east to the northern end of Sewoon Sangga. Climb to the Sewoon rooftop for Namsan and Jongmyo, then walk 10 minutes north to Jongmyo (종묘): ★4.5 (1,336 reviews), 9:20 am–5:40 pm (weekends 9 am–6:30 pm), closed Tuesday, 1,000 won. A World Heritage shrine holding the spirit tablets of the Joseon kings; the long roofline of the main hall is a quiet that only people who walked in from Euljiro get to feel.

The second follows the north-south spine of Sewoon Sangga (Jongno to Toegye-ro) south, then enters the Namsan northern loop road from Chungmuro Station, reaching the gentle slopes of Namsan in about 30 minutes. The Sewoon elevated walkway (opened 2017) is under review for removal because of low use, so walk it while you can.

Cheonggyecheon is prettier at night, and during the Nov-Dec lantern festival the bridges on the Euljiro side are the best vantage points. The water is cool in summer, and the paths are cleared of snow in winter even below freezing.

It Starts on an Unmarked 4th Floor! Nightlife and Events: Walk-Up Bars, Nogari Alley, the Lantern Festival

✔ Check Instagram first—Sunday and Monday closures are common
Hipjiro nights start on the 4th and 5th floors of unmarked buildings. Sibbunui Il (십분의일): 2F, 42-9 Supyo-ro, Jung-gu, ★4.2 (199 reviews), whisky bar, weekdays 6 pm–midnight, weekends 5 pm–midnight. Sindosi (신도시): 5F, 31 Euljiro 11-gil, ★4.1 (257 reviews), a club-style bar mixing DJs and art, 7 pm–midnight (Fri to 1 am, Sat to 2 am). Hotel Suseonhwa (호텔 수선화): 17 Chungmuro 7-gil, ★3.8 (332 reviews), noon–midnight, cafe by day and bar by night. Any of them may close Sunday–Monday, so check Instagram for the day’s hours before going.

For cheap, long drinking, go to Nogari Alley. At the original Manseon Hof (★3.8, 5,008 reviews): dried pollack 2,000 won, draft beer 5,500 won, garlic chicken 22,000 won. Street tables have shrunk since 2022, but inside is as loud as ever. Finish at Yeongnak Golbaengi in the golbaengi alley (open to 2 am).

Events: the Seoul Lantern Festival (recently Dec-Jan, Gwanghwamun Square and Cheonggyecheon) and Jung-gu’s Euljiro Lightway (the lighting street festival, held in October in 2024). Dates for 2026 were not announced as of September, so check the Seoul tourism site. Euljiro is safe at night, but the lanes are dark and full of delivery scooters, so watch your step.

Auditioning a Tube Amp Counts as Play! Play and Sports: Retro Games and Electronic Parts, Then Hongdae

✔ A pastime you can only have on this street
“Play” in Euljiro means browsing the retro game consoles and components in Sewoon Sangga and the audio shops in Daelim Sangga. Auditioning a tube amplifier or watching arcade cabinets waiting for repair is a pastime you can only have on this street. We could not confirm any board-game cafes, bowling alleys or large PC bangs in Euljiro.

Screen golf and screen baseball are scattered through the office blocks near Euljiro 1-ga, but few have enough Google reviews to judge; our screen golf article features Golfzon Park Ewha in Jeong-dong (★4.2, 82 reviews, 8:30 am-midnight, walking distance from City Hall Station), a 15-minute walk from Euljiro.

For escape rooms, VR and coin karaoke, the things young Koreans actually do for fun, take Line 2 to Hongdae, 20 minutes away. See our escape room and PC bang and esports articles.

Walking It Is a Typography Walk! Art and Design: Galleries, Maker Spaces

✔ The birthplace of Korean graphic design
Euljiro is the “printing street” and the birthplace of Korean graphic design. OF (오브): 3F, 31 Changgyeonggung-ro 5-gil, Jung-gu, Wed–Sun 1–7 pm, closed Mon–Tue. A small gallery upstairs in a tool-shop building; its Google rating of ★4.1 rests on only 7 reviews, but it keeps showing young artists. Sewoon Makers Cube (157 Euljiro, Mon–Fri 7 am–7 pm) is a Seoul city creative space housing electronics and prototyping studios.

The Sewoon Electronics Museum (★4.6, 8 reviews, Mon-Fri 10 am-7 pm) displays radios, vacuum tubes and early computers, the electronics district’s own history. DDP (Dongdaemun Design Plaza) is one stop from Euljiro 4-ga, the Zaha Hadid building; check its 2026 exhibitions separately.

Shop signs, print-shop sample books, paper swatches at Bangsan Market: walking Euljiro is itself a typography walk. Ask before photographing craftsmen at work; that is the etiquette of this street.

Centered on Sewoon Sangga! On the Map: Euljiro’s Main Spots and Their Google Ratings

✔ Everything within a 10-minute walk
The map centers on Sewoon Sangga. Everything is within a 10-minute walk of Euljiro 3-ga, Euljiro 4-ga or Euljiro 1-ga Station. Ratings as of 6 Sep 2026.

• Sewoon Sangga — Google ★3.9 (1,728 reviews)
• Bank of Korea Money Museum — Google ★4.5 (1,772 reviews)
• Woo Lae Oak (Pyongyang naengmyeon) — Google ★4.2 (6,534 reviews)
• Eulji Myeonok (moved to Nagwon-dong) — Google ★4.2 (232 reviews)
• Manseon Hof (Nogari Alley) — Google ★3.8 (5,008 reviews)
• Yeongnak Golbaengi — Google ★3.8 (963 reviews)
• Joseonok (galbi) — Google ★3.8 (1,062 reviews)
• Bangsan Market — Google ★4.0 (4,021 reviews)
• Jungbu Dried Seafood Market — Google ★4.1 (1,757 reviews)
• Coffee Hanyakbang — Google ★4.5 (2,398 reviews)
• Sibbunui Il (whisky bar) — Google ★4.2 (199 reviews)
• Sindosi (bar) — Google ★4.1 (257 reviews)
• Jongmyo Shrine — Google ★4.5 (1,336 reviews)
• Sparex Good Morning City (24 h) — Google ★4.0 (1,678 reviews)

FAQ

Is Eulji Myeonok still in Euljiro?

No. It closed in 2022 for redevelopment and reopened in May 2024 in Nagwon-dong, Jongno-gu (12 Samil-daero 30-gil, near Jongno 3-ga Station). For Pyongyang cold noodles in Euljiro, go to Woo Lae Oak (Euljiro 4-ga Exit 4).

Is Nogari Alley gone?

It is still open. Street trading was revoked in 2022, so outdoor tables shrank, and the next block is under office construction until September 2026, but Manseon Hof and the other houses operate normally indoors.

Is Euljiro worth visiting on a Sunday?

Markets, arcades and print alleys close on Sunday, and most Hipjiro bars close Sunday-Monday. On Sundays, plan around a Cheonggyecheon walk, Jongmyo (closed Tuesday) and Myeongdong.

Will Sewoon Sangga be demolished?

Sampoong Sangga becomes a temporary park in 2026 and PJ Hotel is to be rebuilt by 2031. As of September 2026 there is no demolition date for Sewoon Sangga itself. See the rooftop view while you can.

How do I find the Hipjiro bars?

Most are on the 4th-5th floors of unmarked buildings, entered by the stairs beside a tool shop. Search the bar name on a map app and check Instagram for that day’s hours. Cards and cash both work.

Can I do beauty or entertainment in Euljiro?

Honestly, it is weak for both. For K-beauty, walk 5 minutes from Euljiro 1-ga Station to Myeongdong; for escape rooms and coin karaoke, take Line 2 to Hongdae, 20 minutes away.