Seoul in 3D: Walk the Palace Grounds on Your iPhone

A Joseon palace with a granite mountain at its back, a broadcast tower on the wooded hill in the middle, and a river wide enough to feel like a strait. Here is how to explore all of it in full 3D with live Street View, right from your iPhone.

Seoul lies in the northwest of South Korea, spread across a basin on both banks of the Han River and hemmed in on every side by granite mountains. It has been the capital since the end of the fourteenth century, when the founders of the Joseon dynasty chose the site by reading the land: a mountain at its back, a river in front, hills closing the flanks. Almost everything that has happened to Korea since has happened here, including the near-total destruction of the city in the last century and the rebuilding that followed.

The obstacles are the usual ones, plus a few of Seoul's own. It is a long-haul flight from most of the world. Summer arrives with a monsoon and then a heat that does not let go until September. The palaces close on set weekdays, and the best autumn colour lasts about two weeks. Plenty of people keep meaning to go and never quite pick them.

You can look now, though. Seoul can be explored in full 3D with live Street View, from your phone, this evening.

What makes Seoul special

Gyeongbokgung was the first and grandest of the Joseon palaces, founded in 1395 with the mountain Bugaksan standing directly behind it. It burned during the Japanese invasions of the 1590s, lay in ruins for nearly three centuries, was rebuilt on a vast scale in the 1860s, then largely dismantled under colonial rule. What stands today is the result of a long restoration that is still going on. The throne hall sits on a stone terrace inside a walled courtyard; behind it, a banqueting pavilion rests on pillars in an artificial pond, and that is the image most people carry away.

Namsan rises almost in the middle of the city, a wooded hill with N Seoul Tower on top. The tower is a broadcast mast with an observation deck, reached by cable car from near Myeongdong or on foot by trails climbing through the trees from several sides. It is the standard place to understand the shape of Seoul, because from up there the ring of mountains is obvious in a way it never is at street level.

The Han River is the third element, and the one visitors underestimate. It is genuinely wide, closer to a strait than a river through much of the city, and crossed by more than twenty bridges. Both banks are continuous parkland: cycle paths, ferry docks, sports fields and the riverside blocks where Seoul eats outdoors on summer evenings.

How to explore Seoul in 3D

This is where MAPAS comes in. Instead of a flat map that presses the hills out of the city, you get Seoul in real 3D, with live Street View you can step into.

Tilt the map and the mountains come back: Bugaksan behind the palace, Namsan in the middle, the long wall of Bukhansan to the north. Drop into Street View and walk the palace forecourt, the lanes of Bukchon, the riverside path. Rotate and zoom until the geography makes sense.

For a first run, try this order:

1. Search for Seoul, South Korea and switch to 3D so the river and the mountain ring lift into relief.
2. Fly to Gyeongbokgung and circle it low, with Bugaksan rising directly behind the main axis.
3. Drop into live Street View at Gwanghwamun square, then walk north through the palace gate.
4. Move east into Bukchon Hanok Village and follow a sloping lane between tiled roofs.
5. Cross to Namsan, circle N Seoul Tower, then look south to see how the Han cuts the city in two.
6. Turn on GPS navigation to walk the same route for real when you get there.

Beyond Gyeongbokgung

• Changdeokgung — the second palace, with a wooded rear garden open only on timed guided tours.
• Bukchon Hanok Village — lanes of restored courtyard houses between the palaces, still lived in and signposted for quiet.
• Insadong and Ikseon-dong — teahouses, galleries and narrow alleys of converted hanok.
• Bukhansan National Park — granite peaks and a Joseon-era fortress wall, reachable on public transport.
• Gwangjang Market — one of the country's oldest covered markets, best for an early dinner eaten standing up.

A city inside a ring of granite

What a photograph cannot show is that Seoul sits in a bowl. The mountains around it are granite, weathered into pale domes and ridges with bare rock at the top, and they push right into the built-up area rather than sitting politely on the horizon. Tilt the map and the founders' choice of site stops being folklore: the palace has a mountain at its back, an open plain in front and a river beyond that.

The tilt also shows how much of Seoul climbs. Whole neighbourhoods are built on slopes, with staircases instead of side streets, and a walk that reads as four flat blocks turns out to be a hill. The same goes for the river. Seen from above, the width of the Han explains why the bridges dominate the skyline and why the two halves of the city feel so distinct.

Before you go

Late April into May and mid-October into early November are the best windows: clear air, mild days, blossom or foliage. The rainy season runs through summer and is followed by heat and humidity. Winter is cold and dry, with sharp, clean light.

Each palace closes one weekday, and several sites, including Changdeokgung's rear garden, need timed tickets. In the hanok neighbourhoods people live behind those gates, so keep your voice down and stay out of doorways. And Korean hillsides are steeper than they look, so allow more time for Namsan than the map suggests.

Common questions

Can I see inside the palaces in Street View?

Coverage of the courtyards, gates and main halls is good, and the surrounding streets are well mapped. Interiors of individual buildings vary, so treat the 3D view as a way to plan your route through the grounds.

How many days does Seoul need?

Three days covers the palaces, Namsan and one evening by the river. Five adds a mountain walk, the markets and time in the neighbourhoods rather than the sights.

Is MAPAS free to use?

Yes. It is free on the App Store, needs no sign-up before you start exploring, and works on iPhone and iPad.

No flight, no fortnight of leave to book, no queue at the cable car. Just Seoul, in three dimensions, whenever the mood to wander finds you.

Open MAPAS and climb Namsan in 3D.