Insadong

Insadong is a 600-year-old arts district in Jongno-gu with more than 100 galleries, traditional tea houses and craft workshops. Its streets are pedestrian-only and turn into markets on weekends, with street performers, fortune tellers and hotteok pancake vendors. Shops sell hanji paper, mother-of-pearl jewelry boxes, custom calligraphy brushes and ceramics made in small workshops. In the narrow alleys off the main street there are tea rooms in hanok courtyards and hands-on craft classes, and Ssamziegil, a spiral-shaped complex, holds more than 70 craft shops.