Lit up at the spectacular Lantern Festival, Seoul

The Seoul Lantern Festival was of the main reasons we wanted to come to Seoul. And it exceeded expectations spectacularly. I absolutely loved it.

The Lantern Festival is set up along Cheonggyechoen-ro, which used to be an underpass for traffic. Happily, the city of Seoul has transformed it into a strolling park, with a stream running down the middle and a footpath either side. Every so often it is landscaped with a small bridge or stepping stones across the stream. So even without the lantern festival it would be a nice place to have a walk. But of course the Lantern festival makes it incredible! The amazing handmade paper Lanterns are placed down the middle of the stream, on small platforms.

I was so delighted by the lanterns – it was the happiest I have been for ages! They were also giving out red balloons with lights in them, so I was like a big kid with a cool balloon! We took one of the stairs to exit and went to a cafe overlooking the stream for a while to warm up with a coffee.