Starbucks DMZ with North Korea View: Seoul tour

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Free cancellationExcellent quality

1/13

Duration5h

GroupUp to 100

LanguagesEN · ZH +1

Mobile ticketAccepted

You can drink coffee while looking at North Korea through a telescope.

This guided tour from Seoul takes you to Aegibong Peace Ecopark in Gimpo, where a Starbucks sits just 1.4 km from the North Korean border. The route crosses a suspension bridge, passes through the Peace Eco Exhibition Hall, and ends at Jogang Observatory—also called the Starbucks Observatory—where you can use a free telescope to view North Korean territory across the river. The tour runs five hours with hotel pickup and an expert guide in English, Chinese or Japanese; lunch is available as an add-on option, and hotel drop-off can be selected for the full-day version.

Step-by-step itinerary

Visit Aegibong Observatory and Surroundings

Drive to Gimpo city
Cross the suspension bridge
Visit Peace Eco Exhibition Hall
Enjoy coffee at Starbucks Observatory
Use telescope to view North Korea
Drive back to Seoul
Drop off at city hall

The Experience

You start from your Seoul hotel, picked up by a comfortable air-conditioned coach with a live guide. The drive takes you north to Gimpo city and Aegibong Peace Ecopark, an old observatory that has been converted into an ecological park. On the way in, you cross a suspension bridge—the entry point to the park itself and the moment the landscape shifts toward the border.

Once inside, you visit the Peace Eco Exhibition Hall, where the focus is on peace, ecology and local history. The exhibition covers Korean history, information about North Korea, and stories specific to the region. Then you reach Jogang Observatory, where the Starbucks opened and turned this spot into an unexpected travel destination. You can order a coffee or tea and stand on the observation deck looking across the Imjin River toward North Korean land. Free telescopes are mounted there—the detail that makes the view concrete instead of distant. The best visibility is during harvest season, when the fields across the border are clearest. After this, the tour makes its way back to Seoul, with drop-off at City Hall or your hotel if you've selected that option.

A valid passport is required the day of travel. The tour operates with a minimum of two adults for the afternoon departure. Note that if any part of the itinerary is cancelled due to unexpected military conditions or local circumstances, there is no refund—a reality of touring this close to a border.

What’s included

Transport by air-conditioned coach.
expert guide in English, Chinese or Japanese.
entry to Aegibong Peace Ecopark and the Peace Eco Exhibition Hall.
access to Jogang Observatory and its free telescopes.
hotel pickup.
lunch (if selected at checkout).
hotel drop-off (if selected at checkout).

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearbyNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problemsInfants must sit on laps

Operated by SEOUL CITY TOUR CO. LTD.

Is this one for you?Book this tour if you have a free afternoon in Seoul and want to see something most visitors never reach—the only Starbucks with a view of North Korea, and the border itself through a telescope. The fixed five-hour schedule and included guide mean you don't arrange transport or navigate the border zone on your own.