Rising 236 metres on Namsan Mountain in Central Seoul, N Seoul Tower is one of the city's premier tourist attractions. The Namsan Cable Car takes visitors from the city to the tower's base, where elevators ascend to four observation decks. It's especially popular in the evening, when the panoramas reveal billions of lights that glisten across the city.
Built in 1971 and officially known as the YTN Seoul Tower, this is one of South Korea's most iconic landmarks. N Lobby and N Plaza occupy the lower levels of the tower and contain a myriad of shops, restaurants and museums. An additional fee must be paid to travel up the tower to the four observation decks. An exclusive revolving restaurant fills Tower T5 while a digital observatory and high-powered telescopes are found on Tower T3.
Access to Namsan Mountain is restricted and most vehicles are not permitted to onto the mountain's slopes. Namsan Sunhwan Shuttle Buses travel up the mountain to N Seoul Tower from Seoul Station, Itaewon Station, Chungmuro Station and Myeong-dong Station. Most international visitors travel at least one way using the Namsan cable car, which ascends from the Namsan Cable Car Station, some 10-minutes walk from Myeong-dong Station.
Originally opened as a TV and radio broadcasting tower, it wasn't opened to the public until 1980. Tourism has since become integral, perhaps epitomised by a Teddy Bear Museum that opened in 2008. To celebrate the opening, a 7-metre high Christmas tree was erected, built using 300 teddy bears.