Six N Seoul Tower tickets and tours, reviewed and ranked
Two of the six things on this page include the round-trip cable car and leave observatory admission out, and one of those two is the most-booked product in the whole set. That is the single most expensive misunderstanding available to anyone booking a trip up Namsan, so I have put it at the top rather than in a footnote. I ranked these on what the money actually buys first, the rating second, and the number of people standing behind that rating third. Two of them suit a different kind of trip, and I explain which ones and why further down.
The six, in the order I would book them
Gyeongbok Palace, N Tower & Local Market City Tour
Costs less than the combo ticket and includes more: the round-trip cable car, observatory admission, a licensed guide, transport and a palace. The catch is that it is a whole day on somebody else’s schedule.
from $26Read the full review ›
N Seoul Tower Observatory & Cable Car Combo Ticket
Cable car up, observatory admission, nothing else, no group. You collect the ticket in person in Myeongdong first, and that detour is what reviewers talk about more than the view.
from $33Read the full review ›
N Seoul Tower Observatory Entry Ticket
Deck admission and nothing else. Put it with the 1,100-won shuttle bus and it is the cheapest way to stand on the observation deck. Rated a little below the bundles, which is fair for a bare ticket.
from $20Read the full review ›
Seoul Highlights: Gyeongbok Palace, Insadong & N Seoul Tower
The most-reviewed product here and a good day out, but it includes the cable car and not observatory admission. If you want to go up the tower too, observatory admission is bought separately at the ticket hall.
from $26Read the full review ›
Gyeongbokgung Palace, Namsan Park & More Private Tour
Priced per group of up to ten, which is roughly $42 a head at full capacity and an entirely different number from the one on the card. Attraction tickets are not included. Two reviews so far.
from $422Read the full review ›
N Seoul Tower & Myeongdong Night Tour
A guided evening walk with a one-way cable car and no observatory admission, at the highest per-person price here, with one review so far.
from $98Read the full review ›How I ranked them, and on what
First test: what does the money buy against what a visitor thinks it buys. Almost everyone reading this wants to know whether they will end up on the observation deck, so a product that includes admission ranks above one that does not, regardless of how well it is rated as a day out. Second test: the rating. Third: how many people are behind it, because 4.8 from 119 reviews and 4.7 from 874 tell you different things. Fourth, and it only ever breaks ties: what it costs.
That order is why the day tour sits at the top and the most-reviewed product sits fourth. The city tour is $26 and includes the round-trip cable car and observatory admission and a guide and a palace. The combo ticket is $33 and includes the cable car and the observatory and nothing else. A guided day out is roughly a fifth cheaper than the ticket on its own. The arithmetic is laid out at what it costs and the six are compared side by side at all tickets and tours.
Ratings, review counts and prices here are GetYourGuide’s own figures at the time of writing, copied across without rounding. Every price is a “from” figure and the booking widget re-prices by date, party size and the option you pick, so read them as the shape of the market rather than a quote. Reviewers on two of these products name their guides often, and that is one of the most useful patterns in the set.
Two for specific plans
The night tour, first. It is the highest per-person price on this page. It has one review. The cable car is one-way, observatory admission is not included, and the guided walk covers Namsan Park and Myeongdong after dark, which is also a lovely route on foot. It has a single five-star review so far. If the evening is what you want, the argument for going up after sunset is at day or night and the walking routes are at walking up Namsan.
The Seoul Highlights day tour, second, and only for one reason: it does not include observatory admission. As a guided day covering Gyeongbokgung, the folk museum, a hanok village and a cable car ride, it is clearly good, and 874 reviews at 4.7 is by a distance the largest body of evidence here. But its title has “N Seoul Tower” in it and people read that as going up the tower. It means going to the tower. If the deck is the reason you are booking, choose an option that includes observatory admission.
What is free at the top, with or without a ticket
The summit plaza, the love-lock terraces, the Palgakjeong pavilion area and every viewpoint outside the tower’s paid levels cost nothing and are open to anyone who gets up the hill. What admission adds is roughly 130 metres of extra height behind glass, which is excellent on a clear evening; on a hazy afternoon the open terraces may be the better view. Check the air quality before you commit. The free half of the hill is set out at what is free at the top, and whether the paid half earns its money is argued at is it worth going up.
Frequently asked questions
Which N Seoul Tower ticket should I buy?
If you can give up a day, the Gyeongbok Palace and N Tower city tour at $26 includes the round-trip cable car and observatory admission and costs less than the ticket that includes only those two things. If you want an hour at the tower and no group, the combo ticket at $33 is the straightforward answer. Both are compared at all tickets and tours.
Do all of these include going up the observatory?
No, and this is the thing to check before you pay. The Seoul Highlights tour includes the round-trip cable car but excludes observatory admission, the night tour excludes it as well, and the private tour does not include attraction tickets of any kind. Only the combo ticket, the city tour and the deck-only ticket get you through the turnstile.
Are the low review counts a problem?
On two of them, yes, and I note it on every page where it applies. The night tour has one review and the private tour has two, so their records are still building. The city tour has 119, the combo ticket has 379 and the Seoul Highlights tour has 874. Its review covers the night tour in more detail.
Are these reviews independent?
Yes. I am not the tower, not its operator and not a tour company, and I sell nothing. Booking links go to GetYourGuide and earn me a small commission at no cost to you. There is also a page on visiting without paying at all. More on the arrangement at about this site.