I typically like to arrange for an afternoon trip to Insadong after visiting Gyeongbokgung Palace or Bukchon Hanok Village, followed by lunch at Tosokchon Samgyetang.

You can have afternoon tea at one of the traditional teahouses in Insadong, followed by a trip to Ssamzigil!

It’s hard to miss Ssamzigil when the open-air mall is always so colourfully decorated! Depending on the season and time you visit, the decorations will usually be different.

This gorgeous flower display was in the summer of 2017:

Christmas display in 2018:

And this was in the autumn of 2022!

As you can tell from the photos, Sssamzigil is not quite a typical shopping mall. I would say it leans towards a public craft market, a little like weekend popup events & spaces!

Most of the tenants here are permanent craft shops as I’ve seen them around throughout the years. There are, however, the occasional popup stalls in the event space on the ground floor.

You can find almost any type of craft here. These include handmade skin & body care, personalised bags, caricature drawings, and even pet supplies!

Personally, I find that the creative industry in Seoul is quite vibrant. If you have a keen interest like me, you’ll find that most of them will gather in Ssamzigil to sell their crafts.

One of my favourite shops is this one that customises items such as postcards, keychains, magnets with paintings of you & your loved ones! The artist does it on the spot so you may need to give them some time to work on their craft, but it makes for such a meaningful & affordable souvenir!

Unfortunately I didn’t have enough time to spare in Ssamzigil during this trip, so I settled for purchasing some ready-made postcards with inspirational quotes.

On another trip, I found this shop that does iron-ons for keychains, bags, pouches etc. Thought it would be quite cute to make some name straps to hang on bags, so I went in and got these done under an hour!

They have a huge variety of iron-ons for you to choose from, and they charge per iron-on picked. They do sell the iron-ons by themselves if you rather bring them home to iron on other items.

There are a few F&B establishments around Ssamzigil, the most famous is probably the Poop Cafe. I didn’t visit because, well, no interest in such a themed cafe, but worth checking out for the lols.

If you’re thinking of buying back traditional Korean sweets & snacks, Ssamzigil is also a good place to check them out.

There are a few shops here (and generally around the Insadong area) selling rice cakes, yakgwa (honey cookies) etc. Prices fluctuate depending on whether you’re buying for personal consumption or gifting. The latter will certainly be more expensive due to exquisite packaging.

I personally really enjoy coming to Ssamzigil for craft shopping, but if that’s not really your thing, you may find this place a tad boring. It’s still worth a visit though, especially if you’re already in Insadong!

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DIRECTIONS

Address: 44 Insadong-gil, Jongno District, Seoul, South Korea

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