People walk along Garosu-gil, one of the trendiest districts, in Sinsa-dong, southern Seoul. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
 The following is the third in a series of articles featuring tourist sites in Gangnam, southern Seoul, where both domestic and foreign tourists can experience an alluring blend of modern and traditional attractions. ㅡ ED.
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Garosu-gil literally means tree-lined street and there are hundreds of them in Korea. However, there is one such-named avenue that  has become a proper noun in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam District.
Garosu-gil is located near exit No. 8 of Sinsa Station on subway line 3 down to Sinsa Middle School. Along the two-lane street are ginkgo trees, trendy shops, art galleries, cozy cafes and eateries ranging from Italian to Japanese.
Artists and young designers started to gather in the street in the late 1990s and in mid 2000s, young people who returned from studying overseas pioneered the current trend of Garosu-gil, full of cafes offering brunch and vintage shops.
The 700-meter street is now full of trendsetters sitting on terraces of coffee shops and tourists with guidebooks in hand.
Han Joo-hee, a 26-year-old office worker, said Garosu-gil has everything she needs: food, dessert, fashion and cosmetics.
 "It is really nice to just walk along the streets. It is also fun to just sit in a cafe and look out the window. Since there are a lot of young people it is fun to watch the new trends, what people are wearing and also what the shops have in store for the season," Han said.
Han said all the shops on the street are stylish, clean, neat and unique.
One of her favorite places is Cafe 5CIJUNG. "They have really unique and yummy desserts and teas," she said. "My favorites are the persimmon slushy and the scones they make for the customers."
"The designs all work together instead of trying to stand out and that gives the area a nice, consistent and unified look. There are a lot of interesting shops and because there are so many people walking around, the items change really quickly making it interesting for us shoppers and passersby to navigate. It's pretty, up to date, fashionable, and neat. What more can you ask for?" she said.
She suggested not allowing cars during the weekends to help people walk around more safely.
Hidden charm of Serosu-gil
As Garosu-gil became popular, rents skyrocketed and large chain stores such as Starbucks and the Coffee Bean took possession of the main street.
Small, unique shops moved to back alleys of Garosu-gil and people named those alleys "Serosu-gil." It is a pun as "garo" means horizontal and "sero" means vertical in Korean.
People who want to find the exclusive shops of Serosu-gil, scattered around the back alleys in the residential area should take right or left turn into the lanes stretching out from the main Garosu-gil.
“I like Garosu-gil, but it became too crowded. Now I enjoy exploring the alleys of Serosu-gil to find unexpected joys,” Lee Joo-youn, 23, university student, said. “My favorite place would be dessert cafe W.E., which offers Korean-style desserts such as hotteok, sugar-filled pancake, and sweet red bean fondue.”
London Flower and Garden is a florist on Serosu-gil. Oh Soon-young, owner of the shop, said she wanted to bring the mood of London to this alley of Seoul.
"In London, buying flowers is a part of everyday life, not something grand," Oh said. Bouquets of flowers and pots displayed in front of the shop are relatively low-priced, as Oh wants people to buy flowers more easily.
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