Have you ever heard of an area called Yongsan, located at the heart of Seoul? If you are a traveler who plans to explore other regions of Korea, you may have a chance to visit Yongsan station. You can take KTX and regular trains from Yongsan Station as well as Seoul Station, which is famous for most tourists. For your information, I’ll add the explanation from Wikipedia.
Yongsan station is a major railway station in Seoul, South Korea. Before 2004, all long-distance trains serving Seoul terminated at the nearby Seoul Station, but with the opening of the Korea Train Express (KTX), Yongsan Station took over some services of Seoul station. In 2012, ITX trains began service between Yongsan station and Chuncheon station which is located in Gangwon Province (East side of Korea) Yongsan station is scheduled to become a transfer station with the Shinbundang Line in 2025. Once the Shinbundang Station becomes operational, Yongsan Station will become connected with Shinyongsan Station (Line 4).
Also, Yongsan is the place where “Dragon Hill Spa”, one of the must-visit courses in Seoul, is located. Near Yongsan Station, where the Seoul Metro line 1 and the Gyeongui Central line stop, there’s another station called Shin-Yongsan Station, where Seoul Metro line 4 stops at a walking distance. So, basically you can use 3 different lines to visit Yongsan!
You can see the blue letter “Dragon Hill”, right? Many K-drama fans who have watched Jjimjilbang scenes(Korean style spa place) must be eager to visit this place. That Jjimjilbang is really huge and definitely a must-visit place for people who visit Seoul!
I didn’t even know that there was a bus stop of City Tour Bus at Yongsan Station as a person who has lived in Seoul forever lol. I think you can take a look around Yongsan Station on the day you are planning to take a city tour bus. In fact, Yongsan Station has so much to do that it’s worth investing even a whole day!
If you get out of Yongsan Station and look around the square, you will notice that there are many new buildings that are really modern and tall. The headquarters of AmorePacific, which possesses Innisfree and Sulwhasoo, will also draw your attention.
Still, many parts of the station and nearby areas are under construction, as the Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to build parks, underground parking lots, housing for young people, and housing for newlyweds.
E-mart, the reason why I am writing this post today, is located inside the I-Park Mall of Yongsan Station. Lotte Mart at Seoul Station is also a very popular destination for tourists, but E-mart at Yongsan Station also has an amazingly wide range of products. Without a doubt, you can buy anything you want at the lowest price you can ever find!
It is located on the basement floor of the I-Park Mall, so you can go into the I-Park Mall entrance and take an escalator down, connected to the entrance of E-mart.
If you come by car, of course, you can park. E-Mart also has a wide variety of restaurants including Burger King, Baskin Robbins, Tteokbokki places, and instant noodles places, etc.
Near the entrance, there is “Daiso” and a coffee shop. Also, a free locker is accessible for anyone, so you can put your luggage and go shopping comfortably.
In order to buy souvenirs such as snacks, kimchi, and a laver for family or friends back in your hometowns, you have to go down to the B2 floor. On the B2 floor, you can find groceries in almost every kind of.
They were selling Korean traditional clothes called “Hanbok” and gift sets because it was right before Lunar New Year’s Day when I visited E-mart. For New Year’s Day holiday, it is quite customary to go to a large market such as E-mart and Lotte Mart as a family unit because people need to buy so much stuff for holiday preparation, and it’s so much cheaper.
Another advantage of E-Mart is that it sells very cheap PB products. It makes the price of its own brand surprisingly low, allowing consumers to spend their money smarter. You just need to pay 2 bucks a large bag of chips and 5 bucks for a bottle of wine. In Korea, where alcohol is generally expensive, it is a really amazing price. If you look carefully at every corner of E-Mart like this, you will have plenty of opportunities to spend money wisely.
When traveling abroad, almost everyone likes to go to the local mart(I just can’t get out of one once I enter the supermarket lol). Of course, it’s fun to explore nearby convenience stores, but you can see and buy a much wider variety of products at a much lower price at this kind of big supermarket, and you can also actually get to taste the foods at tasting corners if you are lucky!
E-mart Yongsan
55 Hangang-daero 23-gil, Hangangno 3-ga, Yongsan-gu, Seoul
Operating Hours: 10 AM–11 PM
Closed on 2nd, 4th Sunday every month
Another advantage of this kind of big market is that you can see food that can only be found in that country, such as Kimchi in Korea, by various brands and types. You can see more than 100 different kinds of kimchi! Also, they’re packed really perfectly, so you can take them back to your home safely 🙂 There are dozens of kinds of instant noodles and countless boxed snacks that are good for gifts, as well!
