Lotte World Tower – Aquarium, Skydeck, Theme Park and More!
The Lotte Tower complex in Jamsil is one of the more interesting places in Seoul. With attractions varying from the best view in Korea, to an indoor theme park, there’s a lot to see and do here.
Lotte Tower (롯데월드타워) is the tallest building in the OECD, coming in at 555 metres tall. Only 4 buildings in the whole world surpass the height of Lotte Tower, and this makes it a place with an amazing view.
The tower is located in Jamsil, Seoul, and contains a mall (롯데월드몰), an aquarium (롯데월드 아쿠아리움), a sky deck, and a whole host of other attractions. Further, it is right next to Lotte World (롯데월드, one of Seoul’s ‘big three’ theme parks).
The tower itself is easy to access from Jamsil subway station (잠실역) and you won’t even need to set foot outside of the station to reach the tower. Lotte World is also easily accessible from the station and both are well labelled and easy to reach as all of the signage will be in English as well as Korean.
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How to Get to Lotte World Tower
Lotte World is very easy to reach, and this is partly what makes it so popular. Lotte Tower and Lotte World are located both right next to each other. As such, they are great to do on the same day!
Lotte World Tower is located at Jamsil Station on the green line (line 2). Jamsil is found on the eastern side of the green line, just to the south of the Han River. While Jamsil itself is a little out of the way, line 2 can take you virtually anywhere in the central city. This means that it is easy to travel both to and from.
Once you reach Jamsil Station, you can’t miss Lotte World Tower. This is due to the fact that the metro station is actually built into the basement of the tower itself! Once you reach the station, you will find clear signposts (in English) telling you exactly where to go for each attraction.
If you are worried about using public transport in Seoul, don’t worry. It’s exceptionally easy to use! I recently wrote a full guide covering everything that you need to know about public transport in Seoul and it covers all of the basics from etiquette to navigation.
Lotte World Ticket Price
Probably the question that most people are looking for an answer to! How much do Lotte World Tickets Cost?
These are the prices that you will pay if you purchase tickets at the door or from the official Lotte websites.
Lotte World (Theme Park) – Adults 57,000 KRW, youth 50,000, children 46,000. Tickets are cheaper after 4 pm. Updated ticket prices.
Lotte World Tower – Adults 27,000KRW, children 24,000. Fast passes can also be bought for 50,000. These will allow you to skip the lines. Book tickets.
Lotte World Aquarium – Adults 31,000KRW, children 27,000. Prices can be checked here.
Lotte World Ticket Discounts
If you visit the tower (and can prove you have the ticket) you will receive 30% off for the aquarium. However, there are a lot of other discounts!
Save 40% on all Lotte World attractions – Lotte World Tower, Lotte World, and Lotte World Aquarium. Save 40% with Voyagin. If you purchase the magic pass you can even skip the lines!
Lotte World 1 Day Pass from 32,000KRW – Save 25,000 with this deal from Klook.
Lotte World 1 Day Pass 45% Off (31,500KRW) – Save 45% and skip the queues with the ticket from Trazy.
Lotte World 1 Day Pass + Aquarium – Save 43% on Lotte World the Lotte World Aquarium. Get tickets here.
Lotte World Tower Discount Tickets – Get tickets for as low as 22,000KRW. Klook. Trazy.
Lotte World Opening Hours
Lotte World itself has varying hours depending on the day and time of year. However, typically it is open from 9:30 am – 10 pm. On Friday and Saturday, the theme park will close at 11 pm. This official Lotte World page shows updated hours.
Seoul Sky (Lotte World Tower) has very similar hours. Opening at 10 am, the tower closes at 10 pm Sunday-Thursday, and 11 pm on Friday and Saturday. On holidays it is also open until 11 pm. Updated hours.
Lotte World Aquarium is open from 10 am to 10 pm. This may change on special holidays but otherwise is the same regardless of the day. Operating hours.
General Information
Depending on the day, the tower will be very busy and it is advisable to either book tickets in advance online, or go there with the intention of looking around the nearby area for a few hours while waiting.
It will cost you 27,000KRW per adult and 23,000KRW per child (under 13) for a trip to the top of the tower. Depending on the day, it may also take up to a couple of hours to make it through the queues.
However, at this time there is a lot to do nearby. Whether or not you want to leave the Lotte Complex, you will find a lot to do and see. Inside the mall are large food courts, lots of shopping, and even an indoor aquarium.
The aquarium will set you back 31,000KRW per adult and 27,000 per child. However, if you want to visit the tower also, you can get 30% off the aquarium price. If you are interested in visiting both attractions, make sure to purchase a tower ticket first so you can show it to the aquarium staff for your discount.
Lotte World is also nearby and is somewhere you could easily spend a whole day. Tickets can be purchased at the entrance for 57,000. However, it is easy to get discounted tickets if you search around. The websites above offer tickets for as low as 32,000!
Lotte World Tower Highlights
The Lotte World Tower complex is very big and holds a lot of attractions. The mall alone covers many different floors and has a whole range of attractions – and that’s not even considering the theme park, aquarium and skydeck.
Many people will visit Lotte World Tower just for the shopping. If this sounds like you, there are a few things to keep in mind. Lotte World Mall is generally one of the busier malls in Seoul and it’s also one of the more expensive.
Other than the shopping, the Lotte complex offers a lot. The theme park is my personal favourite in Korea due to the fact that it is both indoors and outdoors, the skydeck has absolutely stunning views, and the aquarium is one of the biggest and most diverse around.
I will cover each of the main attractions in this post. However, it is worth keeping in mind that the mall also offers a lot more. I highly recommend checking out the official website before visiting, as you never know what you might come across.
Lotte World Theme Park
The theme park is half located inside, and as such, it is perfect in winter or summer.
Lotte World Theme Park has a whole host of different attractions of all kinds. The theme park has both indoor and outdoor locations which make it perfect for any weather and any season. The outdoor and indoor areas can be freely entered and exited and this is one of my personal favourite parts of the park.
Both indoor and outdoor areas have a variety of rides, food, and stores. This means that the park is quite large and if you want to do all (or even just most) of the rides you can easily spend a whole day there. Due to Seoul’s extreme weather variation, the outdoor part of the park may be inaccessible or just unpleasant at times. Especially during winter when the temperatures can drop to -20.
Luckily, the indoor park is always open. The indoor area houses most of the rides as well as a few different roller coasters. Meaning that even if the weather is terrible, Lotte World can be a lot of fun. The indoor park is the main attraction and the outdoor area feels like it is just a bonus as it has a few extra rides and attractions.
All of the rides are covered in the entrance fee. However, food, souvenirs, and some of the other attractions are an added cost. None of these is essential, however, and it is possible to get away without spending too much. You are also allowed to bring food in provided that you stick to the designated eating areas.
A parade in Lotte World.
Lotte World also has a large variety of roller coasters that vary in size, speed, and… reality (there is a VR rollercoaster). Nearly all of the roller coasters and other rides have a height limit that is strictly enforced. These restrictions vary from 100cm to 140cm (I believe anyone over 140cm can do every ride). An age limit of 10 years old is also in place on some of the rides.
From experience, these rules ARE enforced. My brother was rejected from rides for being only a centimetre under the height requirement.
As with most big theme parks, Lotte World suffers one big issue. That is crowds. Pick the day that you visit wisely as it can really make or break the experience.
I first went to Lotte World on December 26th 2016. Big mistake. One of the keys to having a great time at any theme park is picking the right time to visit (you can see the busiest times on the right), and that means not picking what is probably one of the busiest days of the year for visiting.
It is important to buy the tickets for a good time, and that means some planning. If possible, do not buy tickets for weekends, public holidays, or school vacations (which you can find a list of here). Obviously, sometimes you can’t plan the perfect visit though. I would still recommend visiting, however, as the atmosphere is totally worth it. Just avoid the busiest times if you can.
Lotte World is like… A whole different world!
By far my favourite part of the park is the atmosphere. I haven’t visited many theme parks, but I have been to Disney Land in Paris, and a couple of theme parks in the US. However, none of them amazed me (even when I was 6!) like Lotte World did. Something about an indoor theme park is truly amazing.
It feels like a whole fantasy world! They will even let off fireworks indoors if you visit at the right times! I was very impressed with how they managed to totally convert this building into a magical fantasy world. My pictures can’t really do it justice, but I have tried to convey the feeling!
Lotte World Ice Rink
The view from the indoor ‘hot-air’ balloons is like that of a fantasy world!
The theme park also has an ice skating rink (롯데월드 아이스링크). It isn’t included in the theme park itself, but it is very close and can easily be done on the same day.
It does, however, have a further cost of about 20,000KRW attached to it (including the hiring of gear). By far the coolest part of the rink is that it forms the centre of the whole indoor section of the theme park.
The ice rink is a great way to relax after Lotte World. There are generally no queues for the skating and the rink itself is of great quality. However, it suffers the same issues as Lotte World. That is to say, it can be extremely busy at times. Unfortunately, this means that the skating conditions can be less than ideal at times.
If you can find a time where it isn’t as busy though, you can have a great time!
Lotte World Aquarium
Stingrays are definitely one of my favourite ocean creatures!
The aquarium is large and includes a wide variety of marine life. They even have a beluga whale! The aquarium itself spans multiple stories and there are some very cool sights to behold inside. While I haven’t visited many aquariums of this size, I must say that I really enjoyed Lotte World Aquarium.
Not only due to the fact that it had some amazing animals, but it was well designed, interesting, and just all-around good. The aquarium has an amazing variety of different creatures and it is fantastic – especially if you are visiting with children.
Both of the times that I have visited haven’t been overly busy, and it makes the experience far more enjoyable.
One of my favourite sea animals!
While the aquarium isn’t for everyone, it is a great place to visit. Especially if you are already visiting Lotte World Tower. If you present your (tower) ticket when purchasing the ticket for the aquarium you will get a 30% discount.
It is worth noting however that this doesn’t work the opposite way. It may have changed now, but when I visited you had to purchase the Lotte World Tower ticket first. This ticket will allow you to get a discount on the aquarium ticket – not vice-versa.
They even had a beluga!
The variety of animals at the aquarium is astounding. The area is divided into nine sub-areas. These are the Nature Zone, Tropical Rivers, Amazon River, Sea Line Zone, The Ocean, Beluga Zone, Coral Reef Garden, Play Ocean, and the Polar Region Zone.
The Nature Zone is a collection of smaller tanks and exhibits containing many (smaller) fish and aquatic life. The Play Ocean area is dedicated to giving visitors a place to closely view, and sometimes touch, the wildlife. This is a hands-on area and is great for children.
The rest of the areas mostly explain themselves. However, some of the most popular animals are penguins, crocodiles, belugas, and piranhas. But of course, there is so much more!
However, if you aren’t interested in the aquarium you can always just look around the mall. The mall is gigantic and can easily keep one entertained for a long time! For more information on the exact stores located inside, feel free to have a look at the official website here.
Lotte World Tower
If you are scared of heights then the sky-deck might not be for you, but it is a breathtaking view!
The views from the Lotte World Observation Deck are staggering and amazing. Unfortunately, they were also a little bit disappointing for me.
Visiting the tower is a truly amazing sight. Everything else is just so small! Even the buildings that are 100+ metres tall look tiny from Lotte Tower. It really is a breathtaking view.
The source of my disappointment was caused because I visited with the intention of taking photos. While this is possible, the true scale of the tower and the city below makes the photos look underwhelming. Simply due to how tall Lotte Tower is, it’s hard to take pictures of the amazing scene below that convey the perspective that you get from Seoul Sky.
Sunset from Lotte Tower.
This was just my experience though. I still had a wonderful time, but I enjoyed just looking rather than photographing. This is something for photographers to keep in mind, however. If you are looking to take some stunning city photos there are a lot of other great locations.
After being initially disappointed at the tower being too tall, however, I was pleasantly surprised. The view is almost unbelievable! I don’t know how we ever got to such a level of engineering to allow us to build structures like this. You can easily see the whole central area of Seoul!
However, a word of warning: Make sure to check the weather (and air pollution) before visiting as this will greatly change what you see when you get up the tower.
Sunset is a fantastic time to visit as you can see the city not only in the light but also under the colourful skies and then under darkness. You can learn how to identify a good sunset viewing day. Due to the queues, make sure to visit a few hours in advance of when you want to be at the top of the tower.
The tower is almost too high to see the city below!
Other than that I can’t really say much. Lotte Tower is a big building and the view is quite stunning. If you are scared of heights this might not be for you, but otherwise, I would recommend this to everyone!
Advice for Photographers
If you are intending to visit Seoul Sky to take some photos, then I have a few pieces of advice.
Make sure to bring a lens hood. When you are shooting through glass always make sure that you have a lens hood. This will prevent the glass from reflecting (or at least minimise reflections). Further, if you have one, try to bring a full lens cap rather than a flower lens hood. Lens hoods like these ones are best.
If you have a small tripod, it’s ideal for Lotte Tower. While there are a few open areas in Seoul Sky, there are also a few narrow areas. Some of the best views are in these areas. As such, it’s hard to set up a full-size tripod and you will find yourself constantly moving it to let people pass. For this reason, bring a small tripod if you have one. Something like the Manfrotto BeFree or Pixi.
Bring a long lens. While this may seem obvious, it is worth pointing out. I generally use wide lenses for cityscapes as that is my personal preference. However, for the reason above (the tower is just so tall!), I highly recommend bringing a zoom lens to Lotte Tower. It will allow you to catch details you would otherwise miss.
Should You Visit Lotte World Tower?
Even if none of the above activities interests you, there is a lot to do in the Lotte complex and in Jamsil. From shopping to experiencing fantastic cafes. As such, it is a place that everyone should visit in Seoul. Not only that, but it’s also a very iconic location within the city.
Lotte World is a fantastic theme park and another great place to visit. While Everland and even Seoulland arguably have better rides, Lotte World is very unique. The atmosphere there is something that I have never experienced in another theme park. On top of that, the fact that it is indoors makes it a great place to visit when other theme parks are out of the question.
Lotte World Tower and Seoul Sky have stunning views over the city, and there is no higher point. Although I was disappointed at first, I think that the view from Lotte World Tower is also breathtaking and mesmerising at the same time. It’s just so tall and makes everything else feel so small!
The Lotte World Aquarium is another great place to visit. Especially if you already plan on visiting Lotte World Tower. The aquarium is by far one of the best that I have ever visited and I am glad that I did take the time to experience it.
All-in-all, the attractions around Lotte World Tower are all unique and appealing in their own way. There is no need to do every activity, and you can pick what suits you. Whether that is ice-skating, rollercoasters, city views, or seeing ocean life.
So yes, you should visit Lotte World Tower at least once on your visit to Seoul!
Lotte World Tower FAQ
What Can I Do at Lotte World Tower?
The most popular activity at Lotte World Tower is to shop. However, you can also take in the views at the skydeck, party at the Lotte World theme park, or explore the oceans at Lotte World Aquarium.
How Can I Get to Lotte Tower?
To get to Lotte Tower either take Line 2 (green) or Line 8 (pink). Take the train to Jamsil Station (on the east side of Seoul) and get off the train. As soon as you exit the station you will be in the basement of the tower!
Can I Get Discount Tickets for Lotte World?
There are a few different discount tickets that can be found online. Here are a few:
Lotte World 1 Day Pass from 32,000KRW – Save 25,000 with this deal from Klook.
Lotte World 1 Day Pass 45% Off (31,500KRW) – Save 45% and skip the queues with the ticket from Trazy.
Lotte World 1 Day Pass + Aquarium – Save 43% on Lotte World the Lotte World Aquarium. Get tickets here.
Lotte World Tower Discount Tickets – Get tickets for as low as 22,000KRW. Klook. Trazy.
Does Lotte Tower Have Good Views?
Although they aren’t the best views in the city (Seoul has many other great views), Lotte Tower does have some good views. Especially at sunset! The biggest issue for me is that Lotte Tower is almost too too – it’s hard to get a perspective from the top of the tower.
Can I Stay in Lotte Tower?
Yes! But don’t expect it to be cheap. In fact, the hotel within Lotte Tower is the best rated in all of Seoul.