When my bestie, Laina, was here visiting me (for no reason other than she loves me enough to fly 7,000 miles to see me), we took a little day trip up to Seoul. Obviously, one day in Seoul is nowhere CLOSE to enough time to see even close to everything. But we actually covered a decent amount of ground in just the one day. Our first stop? Lotte World Tower.
Lotte World Tower in Seoul
Towering at a whopping 555 meters high (1,820 feet), this 123 story building is the fifth tallest IN THE WORLD. To put it into perspective, the Eiffel Tower in Paris is 330 meters tall from base to tip – and any of my friends who have been to Paris will remember how overwhelmingly HUGE that tower is. So picture that, but with over 700 feet added to the top. It’s an absolutely INCREDIBLE sight.
I actually LOVE driving to Lotte World Tower (which is saying something because driving in Seoul is NOT fantastic) simply because you can see it clearly when you’re still kilometers away. The tower’s insane height makes the rest of the surrounding buildings look ridiculous as none of them come close. While seeing the tower from the outside is great, we were looking for something a LITTLE more adventurous, so we purchased tickets with Seoul Sky and headed to the elevator to get to the top.
As is customary in every single tower I’ve gone in here, there were glass floors so you could actually see how high up you were. It was staggering and honestly made me kind of nauseous, but it was also really awesome. There are also gift shops, cafés, bathrooms, and a baby grand piano (which an 8-or-9-year-old boy was playing incredible masterpieces on). There were plenty of “selfie-spots” – as we’ve come to expect from just about anything here on the peninsula. And, most importantly, there were plenty of shirts, sweaters, and bags that all said “the world’s 5th tallest building” on them – something that Laina had teased me about because she literally had never heard of Lotte World Tower until that day.
Laina also had her sweet baby with her so I got ALL the baby snuggles in during their visit. The only downside: it meant we couldn’t go on the Skybridge Tour (where they put you in a harness and you can walk along the skybridge at the very top of Lotte Tower – 1,800+ feet above the ground). For some reason they don’t let babies do the Skybridge Tour because they “can’t walk” and it “isn’t safe” and some other nonsense like that. Okay, but really we didn’t have our hearts set on doing that – although it has been added to my bucket list!
Have you been to Lotte World Tower?
’til next time…
Ash
How to visit Lotte World Tower in Seoul
Directions: It’s easy to drive straight to Lotte World Tower. Just paste 서울 송파구 신천동 into Naver and it will take you to Gate 4 for the underground parking garage. From there it’s easy to hop onto an elevator and head to the Seoul Sky ticket office.
Cost:
Seoul Sky Observation Deck
Adults (ages 13+) – ₩29,000
Children (ages 3-12) – ₩25,000
Children (under 3) – FREE
Skip the line with a Fastpass admission ticket – ₩50,000 (all ages)
Skybridge Tour Ticket
Standard Admission – ₩120,000 (includes admission, 2 photos, and a drink at the lounge)
Please see the Seoul Sky website for information on more packages to purchase.
Hours:
Observation Deck Hours
Sunday – Thursday: 10:30am – 10:00pm
Friday – Saturday: 10:30am – 11:00pm
Parking: There is a parking garage located underneath Lotte World Mall (which is attached to Lotte World Tower). The garage has always accepted our AMEX credit card with no issues.
Know before you go: While you’re checking out Lotte World Tower, it’s worth hanging around and exploring the mall attached to it. With a full aquarium, movie theater, indoor ice rink, bowling alley, indoor swimming pool, and more – there is PLENTY to do and see within the mall.
