igoiseeishoot: Autumn in Garosu-gil

8 November 2014

Located between Sinsa-dong and Apgujeong, Garosu-gil, which means “tree-lined street” in Korean, is a good place for viewing the autumn foliage in Korea and it was our first destination for the day.

Earlier, we had arrived at Inchon Airport after taking the red-eye flight from Singapore, travelled by limousine bus 6703 to Seoul Palace Hotel where we were able to get an earlier than usual check-in. On the way to the hotel, we were relieved to spot red and yellow foliage on some of the road-side trees, although we also spotted bare trees.

Getting to Garosu-gil in Sinsa-dong was easy; using the Seoul subway, T-money card and the handy Jihachul Seoul Subway smartphone app which supports English language. The nearest station to Garosu-gil is the Sinsa station.
Map of Garosu-gil posted at the exit of the Sinsa Station. It is a good practice to snap a photo of the area map on our smartphone. Who knows, it may come in handy later on.

Once we arrived at Garosu-gil, we spotted a trio of tourist ambassadors, dressed in red, standing at a street corner. We got an area map from them, plus information of where to find a Korean restaurant for lunch.

Garosu-gil is full of trendy, themed cafes, fashion shops, but not many restaurants for a proper sit down meal. So we backtracked a little towards the Sinsa station and found a nondescript Korean restaurant for our first Korean meal in this trip. The portions were for 3 persons, so we had a pretty filling lunch between the two of us.

With the basic needs fulfilled, we went back to the “tree lined street” and enjoy the views of the yellow ginkgo trees lining the shopping street.

Amber traffics lights in sync with the leaves.

Fan shaped leaf of the ginkgo trees. The leaves turn bright yellow in autumn before shedding. A lot of the leaves were just turning yellow at Garosugil.

Marketing and promotion event happening.

Some of the buildings facade are modelled after european themes. This building spot the familiar looks of the old buildings of the Cotswolds in England.

The street is lined with fashion boutiques, some pretty high end stuff and loads of themed cafe.

Many themed cafes on the street. This one called the Ginkgo Avenue is apt for this place.

What’s with these pigs?

The street was lined with fashion boutiques, some pretty high end stuff and loads of themed cafe. Unfortunately, the shops were displaying mostly autumn and winter wear at this time of year and we have no need for such clothes back home. Still it was good to take our time to stroll down the street, enjoy the cool weather and browse through the hip and arty shops and cafes.