The 123-floor Lotte World Tower in Seoul is the tallest skyscraper in South Korea, and one of the tallest buildings in the world. The tower was built in late 2016, and an observatory on the top was opened to the public in April 2017, it has become a popular attraction in Seoul.
Named Seoul Sky, the observatory occupies the uppermost 7 floors (117th to 123rd floor) of the tower, featuring normal observation floors, large observation halls, glass skywalks, outdoor sky terraces, souvenir stores, coffee shops and restaurants. The heights of these observation floors range from 472 meters (1550ft) to 498 meters (1633ft), making the observatory the 5th highest observation deck in the world. On the observation deck, visitors can see the views of most areas of Seoul from a bird’s eye prospective.
As of 2024 the standard admission fee for Lotte World Tower Observation Deck is 27,000 KRW (about 20 US Dollars), tickets can be purchased at the ticket hall of the building, and can also be booked online in advance, which is the recommended option as a discount will be offered, and can save you a long time for waiting in a queue to buy tickets (at least half an hour, and longer on weekends and holidays). The admission tickets can be booked by clicking here.
The opening hours of Lotte World Tower Observation Deck vary slightly depending on the day of visit, it opens from 10:00 am every day, the closing time is 10:00 pm for Sunday to Thursday, and 11:00 pm for Friday, Saturday, and public holidays of South Korea, the closing time will also be 10:00 pm if it’s the last day of the holidays.
The best time to visit the observation deck is before dusk time, in this way you will see day views, dusk views, and night views within a single visit.
Lotte World Tower is located in Jamsil neighborhood (Jamsil-dong) in Songpa District (Songpa-gu) of the city, it’s very easy to be found as it’s so tall and the area has no other such tall skyscrapers built (the city’s skyscrapers are mostly centered in Yeongdeungpo District, the neighboring Gangnam District, and Yongshan District near downtown).
The address of the tower is 300, Olympic-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul.
The tower is situated by a metro station (Jamsil Station), the most convenient way to get to the tower is by subway, take either Line 2 (Green line) or Line 8 (Pink line) to Jamsil Station, and exit the station at Exit 2, then you will immediately see the tower in front of you.
Alternatively, you don’t need to exit the metro station, as the mall at the base of the tower (Lotte World Mall) is linked together with the metro station, there’s an entrance to the B1 Floor of Lotte World Mall near the Exit 2, enter the mall, follow the signs that read Seoul Sky and you will find the ticket office and the entrance to the observatory.
First go to the ticket office, if you booked the admission tickets online, you only need to exchange your e-tickets for the physical entry tickets in the ticket office, without having to queue. If you didn’t book the tickets, you have to wait in a line for over half an hour to purchase the tickets.
After you get your paper tickets, head to the entrance to the observatory and you will first go through a safety check before entrance, things like food and water are not allowed to be taken to the observatory.
After that you will be escorted to go to Level B2 to take a high speed elevator called Sky Shuttle to access the observation deck on the top of the building.
There’s an art exhibition zone on the way to the elevator, from there you will learn about the history and culture of Korea, and see some pictures and videos about other landmark buildings around world.
The elevator of Seoul Sky Observatory is one of the fastest elevators in the world, it travels with a maximum speed of 10 meters per second and can reach 118th floor in just 60 seconds.
Taking the elevator is a fantastic experience. Once the door closed, the four sides of the elevator will turn into a 3d video screen, showing the growth of the city, the scene starts from an ancient Korean building in downtown area, and moves fast though other places and the Han River, and slows down at the location of Lotte World Tower, then a time lapse of the construction of the tower begins, showing how the tower was built from ground level to sky. The elevator door will open as soon as the video ends, and you’ve accessed 117th floor.
The 117th floor is a normal observation floor, there are floor-to-ceiling windows, but the ceiling is not high, for better observation experience, most visitors stay here for just a short moment and take an escalator to 118th floor.
The 118th floor is known as Sky Deck, it’s a spacious observation hall, the floor is integrated with the 119th floor, so it has two-story high floor-to-ceiling glass windows, offering uninterrupted views of the city. The observation deck is roughly ring shaped, you can walk around to see the aerial view of the city in 360 degree, and since the perspective is so high, the views is almost limitless as they won’t be blocked by other buildings but only fade off into the horizon. On some sunny and clear days, visitors could even see the nearby city Incheon, and the Yellow Sea, which is the sea that divides Korea and Northern China.
The most notable attraction on this floor is the glass bottomed space, which is the areas on the floor that have only glass in the bottom.
At a height of 478 meters, the glass skywalk on Lotte World Tower is verified by Guinness World Records as the world’s highest glass floor. Standing or walking on any one of the glass skywalk, you will feel as floating in the air, as you can directly look down at the streets far below your feet.
It can be terrifying to stand on a transparent glass of such a height, but don’t worry, the glass floor is made of 45mm thick glass, and is capable of supporting a weight of over 500 kilograms per square meter, so it’s quite safe for people to stand on it.
There are two glass bottomed areas, respectively at northwest and southeast sides of the floor, both offer great views, the one on the northwest offers the view of a busy intersection, the vehicles on the roads all appear like ants.
And the one on southeast offers the view of Seokchon Lake (east lake).
Aside from the glass floor, other parts of the observation deck also worth to explore, as each corner of the deck offers a view on a different direction of the city. For instance, the observation deck provides an spectacular bird’s eye view on the city’s major river Han River, to see the panoramic view of the river, you have to walk through half a circle on the northern side of the floor. The Han River is 0.7 to 1.2 km wide, and has a total of 27 bridges cross it.
On the east side of the floor, you can see a large green space, that is Seoul Olympic Park, it was built to host the 1988 Summer Olympics.
On the south and southwest side of the floor, you can look down to get the aerial view of the Seokchon Lake (west lake) and Lotte World’s Magic Island, which is home to Lotte World Castle, this castle is kind of similar to the Enchanted Storybook Castle seen in Disney theme parks.
You will notice that the vast majority of the buildings seen on this side are densely-packed lowrise structures, in contrast to the highrise buildings seen on the north side of the floor (the side that faces the river).
Walking on to the west side of the floor, the closest landmark you’ll see is the building of Lotte World indoor theme park, it’s directly under you across the street and can be easily recognized by the large words “Lotte World” on its gigantic green roof.
And look further, you will see the skyscraper cluster in the nearby Gangnam District, for foreigners this district is probably the most famous district of Seoul, mainly because of the popular song Gangnam Style.
Gangnam District is known for its highly concentrated wealth, a 569-meter (1,867 ft) supertall skyscraper (Hyundai Global Business Center) is under development there and will surpass Lotte World Tower to become the next tallest building in Korea in a few years.
An iconic stadium can be clearly seen at the right hand side of Gangnam District and by the south banks of Han River, the stadium is also featured in the video in the high speed elevator to the observatory, it is called Seoul Olympic Stadium, the centerpiece of the Seoul Sports Complex, and is the main stadium built for the 1988 Summer Olympics.
To the same direction, you can see Mount Namsan on the north of Han River, the mountain is one of the most scenic locations in Seoul. An observation tower called N Seoul Tower is built atop of the mountain, it also has an observation deck and offers close view of the skyline of downtown area.
The views from a long distance may not be clear on some days, it’s recommended to choose a clear day to visit the observation deck. If the weather is not good, then you can visit there at night, the views in night will always be clear thanks to the city lights.
After visited the 118th floor, you can go up to 119th floor by taking an escalator.
Since 119th floor is integrated with 118th floor, it’s actually contained in the same observation hall as the 118th floor, and the floor is not connected to the glass windows, so this floor is not a good place for enjoying the views outside. What 119th floor offers is not the views but a coffee shop called Sky Friends Cafe, from where visitors can buy some desserts and drinks.
And from 119th floor, visitors can take a second escalator to get to the 120th floor.
The 120th floor is similar to the 117th floor, it’s an one-floor observation deck, there’s no two-floor high glass windows.
But this floor offers one of the key attractions of the observatory, which is the Sky Terrace, the open-air areas for enjoying the views. Like the glass floors, there are two such open-air areas, the position is same as the glass floors but two floors higher, and one of them can be seen immediately as soon as you arrive the 120th floor by escalator.
The Sky Terrace is 486 meters high from the ground, and the terrace has no canopy on the top, so visitors can feel the cool air of such a high altitude.
And if you look up from the terrace, you can see the pinnacle and parapet on the top of the tower.
The 120th floor also has an area that offers picture taking service, called Seoul Sky Photo, you can ask the staff to take pictures for you at Sky Terrace or the glass floor on 118th floor, and get the pictures printed at a cost.
To get to the 121st floor, take another escalator. The 121st floor is similar to the 118th floor, it’s also a large observation hall, and is integrated with the 122nd floor, so also has two-story high glass windows.
The views are not very different with that seen from the 118th floor, but there are telescopes that can help you see further.
The floor also has a shop called Seoul Sky Shop, it sells some souvenirs and many other stuffs.
The 122nd floor is similar to the 119th floor, it also has a coffee shop, called Seoul Sky Cafe.
The last floor 123rd floor is a premium lounge, and actually a bar, serving wine and cocktails, as well as drinks and desserts, visitors need to order a drink to access there.
When you want to leave the observation deck, go to 120th floor to take the elevator, there will be a video on the walls in the elevator again, this time it shows the city with fireworks on the night sky, like is celebrating visitors for completing the visit to one of the tallest buildings in the world.
