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K-Food - A Day Around a Cafe

Yeonnam-dong Cafe Day 2026: Coffee Near Gajwa Station, Then a Walk to Hongdae on the Gyeongui Line Trail

Kim Taecheol, ReporterPublished KST
✓ Verified 2026-10-23 · against official sourcesOriginal source ↗A daily paper for first-time visitors to Korea · every morning · Korean · English · Japanese · Chinese
Photo: Gyeongui Line Forest Trail, a stretch that preserves the old railway tracks · Korea Tourism Organization (KOGL Type 1)

Bottom line: Start your day in Yeonnam-dong at Seodanggae 2 Years Roasters, about a 10-minute walk from Exit 4 of Gajwa Station (Gyeongui-Jungang Line). It opens at 10 a.m., early for a warehouse-sized roastery cafe, so after your coffee you can walk the Gyeongui Line Forest Trail all the way down to the lively heart of Yeonnam-dong and still have a full day ahead of you.

If you didn't know: Many large warehouse-style cafes don't open until after 11 a.m. Head to a famous one without checking first and you could find it still closed, burning nearly an hour standing outside. Drive instead, and there's no dedicated parking lot, so you may lose even more time hunting for a paid public or private lot nearby.

At a glance

Seodanggae 2 Years Roasters, 129-6 Donggyo-ro 51-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul (floors 1-4) · Transit about a 10-minute walk from Gajwa Station (Gyeongui-Jungang Line) Exit 4; no dedicated parking (use a nearby paid lot) · Hours reported as 10:00-24:00, last order 23:00 · Pet-friendly · From here, walk the Gyeongui Line Forest Trail to reach Yeonnam-dong near Hongik University Station Exit 3, where you can catch Line 2, the Airport Railroad or the Gyeongui-Jungang Line home.

The smell of roasting coffee fills the whole building, starting from the roasting space on the first floor. Grab a seat by the floor-to-ceiling windows and let the afternoon light do the work — you don't need a plan for the next hour, just the view outside. Once you've finished your coffee, step onto the Gyeongui Line Forest Trail, a former rail line turned park that runs from near Gajwa Station through Yeonnam-dong toward Sinchon. Benches and small groves appear along the way, good spots to rest. Follow the trail toward Yeonnam-dong and you'll reach Dongjin Market and the shopping alleys around it, where the path opens into a dense strip of boutiques and restaurants. Hongik University Station Exit 3 sits right at the end of this stretch, making it easy to wrap up the day and head home by subway.

Journey stage: ④During the trip · Verified 2026-10-23 · Source Cafe profile coverage (Esquire Korea and others), Seoul city parks data

Source · how this was written — Written by the Korea Tourism Times editorial desk. Sources: cafe profile coverage, Seoul city parks data · Original sourceone source — not cross-checked
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