Bukchon’s 900 hanok houses are clustered on a hillside between two palaces. The streets follow the contours: narrow, irregular, walled by the houses themselves. The tile eaves on each house jut a meter past the wall, and in summer those eaves cast hard, useful shadows across the lanes from about 10 AM until 4 PM.
These three pick the lanes that work. Avoid Bukchon-ro 11-gil (the postcard street — uncovered) and stick to the narrower interior lanes. The cooler walks are also the quieter ones; the tour groups don’t fit.