Hanam Day Trip: Starfield, Misa Rowing Park & Baekje Hills

Ride Seoul Subway Line 5 east to the very last stop and you are in Hanam, a city of about 330,000 that most visitors know only as “the place with the giant Starfield mall.” The name says something older. Hanam means “south of the Han,” and the city has spent decades arguing that it was the site of Wiryeseong, the first royal city of the Baekje kingdom, two thousand years ago.

Between those two ideas — a mega-mall and an ancient capital that may or may not have been here — sit a 2 km Olympic rowing lake, a granite fortress on a 210-meter hill, a riverside that was Seoul’s live-music café strip in the 1990s, and a market district where the arrowroot-noodle shops are older than the apartment towers around them.

How do you get to Hanam from Seoul?

By Line 5 — its eastern branch ends in Hanam, and the city’s four stations sit close to the main sights. The Hanam extension opened in two steps: Misa and Hanam Pungsan in August 2020, then Hanam City Hall and Hanam Geomdansan in March 2021.

The one catch: Line 5 splits at Gangdong. Trains from central Seoul alternate between the Hanam branch and the Macheon branch, so check the destination board for 하남검단산 Hanam Geomdansan. If you land on a Macheon train, get off at Gangdong and wait for the next Hanam one.

🚇 Line 5 from Gwanghwamun to Hanam (stop counts from the Line 5 route)

Get off at	Stops from Gwanghwamun	For	Notes
Misa	22	Misa riverside, the rowing park	Board a Hanam Geomdansan train; change at Gangdong if yours goes to Macheon
Hanam Pungsan	23	Starfield Hanam, Union Tower	The mall and the tower sit side by side on Misa-daero; a short bus or taxi from the station
Hanam City Hall	24	Deokpung and Sinjang markets, old-town food	The old center of Hanam, before the new towns
Hanam Geomdansan	25	Geomdansan trailhead, Changu-dong restaurants	End of the line

Allow about an hour from Gwanghwamun. From Jamsil, take Line 8 and change to Line 5 at Cheonho. Iseongsanseong and the Chungung-dong temple site are south of the subway line; a taxi from Hanam City Hall Station is the simplest way to the trailhead.

What is Hanam known for?

Three things, in this order of age: Three Kingdoms-era ruins, the 1980s Olympic rowing course, and post-2016 new-town shopping.

The Baekje claim is not just tourism branding. In August 2025, a Hanam City Council research group toured the UNESCO-listed Baekje sites in Buyeo and Gongju to study how to preserve Hanam’s own Baekje-era remains, naming Iseongsanseong, the Cheonwangsa temple site and Dongsaji as the key ones. For the Seoul bank of the same Three Kingdoms story, see our Gwangjang-dong and Gwangnaru history guide.

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What should you see in Hanam?

Start at the river, then pick either the history hills or the mall. All five places below are free to enter except Aquafield inside Starfield.

Misa Gyeongjeong Park — The rowing lake is roughly 2 km long and arrow-straight, built for the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Olympics. Today joggers, families and rowing crews share it, and on race days it is also Korea’s motorboat-racing venue (경정 gyeongjeong, a betting sport run by the national sports promotion agency). Hanam’s city council voted in June 2025 to ask for the racing to be moved out so the whole site can become a park; for now the races continue. The road along the river here was Seoul’s famous 미사리 카페촌 Misari café village of the 1990s, where singers did live sets in roadside cafés. A few places still advertise live music.

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Iseongsanseong — The best free history walk east of Seoul. The fortress encloses a whole valley on top of Iseongsan, and the wall runs about 1,925 m around, 4–5 m high in places, built from granite dressed into small blocks that Korean guides compare to corn kernels. In autumn the city holds the Iseongsanseong Culture Festival here and at the nearby Gwangju Hyanggyo, the old Confucian school.

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Dongsaji temple site — Just south of the fortress, in Chungung-dong. Nothing of the temple survives except two pagodas: a five-story one about 7.7 m tall and a smaller three-story one, standing side by side east of where the main hall was. Roof tiles found here in 1983 carried the name 桐寺 Dongsa, which is how the site got its name. Combine it with Iseongsanseong; a loop of both with a tea stop is a half day.

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Starfield Hanam — Opened in September 2016 by Shinsegae, it is still one of the biggest shopping malls in Korea: a department store, an E-Mart Traders warehouse store, two food halls and Aquafield, an indoor-outdoor water park with a jjimjilbang-style spa on the third floor. On a rainy or freezing day this is where Hanam families go.

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Hanam Union Tower — Next to Starfield, on Misa-daero. Hanam put its waste and sewage plants underground in a complex completed in 2015 and built a 105 m tower on top, with a free observation deck looking over the Han, Geomdansan and Yebongsan. On January 1, 2026 the city opened it at 07:00 for the sunrise.

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Geomdansan — At 657 m, the mountain that rises behind the Line 5 terminus. Trails start a few minutes’ walk from Hanam Geomdansan Station, and the top looks down on the confluence area at Paldang. It is a real climb, steep in the upper half; plan a half day and carry water.

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🎫 Visitor information (Starfield official site; Korea Tourism Organization data; Union Tower per visitor posts, Sep 2026)

Place	Hours	Closed	Admission
Starfield Hanam (mall)	10:00–22:00; department store 11:00–21:00	Open every day	Free; Aquafield ticketed
Aquafield Hanam	Indoor water park 10:00–19:00; spa 10:00–20:00	—	Ticketed
Misa Gyeongjeong Park	On foot/bike 05:00–20:00; cars 06:00–20:00	Open year-round	Free; bikes from 4,000 won/hour (09:00–18:00)
Hanam Union Tower	09:00–21:00 (last entry 20:30)	Mondays	Free
Iseongsanseong / Dongsaji	Open grounds	—	Free

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Where do locals eat in Hanam?

In the old town around Hanam City Hall Station, not in the new towns. Before Misa and Wirye filled with apartment blocks, Hanam’s life ran through Sinjang and Deokpung, two market districts a few minutes apart. The list below draws on a 2026 Gyeonggi local-curator project that asked Hanam residents for their long-running neighborhood shops, cross-checked against 2025–2026 visitor posts. Prices are from those posts.

One famous name is missing on purpose. Mabangjip, the set-meal house that began as a roadside inn and stable around 1920 in Cheonhyeon-dong, moved in April 2025 to a new hanok building in Eommi-ri, about 7 km away across the line in Gwangju, after its old site was taken into a new-town development. It now belongs in our Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do guide.

Deokpunggol Chik-naengmyeon (Suri-namro 5beon-gil 21, Deokpung-dong) — Arrowroot (chik) noodles are darker and chewier than buckwheat ones, and they are Hanam’s cold-noodle style. This small shop near Deokpung Market is half restaurant, half workshop: the owner is a master maker of 복조리 bokjori, the woven bamboo rice-scoops Koreans hang up for luck at the New Year, and his work covers the walls. Arrowroot naengmyeon and bibim-naengmyeon were 10,000 won each in September 2026.

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Somunnan Son-kalguksu (Sinjang Market alley, Sinjang-dong) — A roughly 40-year-old noodle counter that opens at 07:00 for market traders. The broth is mild; heat comes from a chili paste aged for a year that you stir in yourself, and the kimchi is mixed fresh twice a day. Recent posts list hours of 07:00–20:00, closed Wednesdays.

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Wonjo Paldang Kaljebi-jip (Geomdansan-ro 348, 2nd floor, Changu-dong) — The post-hike lunch at the foot of Geomdansan. Kaljebi is two noodle dishes in one pot: hand-cut kalguksu and torn-dough sujebi, in a mild or spicy broth, from 10,000 won. Weekend queues can be long. Posts from October 2026 give hours of 10:30–22:00.

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Gangbyeon Son-dubu (Misa-dong-ro 105-1, Misa-dong) — “Riverside handmade tofu,” a few minutes from the rowing park. Red and white soft-tofu stew, cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew) and tofu with kimchi; weekday lunches fill up. October 2026 posts list 07:30–20:30 with a 16:00–17:00 break, closed Mondays.

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Paldang Naengmyeon, Chungung-dong (Chungung-dong) — The sign says head branch; Naver lists it as the Chungung-dong branch. Known for properly spicy cold noodles (a mild version exists) and for doubling as a Chinese restaurant, with a big yard for parking. It is the closest of these to Iseongsanseong and Dongsaji. Naengmyeon was 10,000 won in recent posts; hours 10:30–21:30, self-order kiosk.

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🍽️ Hanam local eats at a glance (2025–2026 visitor posts, accessed 2026-10)

Place	Area	Order	Price guide	Good with
Deokpunggol Chik-naengmyeon	Deokpung-dong	Arrowroot naengmyeon	10,000 won	Hanam City Hall Station walk
Yucheon Chik-naengmyeon	Deokpung-dong	Spicy mul-naengmyeon, potato pancake	10,000 won	An old house turned noodle shop; free parking
Somunnan Son-kalguksu	Sinjang Market	Kalguksu with aged chili paste	—	Early breakfast; closed Wed
Wonjo Paldang Kaljebi-jip	Changu-dong	Kaljebi	From 10,000 won	Geomdansan hike
Gangbyeon Son-dubu	Misa-dong	Soft-tofu stew, cheonggukjang	—	Rowing park; closed Mon
Paldang Naengmyeon Chungung-dong	Chungung-dong	Spicy naengmyeon	10,000 won	Iseongsanseong, Dongsaji

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What does a day in Hanam look like?

River in the morning, history or shopping in the afternoon. The two halves of Hanam are a 15-minute taxi apart, so pick one afternoon option rather than both.

• 09:30 — Misa Station. Walk or take a short taxi to Misa Gyeongjeong Park; rent a bike (the counter runs 09:00–18:00) and ride part of the lake loop.
• 11:30 — Early lunch at Gangbyeon Son-dubu in Misa-dong (closed Mondays).
• 13:00 — Option A, history: taxi to Chungung-dong, see the Dongsaji pagodas, then walk up to the Iseongsanseong walls (about 2 hours with the wall loop). Naengmyeon at Paldang Naengmyeon on the way down.
• 13:00 — Option B, indoors: Starfield Hanam and Aquafield, then the free Union Tower observatory next door before 20:30.
• 18:00 — Old town dinner near Hanam City Hall Station: arrowroot naengmyeon in Deokpung, or market snacks around Sinjang, then Line 5 back to Seoul.