How to Get to COEX and Lotte World Aquarium

Three routes, taken from the operators' own written directions in August 2026. Two of them lead to the same aquarium, and the difference between them is about fifteen minutes of walking.

The two aquariums sit about nine stops apart on Line 2. Roughly 20 minutes of train plus the walking at either end. That is close enough to do both in a day, which the the attraction pass prices better than two singles, and far enough that you will not wander between them by accident.

The aquarium occupies the basement of Starfield COEX Mall, the vast underground complex beside the World Trade Center in Gangnam. Because the mall is underground and the subway feeds directly into it, you can travel from the platform to the shark tunnel without going outside. In a July heatwave or a monsoon downpour, that is most of the reason people come.

Line 9 and Bongeunsa Station Exit 7 is the route the operator itself flags as closest. You come up into the mall on the same basement level as the aquarium gate. Line 2 and Samseong Station, Exits 5 and 6, is the route printed in most guidebooks; it works, and it costs you a 10 to 15 minute walk past several hundred shops. Starfield is genuinely confusing at first. The mall's own signage for the aquarium is good, so follow it rather than a map app once you are inside.

By taxi, give the address as 513 Yeongdong-daero, Gangnam-gu. Parking in the COEX Mall runs about ₩4,800 for four hours and is not covered by any aquarium ticket.

The aquarium is on the basement level of Lotte World Mall in Jamsil, at the foot of Lotte World Tower. Jamsil Station is served by Line 2 and Line 8 and connects directly to the mall by an underground passage, so again you never surface. Exit 11 is the one to aim for; the operator's own directions name it, and the ticket booth sits close to the mall-side entrance.

If you are coming from the Lotte World theme park rather than the subway, the aquarium is a short indoor walk across the complex. The two are separate attractions with separate tickets, which catches people out. Seoul Sky, the observatory in the tower, is a third.

One extra step at this aquarium: your voucher has to be exchanged for a physical ticket at the Admission Group Ticket Booth before you go in, so allow ten minutes on top at busy hours. By taxi, the address is 300 Olympic-ro, Songpa-gu.

From Myeongdong, the simplest route to COEX is Line 4 to Chungmuro or Dongdaemun History & Culture Park, then Line 2 east to Samseong. About 35 to 40 minutes door to door, most of it seated. For Lotte World Aquarium, stay on Line 2 to Jamsil, roughly the same again.

From Hongdae, Line 2 runs the whole way to both. It is a long ride around the circle, close to an hour to Jamsil, and worth pairing with something else in the same district rather than treating as a single errand.

From Incheon Airport, the AREX to Seoul Station and then Line 2 works, but with luggage neither aquarium makes sense as a first stop: there is no left-luggage service inside either, and no re-entry once you have gone in.

Taxis are cheap by international standards and useful in rain, though Gangnam traffic at 18:00 undoes the advantage. Give the driver 513 Yeongdong-daero for COEX or 300 Olympic-ro for Lotte, or show the Korean address on your phone. English pronunciations of these two roads rarely land.

Neither aquarium fills a day, and both sit inside something much bigger. Which is the real reason to pick one over the other if travel time is equal.

COEX is inside Starfield COEX Mall: the Starfield Library with its two-storey bookshelves, a cinema, a food court and the SM Town complex are all on the same underground levels. Bongeunsa Temple sits across the road from Exit 7, and is free.

Jamsil is the bigger complex. Lotte World Aquarium shares it with Seoul Sky, the observatory in the 555-metre Lotte World Tower, and the Lotte World theme park. Three separate tickets, of which the the attraction pass can bundle two. Seokchon Lake, ringed with cherry trees in spring, is a five-minute walk from the mall.

A T-money card is worth buying at the airport or any convenience store: it works on every subway line, every bus and in most convenience stores, and it removes the one friction of the Seoul network, which is buying a single-journey ticket and then reclaiming the deposit.

Both aquariums sit on lines that run frequently all day, so there is no timetable to plan around. The last trains matter more at Lotte, where the published closing time of 22:00 leaves you walking to Jamsil station close to the end of service on some lines. Check the last train for your line before you commit to a late visit, and keep in mind that Seoul taxis are plentiful outside a mall of that size.

Starfield COEX Mall is laid out around a central atrium with the Starfield Library at its heart, and the aquarium sits on the basement level toward the eastern end, closest to Bongeunsa. The mall's own signage for the aquarium is clear and frequent, so once you are inside, follow the boards rather than a map app, which loses accuracy underground.

If you came in through Samseong on Line 2, the walk is 10 to 15 minutes and passes most of the mall. Allow more if it is a weekend afternoon, when the atrium fills.

At Lotte World Mall the aquarium is on the basement level under Lotte World Tower, and the Admission Group Ticket Booth comes before the gate. That is where the voucher becomes a paper ticket, and skipping it means being turned back at the entrance.

Both routes are step-free if you use the lifts, which is not the same as being easy to find. Seoul stations signpost lifts well, but the lift at a station as large as Jamsil can be a long way from the platform you arrive on, so allow extra time rather than extra stairs.

Inside, both aquariums are flat and buggy-friendly. COEX rents wheelchairs and strollers from the COEX Mall service counter, which is the more useful of the two options if you are travelling light. Lotte is step-free throughout the mall's basement levels, with the escalator past the main tank as a scenic alternative rather than the only way down.

Luggage is the awkward one. Neither aquarium offers left luggage, and neither allows re-entry, so a suitcase between hotels does not combine with a visit. COEX has coin lockers that take two ₩500 coins, sized for coats and bags rather than cases. If you are moving hotels that day, use a station locker first and arrive unencumbered, or save the Seoul aquarium tickets for a different afternoon entirely.

Buy a T-money card at any convenience store before you attempt either route. It costs a few thousand won, tops up in cash at the same counter, and turns every subway gate and bus door into a tap. Single-journey tickets exist, cost more, and require reclaiming a deposit from a machine at the end.

Download Naver Map or KakaoMap on the same trip. Both handle Seoul's underground levels correctly, which is the specific thing Google Maps cannot do here, and both will route you to the right exit rather than the nearest one.

After that, either aquarium is a beginner-friendly outing: one line, one exit, no transfers from most of central Seoul, and everything indoors at the far end. If you want to decide which one before you go, the Seoul aquarium comparison sets them side by side on price, tanks and terms.