The Most famous K-Drama Filming Location in Seoul @ Ihwa-dong Mural Village

I watched quite a few K-dramas in last two month.
Completed the Memory of Alhambra, and Encounter/Boyfriend in January, and then the Priest, The Beauty Inside, and The Last Empress in February.
I love the story line of The Beauty Inside and I think this is one of the best K-drama in 2018; I also quite like the Memory of Alhambra because each plots are interesting yet the ending was so killing; I watched the Encounter/Boyfriend because of Song Hye-kyo but then I fall into Park Bo-gum in this drama; well, I think Priest is not really my type of drama.
And, I just finished The Last Empress during last weekend, and I have to say that this is really a best one if you do not like romance dramas.
The storyline really impressed me because each episodes will leave a big question about what's going to happen next, and that's why I had a crazy K-drama marathon during the weekend.
Oppsss, I think I've dragged too far from my today's topic, let't come back!
So, during my last trip in Seoul, I visited one of the famous K-drama filming place with my Korean girl friend.
Gail asked me if I have any places that wanted to go, and the first one that came into my mind is the Ilwa-dong Mural Village.
I wanted to go to this place for a very long time, because I've seen this place appeared in many K-dramas before, such as the Rooftop Prince, Failing For Innocence, The Doctors, Goblin, Strong Woman Do Bong-soon, Are You a Human Too?
Also, if you watched the latest Encounter/Boyfriend starring by Song Hye-Kyu and Park Bo-gum, this is also the shooting place at the ending of the last episode.
Without further ado, let me show you how beautiful the Ilwa-dong Mural Village is!




Ilwa-dong Mural Village is located at Ilwa-dong, in between Hyehwa Station and Dongdaemun Station, just below Naksan Park.
This area is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Seoul, and also a home to mostly poor families and elderly people back in few year times.
So as to improve conditions in some of these areas, the government's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism started the "Ilwa-dong Naksan Project" in 2006 with paintings and installation art of about 70 artistic to make the place become a popular destination.
This little village has soon became a famous place to visit for both locals and international visitors for its murals and scenic setting.  




If you've been to the Gamcheon Culture Village in Busan before, this place would be similar as the area is also full of different kinds of paintings and installation art from the local artists. 
So many interesting murals and cool paintings are decorated on the walls and stairways that able to capture nice photos. :)


The place is full of beautiful arts all around the village. 
One of the famous spot with the angel wing. :)



Apparently, this Flower Staircase is the most popular mural in the village.
This is also the main reason for me to visit this place.
Unfortunately, the beautiful flower paintings had been renovated in 2013 with coloured irregular tiles.
It's really sooooo sad that the painting on the stairs are all faded now.



I first knew about the flower staircase from the drama "Rooftop Prince" starring by Park Yoo-chun and Han Ji-min, and followed by the "Falling for Innocence" casting by Jung Kyung-ho and Kim So-yeon.
My friend said that it probably erased by the people from the village due to the numbers of the visitors visiting the place and make the place so noisy.
I was really disappointing because I wanted to see this flower staircase so much, and now I will never have the chance to see it like before anymore. :(



We found another K-drama filming place at the Ilwa-dong Village Museum.
"The Doctors" starring by Kim Rae-won and Park Shin-Hye is one of my favourite Korean drama, and this Ilwa-dong Village Museum is where Yoo Hye-Jung (Park Shin-Hye) lived here inside the drama.
If you've watched this drama, I'm sure you will remember this scene from the drama because it's one of the most romantic spot that gave me a goosebump.







I was super excited when I saw the same place while watching the "Encounter/Boyfriend" that starring by Song Hye-Kyu and Park Bo-gum.
All these romantic scenes were shown at the end of the last episode after Cha Soo-hyun and Kim Jin-hyuk have reunited together.



The same place with the colourful balloon artwork also appeared in the drama, Are You Human filming by Seo Kang-joon and Gong Seung-yeon.
The place shown in episode 18, where Kang So-bong and Nam Shin III head up the stairs in front of the house during their bike ride, and they fight about who will carry the bikes up the stairs.



 

The village is located at the hillside, so be prepared with a comfortable walking shoes if you visit there.
When you hike up to the top hill, you can see the village and the views of surrounding Seoul from the village.





I love it here!
The scenery is beautiful that you can take very nice photos.
Definitely worth all the effort walking up to here!



There are so many cute and unique shops, restaurants, cafes, and boutiques throughout the area.
You can easily spend all day wandering around in the village.





It was so cold to stay at outside for too long, especially when the temperature dropped to 1℃!
My god! It was really cold!
So, we sneaked into a cafe, Milk Gongbang Cafe for a short while to make us feel warmer. :)



It's so funny that we ordered the milk ice-cream though we said the weather is so cold outside.
But when we looked through the menu, this cafe indeed is famous with their milk ice-cream.
The milk ice-cream costs around 4,000 won, which is about RM15.
It's quite pricey for just the ice-cream, but the soft serve texture is quite creamy and milky, and we also find the ice-cream truly tastes like milk itself.

 

The cafe has a second floor with a small balcony where you can overlook the village area.
It would be nice to sit there to have a hot drink if the weather is good outside.



So happy to see Gail again after she left Malaysia in 3 years ago.
We really had lots of fun and laugh when we get together at the Ilwa Mural Village.
Thanks for your time bringing me around, really hoping to see you again soon in Seoul or Malaysia!



It was definitely a short yet memorable visit at Ilwa-dong Mural Village.
If you are doing your free-an-easy trip in Seoul, this would be a good place to wander around.
Also, don't forget to check out my other blog posts about Seoul at the upper part.
Hope you guys enjoy reading it and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me and I will try to reply you guys asap.
Till then! xoxo



Ilwa-dong Mural Village
Add: 9 Naksan 4-gil, Ihwa-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours
How to get there: Take subway line 4 to Hyehwa Station → depart at Exit 2 → Walk straight until you reach the lock museum → After 50 meters, turn right on to Naksan Gongson-gil street → walk until you reach Naksan Park

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