Single in Seoul in One Day: 4 Reported Spots

Single in Seoul is a 2023 Korean romantic comedy about two people who live alone in the city and do not want the same thing from it. Young-ho (Lee Dong-wook) is an influencer who enjoys being single and has built a following on exactly that. Hyun-jin (Lim Soo-jung) is an editor at a publishing company who does not enjoy being single at all. They meet because she wants him to write a book about single life, and the film follows them as they argue about the subject, walk the city, and slowly change each other’s minds. It is a film about how one person lives in Seoul — alone, on foot, by choice — and its four filming locations make a tidy single-life tour of the city: a palace, a cathedral, a low bridge over the Han River, and a riverside park at sunset.

All four stops below come from the site’s Single in Seoul guide, and all four are Reported. That means one source names each place as a filming location: the film’s distributor, Lotte Entertainment, in its own location notes. No second, independent source has confirmed any of them yet, and they are labelled as such wherever they appear. Nothing here adds a new filming claim, and no episode number is given, because this is a film and the guide itself states none. Hours and access details come from the guide; check the official listing on your travel day, since both change.

The order is the point. Start at the palace in the morning, when Jongno is quietest, cross to Myeong-dong around midday, and finish at the Han River in the evening, when the light drops — the same arc the film follows, from the old city to the water at sunset.

Morning in Jongno: the palace

1. Gyeongbokgung Palace

Begin on Line 3 at Gyeongbokgung, Exit 5, about a five-minute walk to the palace at 161 Sajik-ro, Jongno-gu. Lotte Entertainment says Young-ho and Hyun-jin meet and talk here as the writer and editor of the Single in Seoul essays, which is the film’s central relationship in miniature: two people who disagree about being alone, talking it out in the grandest public space in the city. It is the grandest stop in this walk and the one that needs the most planning. Gyeongbokgung is a royal palace with set opening hours and admission, so check the palace’s official page before you go, and give it at least an hour — the grounds are large, and the film’s autumn light, which Lee Dong-wook praised in interviews, is the same light that makes the palace courtyards worth lingering in.

Do not expect a single marked filming spot inside the palace. The distributor names the palace itself, not one hall or gate, so treat the visit as the place rather than a pin. The guide’s hero image is Gyeonghoeru Hall, the royal banquet hall on its island pavilion, which is the palace’s most photographed building and a good first stop once you are inside. Find the nearest subway station and walking route on Naver Map (English UI) rather than relying on the film’s geography, which compresses the city.

Photo: Honza Soukup from Czech Republic / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (resized) (via the Single in Seoul guide).

Midday in Myeong-dong: the cathedral

2. Myeongdong Cathedral

From the palace, take Line 3 south to Euljiro 3-ga, change to Line 2, and get off at Euljiro 1-ga, about a ten-minute walk to Myeongdong Cathedral at 74 Myeongdong-gil, Jung-gu. Lotte Entertainment says Young-ho, whose hobby is photography, visits the cathedral. It is the quiet stop in this walk: a working Catholic cathedral in the middle of one of Seoul’s busiest shopping districts, and the contrast is the point. The film’s Young-ho goes there alone, with a camera, and the place rewards exactly that kind of slow, solitary visit.

One rule matters more than any photo angle: this is a working place of worship. Keep quiet during Mass and follow the posted rules on photography inside. The cathedral sits in Myeong-dong, so pair it with lunch and the shopping streets around it, but do not treat the cathedral itself as a shopping stop. Find the route on Naver Map (English UI); it is a short walk from the Myeong-dong shopping streets, and the guide’s stay section recommends Myeong-dong as a base precisely because the cathedral is walkable from there.

Photo: Sean Young (@assanges) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (resized) (via the Single in Seoul guide).

Evening at the Han River: the bridge, then the park

3. Jamsu Bridge

From Myeong-dong, take Line 2 to Seoul National University of Education or Line 3 to Express Bus Terminal, then walk or take a short bus ride to Banpo and Jamsu Bridge, the low bridge over the Han River at Banpo. Lotte Entertainment says Young-ho also visits Jamsu Bridge to take photos. It is a low bridge close to the water, which is what makes it photogenic and what makes it different from the high road bridges upriver: you walk it at river level, with the city on both banks, and the film uses that low, close-to-the-water feeling for its photography scenes. There is no admission charge. Check Seoul’s Han River park notices before you go, and find the route on Naver Map (English UI).

Time this stop for late afternoon. The bridge is at its best as the light starts to change, and it sets up the final stop, which the film shot close to sunset.

Photo: Seongryong Hong / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 (resized) (via the Single in Seoul guide).

4. Han River park at sunset

The last stop is the one place in this walk without a pin, and that is deliberate. Lotte Entertainment says a scene of Young-ho and Hyun-jin was shot in a Han River park close to sunset, without naming the park. Treat it as an evening rather than a destination: pick a public riverside park — Banpo, near Jamsu Bridge, is the natural pairing — and be there as the light drops, which is when the film shot its scene. The riverside parks are public and free, and the walk from Jamsu Bridge along the Banpo riverfront is the film’s own movement from the bridge to the water’s edge.

Do not go looking for a single marked bench or viewpoint. The distributor does not name one, and no second source has, so the article names none either. The point is the time of day and the pairing: bridge first, then the park at sunset, in that order, which is how the film ends its Seoul day.

Photo: Teddy Cross, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (via the Single in Seoul guide).

What was a set, and what to skip

Young-ho’s apartment, the publisher’s office (“Dongne Book”) and the flower bookstore were designed for the film, according to the production notes. They are not places you can visit, so this walk does not list them, and neither does the guide. The same applies to the Barcelona scenes, which the film sets abroad and which this Seoul-only walk does not cover. A café with a Namsan view that the production notes do not name is also left out. If a place is not named by a qualifying source, it is not on this walk.

Getting there and where to base yourself

All four places are in central Seoul or on the Han River. Find the nearest subway station and walking route on Naver Map (English UI) or Seoul Metro. The palace and the cathedral pair naturally as a Jongno and Myeong-dong half-day; Jamsu Bridge and the Han River park pair as an evening. Do the palace first, the cathedral second, and the river last, to match the film’s own movement from the old city to the water at sunset. Base yourself in Myeong-dong — walk to Myeongdong Cathedral and central for the palace — or in Jongno, close to Gyeongbokgung. Either one keeps the palace and the cathedral within easy reach, with the Han River an evening subway ride away.

Gyeongbokgung has set opening hours and admission; Jamsu Bridge and the riverside parks are free. If you are coming from outside Seoul, check times on the Korail timetable before you go; this article does not republish train times.

How we checked

A spot is confirmed when two independent sources name it as a filming location; it is reported when only one source names it so far. All four places here are reported: they come only from Lotte Entertainment’s own location notes, which count as a single source, and no second, independent source has confirmed any of them yet. The sets — Young-ho’s apartment, the publisher “Dongne Book” and the flower bookstore — were built for the film and are not listed. Drama background comes from KOFIC and the Lotte Entertainment notes listed in the guide. All photos are location photos of the real places under open licences, credited on each card; no film stills are used anywhere.

For the full guide, with sources, maps, and the complete list of what was left out, see the Single in Seoul guide.