To All the Boys: Always and Forever is the third and final installment of the To All the Boys I've Loved Before series!
The series is originally books written by Jenny Han, a New York Times bestselling author. The first book was published in 2014, second in 2015, and the third was published in 2017.
To All the Boys I Loved Before, was the first film released by Netflix back in 2018. The second, To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You was released in 2020. Finally the third, To All the Boys: Always and Forever was released February 12th, 2021.
For those unfamiliar with this series, in short, it follows Lara Jean Song Covey (Lana Condor), and Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo). In the first film/book Lara Jean wrote five love letters to her five different crushes, but they were never meant to be sent.
Until one day, they all got sent out. This created many issues for Lara Jean but she muddled through like a champ.
This was also how Lara Jean and Peter's love story began.
Now, for the third film, Lara Jean travelled to Seoul for spring break with her two sisters, Margot (Janel Parrish) and Kitty (Anna Cathcart), her dad Dan Covey (John Corbett), and her neighbor (and spoiler alert, soon to be step-mom) Trina Rothschild (Sarayu Rao).
Because of these Seoul scenes, we wanted to share the filming locations with you all.
So, if you haven't already fallen in love with Seoul from watching the movie, we hope this blog will convince you!
SEOUL SKYLINE
Right off the bat the movie opened with Lara Jean writing to Peter from Seoul with "Gee" by Girl's Generation playing in the background. Most of the scenes of Seoul in the movie were narrated by Lara Jean writing to Peter.
Where she wrote from is very unique. It's a real cafe in Seoul! We will go more into the details of this cafe later in this blog.
But first, we are first introduced to Seoul by some quick snippets of footage overlooking the city.
You can see Han River, Lotte World Tower, and Namsan far in the background.
Much of the skyline in Seoul is comprised of tall apartment and office buildings.
There is also a brief shot of a sign for Bangsan Market (방산종합 시장). This market is very close to Gwangjang Market (another location we will discuss later).
MYEONGDONG SHOPPING DISTRICT
명동 쇼핑거리
Most of the shopping montages of Lara Jean and her family took place in Myeongdong. There are plenty of things to see and places to eat in this area.
Myeongdong is one of Korea's most popular and busiest areas. Since they filmed during peak tourism season, you can see there were TONS of people.
Like serious hoards.
What we love is about these scenes is that these are the raw and genuine emotions of the cast just running around and exploring for themselves. Their pure joy and bliss is completely relatable.
The main store where the majority of the shopping footage took place was Laneige. This is where you can Kitty getting her makeup done and the sisters at the checkout counter.
In another video by Vogue where Lana Condor shared her makeup routine, she mentioned she bought products from Korean brands 3CE and ESPOIR.
Another common sight in Myeongdong, especially in the summer, is ice cream. In the movie, Kitty's ice cream is the tallest. We love and relate to Margot's expression in response to the tower of soft-serve.
Another scene we loved was the group photo with Korean tourist police posing with the signature finger hearts.
YEOUIDO HANGANG PARK
여의도 한강 공원
Address: 서울특별시 영등포구 여의동로 330
Lara Jean, Margot, and Kitty ran around and posed in the "I Seoul U" sign. Although there are many of these signs around Seoul, we knew that it was Yeouido because of Han River in the background.
It is definitely a scenic place where you can take a lot of great photos.
One common activity in Seoul is biking by Han River. If you go to any of the Hangang parks, you will see people of all ages biking.
So of course, the Song Covey sisters also rode a three-person bike. We seriously applaud their skills of doing this successfully. It looks like it takes a great deal of effort to pull it off.
BONGEUNSA TEMPLE
봉은사
Address: 서울특별시 강남구 봉은사로 531
This is probably one of the film's most iconic Seoul scene. First we see a tall Buddha statue, then zooms into Lara Jean in a bright purple dress.
If the clothes didn't already give it away, they filmed during the summer which is also typhoon season in Korea. So apparently the cast and crew had to wait SIX HOURS for the typhoon to pass and get this shot.
But we think it was well worth it since it was such a gorgeous scene.
GWANGJANG MARKET
광장시장
Address: 서울 종로구 종로4가 창경궁로 88
Hours: 9:00-18:00
Food Street: 9:00-23:00
Another popular and busy location in Seoul! Gwangjang Market has tons of food stalls, many sell banchan (side dishes · 반찬), while other sell street food like mungbean pancakes (bindaetteok · 빈대떡), dumplings (mandu · 만두), and kalguksu (hand-chopped noodles · 칼국수).
Since TATB is distributed by Netflix, it is highly likely the Song Covey clan were eating kalguksu at Cho Yonsoon's Gohyang Kalguksu stall. This stall was featured on Netflix's Street Food: Asia series.
Apparently this is one of the last scenes they filmed for the entire series. What a great way to end though! Just naturally eating yummy foods.
PARK HYATT HOTEL
Address: 서울 강남구 테헤란로 606
Okay, full disclosure, this location took some extreme sleuthing on our part. Although there were not any direct indicators of the hotel, but we were able to identify some clues to location in the background.
When Lara Jean was in her hotel room on her phone. Out the window we could see could see a large LED screen which is pretty characteristic of Samsung Station near COEX.
Narrowing down hotels by location was extremely helpful, we looked at online images for indoor pools and VOILA we found a match. The Park Hyatt Seoul.
This pool is amazing! We love that it is floor level and almost like an infinity pool where one side goes right to the window. Also the magenta lighting adds to a fun and relaxing ambiance.
We also think that the scene where the Song Covey sisters were sitting in a restaurant with their dad was also filmed here. The Park Hyatt Seoul houses The Lounge, which is a restaurant known for their afternoon tea set.
In the scene they were seen with tea, ice cream, and a plate of hangwa.
NORAEBANG
노래방
Unfortunately we weren't able to track down the exact location of the noraebang, where Lara Jean, Margot, and Kitty jammed out while singing "Fancy" by Iggy Azalea.
But we love that they look like they are having fun.
There are plenty of places in Seoul where you can sing karaoke and have a good time.
JJIMJILBANG
찜질방
Unfortunately another unknown location. There was an extremely short scene of the Song Covey sisters laying down on mats at a jjimjilbang.
You can see they were wearing towel hats. These towel hats are known as 양머리, which directly translates to sheep head. Towels are folded in a way to create side buns, and when you put it on, it looks like you have horns similar to a ram.
This method is popular amongst Koreans and you may have seen many celebrities in Korean programs also sport this look.
In another video Condor confessed to be dead asleep in this scene. We would be too after a long day of exploring and filming.
DONGDAEMUN DESIGN PLAZA
동대문디자인플라자
Address: 서울 중구 을지로 281
Hours: 10:00-19:00
Some store hours may vary
The metallic building screams Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP). There wasn't too much footage at this location, but it is very popular.
K-drama Record of Youth also filmed here.
The metallic building is used for many purposes. It serves as an art hall, museum, and design shop.
CAFE YEONNAMDONG 223-14
Address: 서울 마포구 성미산로 161-10
Hours: 11:00-21:00
Closed: Mon & Tues
Finally, we cycle back to the opening scene were Lara Jean wrote a postcard for Peter. The movie started with Lara Jean's voice-over of her sharing her experience in Seoul, but then hilariously interrupted by Kitty.
This is a themed-cafe in Seoul. It looks like you are in a cartoon scene. This cafe is extremely popular and you can take fun and cute pictures here.
Even the trays Margot used to bring over the colorful cupcakes fit the theme of the cafe!
Next time you are in Seoul, try writing to a loved on here like Lara Jean.
N SEOUL TOWER
남산 서울 타워
Address: 서울 용산구 남산공원길 126
Hours: 10:00-23:00
Sat: 10:00-24:00
The last main Seoul scene in the movie was filmed at N Seoul Tower. This tower atop Namsan is one of Seoul's signature landmarks.
A main attraction here is the "Padlocks of Love." N Seoul Tower is a popular date spot for couples, many bring their own decorated lock, or there are also places nearby that sell padlocks you can decorate on site.
It seems like Eve Song also "locked" her love for Dan Covey here. So it is only natural the family would want to find her lock.
The search montage has another Korean song "Q & A" by Cherry Bullet playing in the background.
Of course Lara Jean found her mom's lock and the family adds another similar lock to hers.😍
LARA JEAN'S WELCOME HOME
Not quite a Seoul filming location, but we felt that we had to talk about the scene where Peter welcomed Lara Jean home for two reasons.
One, because it is pretty common for people who visit Korea to come back with gifts, and two, because this scene was too stinking cute.
So we are back in Oregon, in the Song Covey home where Lara Jean gifted Peter a face mask, character socks, a blue head band, and a decorated lock!
However, one thing we cringed at was when Peter wiped his face with a towel after taking off the face mask. Why would you want to wipe off all the moisturizing essence?!?! A true Korean would lightly pat their face for maximum essence absorption.
Do you all hope to see another installment where Lara Jean and Peter travel to Seoul together and lock their love?
We hope you all enjoyed this guide to filming locations of To All the Boys: Always and Forever.
Let us know of any comments below!
