Life In Korea (ํ•œ๊ตญ์˜ ์‚ถ)

Where to See Christmas Lights in Seoul

Almost every country in the world celebrates Christmas in some way, shape or form. Regardless, holiday lighting displays seems to reign supreme in every place that features this winter holiday. While no one does it quite like the USA, Canada or Europe, the Christmas lights in Seoul, South Korea are quite breathtaking in their own right.

Remember to dress warmly, I like to layer with Uniqlo heattech whenever possible, and head out to see what Christmas is like in Korea.

Find out more about the top 11 places to see Christmas lights in Seoul along with a healthy number of honorable mentions. From Lotte retail giant and several shopping malls, such as Times square, IFC and NC, to amusement parks, there are plenty of places to go to get into the holiday spirit this December in Seoul. These places go out of their way to impress and create awe-inspiring displays.

Christmas in Korea, Christmas lights in Seoul

No matter which one you view, youโ€™re sure to walk away filled with the Christmas spirit. Even if you donโ€™t like this list of places to see holiday lights, your best bet will be to visit any one of the many notorious shopping areas in Seoul.

Get ready to celebrate Christmas in Seoul:

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Shinsegae Department Store, Christmas in Korea, Christmas lights in Seoul

What to know about Christmas in Korea

To understand holiday light displays in Seoul, you have to know about how Koreans celebrate Christmas in general. Christmas in Korea is much like and echoes that of what people celebrate in the West. However, they have a slightly different take on the unfolding festivities.

While family is an important component to a Korean Christmas, itโ€™s more of a romantic holiday. Christmas is a national holiday in Korea, where people go shopping, enjoy seasonal songs and eat a grand feast. If you’re looking for Christmas markets, events, and more, check out our guide to Christmas in Seoul which covers all of the festive things to look forward to.

Korean Christmas Traditions

Koreans do some gift giving but itโ€™s not the all-out family celebration youโ€™ll find in places like the United States or Canada. Even still, they have plentitudes of things to do like sledding, ice skating, sending greeting cards to loved ones and observing holiday lights. Of all the Christmas traditions valued in Korea, viewing massive displays of glittering, twinkling lights is a top-notch priority. 


The top 11 places to see Christmas lights in Seoul

Lotte Department Store (๋กฏ๋ฐ๋ฐฑํ™”์  ๋ณธ์ )

The Lotte Department Store in the Myeondong district of Seoul is a great place to view impressive Christmas lights and decorations. This is an extension of the Lotte retail conglomerate throughout Seoul, which offer some of the most famous places for holiday illumination displays.

Every year they light up the outer portion of the building with LED snowflakes complete with a tree. A message generally splays across the tree with a projection featuring โ€œMerry Christmasโ€ or other similar slogans. However, they feature a different theme each year.

In 2021, they had a winter wonderland via โ€œChristmas in Finland,โ€ honoring the birthplace of Santa Claus. However, this year, Lotte Department Store will focus on โ€œChristmas Dream Moments.โ€ This is sure to highlight many gnomes, trolls and elves.

  • Address: 81 Namdaemun-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul (์„œ์šธ ์ค‘๊ตฌ ๋‚จ๋Œ€๋ฌธ๋กœ 81)

Shinsegae Department Store, Christmas in Korea, Christmas lights in Seoul

Shinsegae Department Store (์‹ ์„ธ๊ณ„๋ฐฑํ™”์  ๋ณธ์ )

Just a short jaunt down the street from the Lotte Department Store is the Shinesegae Department Store and their holiday lights are just as amazing. They splay the front of the store with larger-than-life decor and a breathtaking illumination display. This comes with an LED light show every 30 minutes that captures everyone’s hearts and imaginations.

What sets Shinesegae apart from others is that they want to offer shoppers more than a simple exercise in consumerism. They aim to please people with a visual and tactile experience, especially during Christmastime. Therefore, they endear native Koreans and foreigners alike with their trees, lights and traditional decorations.

  • Address: 63 Sogong-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul (์„œ์šธ ์ค‘๊ตฌ ์†Œ๊ณต๋กœ 63)

Times Square Shopping Mall (ํƒ€์ž„์Šคํ€˜์–ด)

One of the more famous and impressive lighting displays in the heart of Seoul is the Times Square Shopping Mall. Reminiscent of what you find in New York City, they decorate an enormous tree but each year they deck it out differently, albeit it stunningly.

In 2020, they featured a glamping (glamorous camping) theme, which also allowed a tour of the tree’s inside which featured mirrors and additional birch trees. Itโ€™s a very kid-friendly place, where children can let their hair down and allow their imaginations to run wild. Plus, they have great winter food selections that include themed tea.

  • Address: 15 Yeongjung-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul (์„œ์šธ ์˜๋“ฑํฌ๊ตฌ ์˜์ค‘๋กœ 15)

IFC Mall (IFC๋ชฐ)

Many people seem to favor the IFC Mallโ€™s annual holiday light display. This is one of the few malls connected to a hotel, The Conrad. The mallโ€™s inside and outside glisten with lights. Inside, they feature a chair that comes in the shape of an ornament along with a gazebo themed in a similar manner to the famous cartoon, โ€œFrozen.โ€

The entire lighting presentation is such a big deal that the mall encourages people to take pictures of it. IFC even has brochures to give tips and directions on where to take impressive and magical photos and if you post them online, they give out gift cards that can be used at the mall. So, this place is a must-see for newcomers to Seoul.

  • Address: 10 Gukjegeumyoong-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul (์„œ์šธ ์˜๋“ฑํฌ๊ตฌ ๊ตญ์ œ๊ธˆ์œต๋กœ 10)

The Hyundai Seoul (๋”ํ˜„๋Œ€ ์„œ์šธ)

A newcomer to the Christmas scenery extravaganza. The Hyundai Seoul is Korea’s first eco-friendly department store that is looking to the future with their concept that brings together nature and shopping in one massive space.

Visit twelve floors with 600 shops but don’t forget to see all of the Instagram worth shots in between, especially during the Christmas season. 

  • Address: 108 Yeongdeungpo-gu Yeouidae-ro, Seoul (์„œ์šธ์‹œ ์—ฌ์˜๋Œ€๋กœ ์˜๋“ฑํฌ๊ตฌ 108)

NC Shinguro Mall (NC ์‹ ๊ตฌ๋กœ์ ), Christmas lights in Seoul, Korea
Credit: TH Media

NC Shinguro Mall (NC ์‹ ๊ตฌ๋กœ์ )

While all of Seoulโ€™s popular lighting displays are a sight to behold, the one at NC is one of the most magical and gives other ones with global fame a run for their money. Every year they borrow dรฉcor inspiration from France but take everything over the top.

NC Outlet Mall is notorious for their hanging, or floating, trees inside the mall. There must be at least a dozen and each one comes decorated in traditional Christmas ornamentation. Whoever dreamt this up can only be described as having nothing short of sheer genius.

While the seven floors of the mall are impressive in and of itself, their yearly Christmas lighting displays are something visitors should not miss. Children and adults alike wonder in amazement at the detail and are taken with each of these floating trees.

  • Address: 152 Guro Jungang-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (์„œ์šธ ๊ตฌ๋กœ๊ตฌ ๊ตฌ๋กœ์ค‘์•™๋กœ 152)

Lotte Mall, Christmas in Korea, Christmas lights in Seoul
Photo by Seoul Metropolitan Government/Penta Press

Lotte World Mall (๋กฏ๋ฐ์›”๋“œ๋ชฐ)

Yet another stop in the lighting displays of Seoul around Christmastime is the Lotte World Mall in the popular Jamsil district of Seoul. They deck the inside and outside of this massive shopping complex in millions of lights, setups and scenes. And, much like most other malls and shopping centers, they go with a different theme each year.

One of the main attractions is their four huge cabins in the courtyard of the complex. Even the inside of the cabins have holiday decorations, lights and individual themes, which appear warm, cozy and inviting. These offer some of the best photo opportunities in Seoul during this time of year.

The inside of the mall also displays ornaments and decor that echo what you see outside in the cabins. Truly, anyone curious about Christmas lights in Korea would be remiss not to visit. The best time is in late afternoon, when all the lights come on. That is an event to witness in and of itself.

  • Address: 300 Olympic-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul (์„œ์šธ ์†กํŒŒ๊ตฌ ์˜ฌ๋ฆผํ”ฝ๋กœ 300)

Cheonggyecheon Stream (์ฒญ๊ณ„๊ด‘์žฅ)

In the heart of Seoulโ€™s downtown is Cheonggyecheon Stream, which is a river that runs 11 kilometers (just under seven miles) through the entire diameter of Seoul. Every year they begin their Seoul Light Festival here and they do it in style. They run these from the end of November to the beginning of January.

This is a great display and is sure to get anyone into the holiday spirit. Great care and detail goes into their presentation each year, complete with millions of lights and larger-than-life dioramas. This is where holiday festivities kick off and many Korean nationals wouldnโ€™t dare miss it.

  • Address: 1 Taepyeong-ro 1-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul (์„œ์šธ ์ค‘๊ตฌ ํƒœํ‰๋กœ1๊ฐ€ 1)

Starfield Library (์Šคํƒ€ํ•„๋“œ ์ฝ”์—‘์Šค๋ชฐ)

Located at the center of the COEX Mall is the Starfield Library in the Gangnam district of Seoul. Not only do they offer books in several different languages people can read for free, their holiday decorations are quite the sight. Each year they go with a different theme related to Christmas such as snowflakes and Santaโ€™s workshop.

Their Christmas trees comprise over 14,000 books with a polar bear family appearing straight out of some classic fairytale. One year, they had an 11.6 meter (about 38 feet) โ€œSnow Pavilion,โ€ which contained some 900 individual snowflakes. This is a Christmas tree made entirely out of various snowflakes, with each one intimately lit and decorated. If you’re planning to go to COEX, check out this guide to the top 10 things to do at COEX.

  • Address: 524 Bongeunsa-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul (์„œ์šธ ๊ฐ•๋‚จ๊ตฌ ๋ด‰์€์‚ฌ๋กœ 524)

Lotte World, Seoul, Korea: Korean theme park: Christmas Parade

Lotte World Tower (๋กฏ๋ฐ์›”๋“œํƒ€์›Œ) and Amusement Park (๋กฏ๋ฐ์›”๋“œ ์–ด๋“œ๋ฒค์ฒ˜)

Yet another location for Christmas light viewing in Seoul is at Lotte World. Here they have a tower and an amusement park that live for the holiday spirit and their annual displays clearly demark this notion. There are a plethora of dazzling, sparkling golden trees along with themed pop-up stores during this time of year.

They even decorate their aquarium and there’s a skating rink inside so you could see lights, ride rides, and ice skate in one day. If you want to head into Lotte Adventure Amusement Park, be sure to buy your tickets online so you can take advantage of the discounted prices.

  • Address: 300 Olympic-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul (์„œ์šธ ์†กํŒŒ๊ตฌ ์˜ฌ๋ฆผํ”ฝ๋กœ 300)
  • Book Ticket: Get your tickets online with Klook to take advantage of the online discount.

Everland Amusement Park (์—๋ฒ„๋žœ๋“œ)

For a fabulous day trip outside Seoul, Everland provides an amusement park experience only the privileged few get to see. This is one of the largest and most famous in Korea. They guarantee an amazing Christmas display, complete with fireworks and lights.

If their presentation doesnโ€™t get someone into the Christmas spirit, they truly must be a Scrooge. Everland features special markets, parades and performances along with a snow sledding ride they call the โ€œSnow Buster,โ€ which opens mid-December. Their illuminations, decorations and ornamentations are always imaginative, creative and innovative. 

  • Address: 199 Everland-ro, Pogok-eub, Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do (๊ฒฝ๊ธฐ ์šฉ์ธ์‹œ ์ฒ˜์ธ๊ตฌ ํฌ๊ณก์ ์—๋ฒ„๋žœ๋“œ๋กœ 199)
  • Book Tickets: Get your tickets online with Klook to take advantage of the online discount.
  • How To Get There: If you don’t have a car, book a ticket on a bus from Seoul in advance so it’s easy to get there from Seoul.

Hotels with beautiful Christmas displays

Looking to visit Seoul this winter? These hotels will make for the best places to spend Christmas in Seoul with their festive atmospheres and decor and winter treats.

Bar 81, Signiel Hotel, Seoul, Korea

Signiel Hotel (์‹œ๊ทธ๋‹ˆ์—˜): Signiel Hotel is located in the tallest building in Korea and boasts amazing views out over the city. They change their hotel decor regularly. Toast champagne in their champagne bar and take photos with their holiday decor. Not only does their lobby sparkle with a beautiful tree, they also offer a Christmastime-only tea to their guests, which is the toast of Seoul.

  • Address: 300 Olympic-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul (์„œ์šธ ์†กํŒŒ๊ตฌ ์˜ฌ๋ฆผํ”ฝ๋กœ 300)
  • Book a stay here to enjoy the Christmas holidays even more. Find a room on Booking.com or on Agoda.com

Imperial Palace (์ž„ํ”ผ๋ฆฌ์–ผํŒฐ๋ฆฌ์Šค): The Imperial Palace is a hotel in Seoul that also features a wonderful Christmas tree in the lobby along with themed high tea many people praise. What makes them particularly special is their Christmas village display.

  • Address: 640 Eonju-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul (์„œ์šธ ๊ฐ•๋‚จ๊ตฌ ์–ธ์ฃผ๋กœ 640)
  • Book a stay here to enjoy the Christmas holidays even more. Find a room on Booking.com or on Agoda.com
Millennium Hotel Train Set, Christmas lights in Seoul, Korea
Photo Credit: The Korea Herald

Millennium Hilton (๋ฐ€๋ ˆ๋‹ˆ์—„ ํžํŠผ): This hotel used to feature a large train set but 2023 was the last year they were displaying it. This year, we’ll just have to see what they have in store!

  • Address: 50 Sowol-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul (์„œ์šธ ์ค‘๊ตฌ ์†Œ์›”๋กœ 50)
  • Book a stay here to enjoy the Christmas holidays even more. Find a room on Booking.com or on Agoda.com

Grand Hyatt (๊ทธ๋žœ๋“œ ํ•˜์–ํŠธ): For those who love ice skating, the rink at the Grand Hyatt in Seoul is a must-see. They have trees around the rink decorated in myriads of glittering lights. What makes this such a stellar experience is how the hotelโ€™s location is on a mountain, which gives a birdโ€™s eye view of Seoul below.

  • Address: 322 Sowol-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul (์„œ์šธ ์šฉ์‚ฐ๊ตฌ ์†Œ์›”๋กœ 322)
  • Book a stay here to enjoy the Christmas holidays even more. Find a room on Booking.com or on Agoda.com

Park Hyatt (ํŒŒํฌ ํ•˜์–ํŠธ): Another Hyatt hotel in Seoul offers the best high tea specifically themed for the holidays. Since it sits next to the COEX mall, itโ€™s a great place to grab warm food and drinks after a day of ice skating at the rink. The restaurant offers amazingly beautiful views of Seoul.

  • Address: 606 Tehran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul (์„œ์šธ ๊ฐ•๋‚จ๊ตฌ ํ…Œํ—ค๋ž€๋กœ 606)
  • Book a stay here to enjoy the Christmas holidays even more. Find a room on Booking.com or on Agoda.com

Banyan Tree (๋ฐ˜์–€ํŠธ๋ฆฌ): This is a hotel in Seoul that often features a European-inspired theme for Christmas. They often do this in the form of a village along with a train for children. They offer a beautifully decorated tree as well as a Christmas Pyramid thatโ€™s worth the visit.

  • Address: 60 Jangchungdan-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul (์„œ์šธ ์ค‘๊ตฌ ์žฅ์ถฉ๋‹จ๋กœ 60)
  • Book a stay here to enjoy the Christmas holidays even more. Find a room on Booking.com or on Agoda.com

JW Marriott (JW ๋ฉ”๋ฆฌ์–ดํŠธ): Seoulโ€™s Dongdaemun Square has a Barbie convention blended with the Christmas holiday at the JW Marriot. They do this every year at the end of November/beginning of December. They offer a Barbie-themed buffet but the whole hotel spews Christmas cheer with a tree, lights and special themes.

  • Address: 279 Cheonggyecheon-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul (์„œ์šธ ์ข…๋กœ๊ตฌ ์ฒญ๊ณ„์ฒœ๋กœ 279)
  • Book a stay here to enjoy the Christmas holidays even more. If you’re a Marriott Bonvoy Member, book a stay directly on Marriott.com. Or, find a room on Booking.com or on Agoda.com

Intercontinental (์ธํ„ฐ์ปจํ‹ฐ๋„จํƒˆ ์„œ์šธ ์ฝ”์—‘์Šค): This hotel in Seoul is part of the COEX Mall. They have an enormous Christmas tree comprised entirely out of ornaments. They have cascading lights dancing above the tree and the tree itself is a giant when compared to the size of an average adult. Itโ€™s 100% free as well.

  • Address: 524 Bongeunsa-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul (์„œ์šธ ๊ฐ•๋‚จ๊ตฌ ๋ด‰์€์‚ฌ๋กœ 524)
  • Book a stay here to enjoy the Christmas holidays even more. Find a room on Booking.com or on Agoda.com

Honorable Mentions In Seoul

The list below details other fantastic spots to see wonderful holiday lights in Seoul. While they may not be the most popular, they are worth a tip of the hat as an honorable mention.

If you plan an evening out just right you can see quite a few of the spots above with a few honorable mentions in between for a great Christmas light viewing itinerary.

Seoul City Hall, Christmas lights in Seoul, Korea

Seoul City Hall Christmas Tree (์„œ์šธ๊ด‘์žฅ): Right outside the Seoul City Hall building in Seoul is the cityโ€™s all-famous annual Christmas tree lighting held at the beginning of December. This is ginormous and features a various display of the latest lighting technologies.

  • Address: 12 Euljiro, Jung-gu, Seoul (์„œ์šธ ์ค‘๊ตฌ ์„์ง€๋กœ 12)
Garden of the Morning Calm

Garden of Morning Calm Lighting Festival (์•„์นจ๊ณ ์š”์ˆ˜๋ชฉ์›): The Garden of Morning Calm has the largest herb collection in all of South Korea. It covers 82 acres and prides itself on combining all the beauty of Venice with a quaint French farm. They have an annual Christmas lighting event that uses various colors to harmonize for the holidays.

  • Address: 432 Sumokwon-ro, Sangmyeon, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do (๊ฒฝ๊ธฐ ๊ฐ€ํ‰๊ตฐ ์ƒ๋ฉด ์ˆ˜๋ชฉ์›๋กœ 432)
  • Book Tickets: Get tickets to join a tour that will take you out to Garden of the Morning Calm and includes a fun snowy adventure too. Book the trip on Klook.

COEX Mall Skating Rink: The Starfield Library at the COEX Mall generally steals the show, but their outdoor skating rink is nothing to sneeze at. For a mere โ‚ฉ5,000 ($3.75 USD), you can rent equipment and skates. Stay as long as you like and enjoy their impressive illumination and decorations for the holidays.

  • Address: 524 Bongeunsa-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul (์„œ์šธ ๊ฐ•๋‚จ๊ตฌ ๋ด‰์€์‚ฌ๋กœ 524)

Christmas decorations, Incheon International Airport, Incheon, Korea

Incheon International Airport (์ธ์ฒœ๊ตญ์ œ๊ณตํ•ญ)

If you’ll be traveling for the holidays or headed into Korea for your holidays, be on the lookout at Incheon Airport for some picturesque installations as well.

  • Address: 272 Gonghang-ro, Jung-gu, Incheon (์ธ์ฒœ์‹œ ์ค‘๊ตฌ ๊ณตํ•ญ๋กœ 272)

Even though the list above is very exhaustive, it is hardly comprehensive. There are literally thousands of places to view Christmas lights in Korea. Itโ€™s just that these are the most famous and notorious of their kind in Seoul. Almost any mall, hotel or public space will have an impressive, cute and beautiful lighting display for Christmas.

While Christmas in Seoul is nothing like what you find in London, NYC, Munich or Paris, it is wonderful in its way. Many foreigners living in Seoul find their lighting displays a comfort when longing for the experiences they had back home as a child. Regardless, Seoul presents a lighting display that definitely makes the West blush.

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This post was contributed by The Korean Guide

The Korean Guide

Hey Iโ€™m Jason, a Korean travel blogger. I blog on TheKoreanGuide.com and love to write about anything related to Korea. In my free time, I watch Korean dramas and eat tteokbokki or instant ramen.

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