While in South Korea last week, we visited our first cat café in Seoul. Cat cafés first gained popularity in Japan (although according to Wikipedia the first was opened in Taiwan in 1998) and then spread across Asia. They are now starting to spring up in Europe and other places. These are essentially normal coffee or tea shops, with the exception that they contain a number of cats (typically 10 to 30) that patrons are allowed to pet and play with during their stay. So the price of your latte generally includes as much cat watching and loving as you wish, although in some cafés you have to pay by the hour. The intended purpose of these cafés is to let people who are not allowed to have cats or dogs in their apartments, dorms, or homes come spend some quality time with some furry critters while sipping some coffee. It is also great for cat-loving travelers who need a good kitty fix in Asia. We ventured out to find a cat café on our very first evening in Seoul and our search actually took some twists and turns, but it ultimately resulted in both coffee and some very adorable kitties! We’ll share our experience as well as provide some information on how you can find a cat cafe in Seoul.
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Visiting a Cat Café in Seoul
Many of the cat cafés in Seoul are located in the Hongdae area of Seoul near Hongik University (metro stop: Hongik University). Outside of Seoul, there are also cat cafés located in many of the larger cities throughout Korea (e.g., Busan, Ulsan).
There are a number of animal cafés in Seoul, mostly cat cafés, but here are the names and current information on a few of them. If you are interested in visiting a particular café, you might want to call ahead to double check the address (or have a tourist information office assistant or someone at your hotel do this for you) as the names and locations of these cafés appears to change quite frequently. Unfortunately, almost all websites for the pet cafés are in Korean only. Most are open from afternoon to evening.
Lily Cat Café (also a place for board game lovers)
Address: 53-11 Myeongdong 2(i)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Website: Could not locate a website.
Godabang Cat Café (also known as Cat Attic)
Address: 162-14 Donggyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul (has other locations as well)
Website: http://www.godabang.com
y Cat Café (former location of Gio Cat Café)
Address: 12-6, Wausan-ro 21-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul
Website: http://cafe.naver.com/ycatlove
Dog Cafés in Seoul
In case you need a doggie fix, there are a few cafés that cater to dog lovers although these are more uncommon than cat cafés. Note that we’ve heard these tend to be a bit noisier, dirtier (dogs peeing on floor), and more smelly than the cat cafés as dog owners will likely understand.
Bau House (very popular)
Address: 394-44 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul (inside Je-il Building)
Website: http://bau.cyworld.com
Caffe Pawz
Address: 834-8 Yeoksam-dong, 134 Yeoksam-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Website: http://cafe.naver.com/cafepawz
Sunnyne Dog
Address: 16, Yanghwa-ro 18an-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul
Website: http://blog.naver.com/sunnynedog
Our Experience Visiting a Cat Café in Seoul
What is the first thing most people do when they arrive in Seoul? Perhaps take in one of the many royal palaces, explore some traditional hanok houses, or try some spicy Korean food, right? All great first options, but being the cat-loving travelers that we are, we checked into our guesthouse and our first mission was to find a cat café in Seoul.
We had a name and address of a recommended cat café, so we hopped on the very efficient Seoul metro and headed to the Hongik University stop which was closest to the cat café address. We walked around this bustling university area for a bit before we were headed in the right direction. If lost in Korea, just ask someone or don’t be surprised if someone asks you if you need help when looking at a map as we found the Korean people to be amazingly helpful to visitors. We were very excited to locate the sign for Tom’s Cat Café. We were there! Now, one thing to note in Seoul is that the same building tends to house a number of businesses and you’ll need to locate the stairs to go to those not on the ground floor. Our destination was on the third floor so we followed the signs upstairs to meet the kitties. However, here is what we found:
It appears that Tom’s Cat Café has either moved (with no signs indicating a new address) or is out of business. A man with a business nearby said he thinks they went out of business. Disappointed, we weren’t sure what to do. We happened to have the address to another cat café written down, Godabang Cat Café, and we were lucky because it was within walking distance. So we reversed our path to find Godabang Cat Café. However, along the way we spotted a sign for another cat café in Korean. We decided to try to figure out where it was and headed down an alley. Everything was in Korean, but the pictures of cats helped us figure out it was upstairs in a similar building to the one that Tom’s Cat Café had formerly occupied. It turned out that we had stumbled upon the y Cat Café (in English) and was the former location of Gio Cat.
We were overjoyed to see actual people inside the door and just hoped there were cats inside somewhere. A young woman pointed to some signs and said a few things in English instructing us to take off our shoes. The entry procedures were similar to many other pet cafés: 1.) Take off shoes, put on provided slippers or sandals, 2) Place shoes, belongings, and anything you don’t want covered in cat hair in a locker, and 3) Sanitize your hands.
Now we were able to enter and we saw kitties sleeping and running about everywhere! But before we could begin playing, the young woman pointed to a machine where we purchased a drink ticket each. It was 8,000 won per person and we could choose any coffee drink, tea, or juice on the menu and we could stay at the café and play with the kitties as long as we wanted. While $16.00 (approximate value in USD) is a lot for a couple of coffee drinks, it helps support taking care of all the cats and we both felt it was well worth the price.
After ordering a caramel macchiato and a latte, we were given a table and then told we could play with the cats. There are rules posted about how to behave while there which are mostly common sense. These included not picking up the cats, not pulling their tails, leaving irritated or sleeping cats alone, not giving the cats people food, not using flash to take pictures of the cats, closely monitor younger children, etc. The other patrons were a group of college students, a young woman, a young couple, and two families with a young child. We were the only ones who did not speak Korean and the people who ran the cafe did not speak much English but this was not a problem and they were friendly. We were told that week nights are much better than weekends as far as crowds as during our stay there were not a lot of people at any one time.
Almost immediately this odd but cute kitty jumped up on my lap and curled up for a nap. This little kitty would remain on my lap sleeping most of the visit until I got up to walk around. I think he was a shaved Persian or Exotic kitty.
Ethan sat awaiting his kitty, but none came over to join him. He was jealous of my content little kitty, so he set out around the room to make friends. After a bit of time, it became fairly obvious which cats were most interested in being pet and getting attention. Eventually Ethan made some friends.
There were 23 cats roaming around the café. A couple were kittens but most were adult cats. They are able to jump up on shelves and up on walkways close to the ceiling to get away from people as they wished. Their litter boxes are in a separate room connected with a hole for the cats. Some cat toys are provided for anyone to use to play with the cats. There is also a giant wheel, essentially a giant hamster wheel in the room, and I didn’t really think the cats would ever use this. But we got to witness one cat actually using it a couple of times that evening!
The café was very clean for having 23 cats and the young woman was regularly coming over to tidy up things and clean. The cats appeared to be healthy and well taken care of by the workers. A man, who may have been the owner, came at one point and the cats all gathered around him for some petting and treats. They cats also flocked to the young woman and seemed to enjoying being groomed and petted by her. While there was a faint odor near the room containing the litter boxes, I never really noticed it while sitting at the table.
Overall, we spent about an hour and a half here and really enjoyed our visit. We’d definitely like to return to y Cat and explore other cat cafés in Seoul. We’d also love to visit some cat cafés in other parts of the world. In fact, San Francisco is supposed to get its first cat café this summer!
Have you been to a cat café in Seoul or a pet cafe elsewhere in the world? Would you want to visit a cat café or dog café?
**If you have any updated website or address information or reports of café closures, please let me know and happy to update this blog post.**
Danielle Post author
We went to this cat cafe last spring based on your blog post! We are taking our son back to Japan and then Seoul and of course, he wants to go to the cat cafe. I hope it is still around!
travelcats Post author
Hi Danielle, Thanks for writing! Great, I am glad you were able to find the y Cat Cafe based on our blog post and I am glad it was still there! I have a feeling that even if that one closed there is probably one nearby, as there are a lot in that general vicinity as it is a university area. Have fun in Seoul and I am sure your son will enjoy the kitties:) I still remember the one kitty who jumped on my lap within a minute of sitting down very fondly from that cat cafe! ~ Jessica
Su Min Post author
Its so sad that Tom’s Cat is out of business or moved out. I liked that Cat Cafe when I visited Seoul.
travelcats Post author
Hello! Yes, for some reason the cat cafes in Seoul seem to either keep moving or going out of business. But the one we found was quite clean and relaxed during our visit, so perhaps try that one if you visit Seoul again!
Jenn Post author
Thanks for the article! 🙂 If you feel like updating your post: Sadly, lilycat has closed. 🙁 According to the Myeongdong Tourism Info centre, I think they tried to call and it didn’t work. However, Myeongdong still has two cat cafes — Godabang and this: http://seoul.m.angloinfo.com/aa/?QID=698&type=d&RID=10269
Holly Nelson Post author
That is so fantastic! I would have been in seventh heaven with all those kittens everywhere!
travelcats Post author
We had such a great time. Even though I have my own kitties, I think I’d still visit a cat cafe if we had one locally:)
Lynda Post author
OMG I NEED TO GO! This is the third cat cafe post I’ve read within a couple of days, they really are becoming a thing. I’m a die hard cat person all the way, this would be like Disney World to me! Great photos 🙂
travelcats Post author
Haha, yes it is a bit like Disney world to cat lovers. Hope you make it to a cat cafe soon although walking with lion cubs is very cool too!
Emma Post author
I really like the look of that one… Sadly the one we visited in Japan last year was quite depressing, but this one looks like there’s lots of stuff to keep the cats happy and occupied! We have one in Munich now, but I have yet to venture there! 🙂
travelcats Post author
Sorry you had a bad experience at the cat cafe in Japan. I can definitely see how these can go horribly wrong for the animals without good management and making sure the animals experiences come before the visitors. Hope you find the Munich one to be a better experience.
Michelle @ A Dish of Daily Life Post author
What a wonderful place…it made me smile to see that such a place exists. We have 4 cats, all adopted from our local shelter. I’d go in more to visit the kitties, but I’d come home with more. That sounds like a lovely alternative for those who can’t have pets! If there was one near me, I would definitely go visit and I’d also consider visiting one while traveling.
travelcats Post author
They are spreading and several cities in the U.S. are hoping to get their first cat cafe this summer!
Lauren Post author
This post made me REALLY happy! I love cats! This is a dream type of place for me. I loved seeing all of the cats everywhere, and the cats that sat on your lap – so cute! I can’t believe the cats ran in that wheel! It is so adorable. There is a rumor that one is coming to Toronto and I can’t wait! Also, there is one fundraising right now to open in Vancouver. Some of them might work in conjunction with the Humane Society and act as an adoption center for finding new homes for stray cats!
travelcats Post author
Yeah, hope you get a chance to visit one in Canada soon. Things are a bit more delayed here I think, but there are plans for cat cafes in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and NYC that I have heard about in various stages of planning – a bit of a race I think through the legal red tape to see who can be the first in the U.S.
Carla Post author
I never knew that there was such a thing. What a fun thing to do! I am shocked the cat ran on the kitty wheel. I can’t picture my fur baby doing that but stranger things have happened. This is also a great idea because being around animals really does lower your stress level.
travelcats Post author
Yes, I know the cat running on the big wheel was really surprising to us! I figured some cat in the world might do this but figured it was one of those “once in a blue moon” kind of things, but with a little coaxing this one kitty did it a few times much to everyone’s amusement:)
Louisa Post author
Whilst a nice idea in principal, it’s not something that would appeal to me, but I get it’s quirky for some visitors and great for cat lovers.
travelcats Post author
Yes, I think you really have to love cats and be OK with pets being around a cafe area which doesn’t appeal to a lot of people.
Meredith Post author
This just seems like a brilliant idea!! Perfect for people in small places, etc. who can’t have pets and as you noted, for those travelers needing a kitty fix 🙂 I’ll be really interested to see if they do well here in the U.S.
travelcats Post author
Yes, it seems a lot of really enjoy having some pet time since most can’t have them in their places for various reasons. I think they are particularly appealing for young people in dorms or tiny apartments and those living with allergic or “non-cat people”.
Camila Post author
Oh wow that is such an interesting idea! it’s must be therapeutic and so fun as well 🙂
travelcats Post author
We had a fun time:)
Adelina | PackMeTo Post author
I went to a Cat Cafe in Budapest and in many ways it is similar, but in a lot of ways it not like how you described it. There were no rules for interacting with the cats. People were picking them up. There was also no cleaning station. There were some hand sanitizers on every table, but there is no prompt to clean your hands before interacting with the cats. Most of the cats just seemed annoyed by all the people in the cafe 🙁
There is talk of a cat cafe opening up soon in Vancouver where I am right now so it’ll be interesting to see how they manage to handle it. Thanks for linking up to #SundayTraveler! See you next week 🙂
travelcats Post author
Um, sounds like the cat cafe we went to was more clean than the one in Budapest. People were very good at respecting the rules and not picking up the cats and the cats did not appear irritated during our visit.
Yes, I think there may already be a cat cafe or two in Canada with more planned!
Natalie @ Ozzi Cat Magazine Post author
That’s so sad to hear as that’s not good for cats…
travelcats Post author
Yes, while some cat cafes seems to be very clean and well run (and some have a mission of cat adoption), others seem to not be concerned enough about the welfare of the kitties which is indeed sad.
Ellen Post author
I love this – what a great idea! We live on a sailboat and aren’t able to have a cat, so visiting a cat café would be a great alternative. Really cute pictures!
travelcats Post author
Yes, I am sure there are some cat cafés in the world that are not too far from shore:) I think that if I lived on a boat, I’d still need to have my kitties although I think it have to be a big boat for them to enjoy it.
Kristen Post author
I WANT TO GO THERE! haha. seriously though. fabulous pictures – thanks for sharing!
travelcats Post author
Glad you enjoyed the post Kristen!
Dannielle Post author
This was seriously so cute! The cats look really well cared for. I’ve got cats, but would love to go to a cafe filled with them anyway!
travelcats Post author
I would love to have a place locally I could go work on my laptop and have both coffee and cats at hand. Although I think Dodger and Dash might get a bit jealous:)
Sammy Dorn Post author
This cat cafe craze has really taken off! There is a cat cafe here in London as well. While personally I would never visit one, I can see the draw for cat lovers. I think a dog cafe would be hilarious, I can just imagine the chaos!!
travelcats Post author
I agree, you’d really have to enjoy cats to get much out of this experience. Otherwise it is just an expensive coffee drink:) I personally would not enjoy the dog cafes most likely, but we’ve heard good things from dog lovers.
Van @ On the Road again Post author
I’ve heard of cat cafes a lot recently and there also is one (or even more) in Germany. I like the idea though I hope this doesn’t become a stupid trend where people with no cat experience open such a cafe. It is so important to carefully choose the cats that feel comfortable around people. My little tom cat would hate the idea 😉
travelcats Post author
Haha, I think our kitty Dash would love being at a cafe after a couple days as he loves attention, but our cat Dodger would be a growling hissing orange furball if subjected to this. Cats really need to grow up around other cats and people to really do well in these places I think. For instance we had our cat leash trained for a while and he would go play with kids at the park like a puppy. But once we stopped taking him, he reverted back to typical cat behaviors.
frankaboutcroatia Post author
This is new to me. Couldn’t imagine why somebody would come for a coffee and pet a cat that’s not your own. But, yes, if you are not allowed to have a pet in your place, it all makes sense. I can imagine your surprise entering the Tom’s Cat Café just to find the empty space :). And 16$ for couple of drinks seem really a lot, but at least it’s all for the good cause. It looks like Ethan eventually became really popular – Yay for him 🙂
travelcats Post author
Hi Frank, I think you have to be a big cat (or dog) lover to enjoy these! We are the kind of people who will pet anyone’s cat and love taking pictures of cats as we travel. For instance, while in a Buddhist temple in Cambodia I made friends with a kitten who sat in my lap. Crazy cat people I know:)
Seana Turner Post author
Well, I have to admit I’ve never heard of a cat cafe before. I’m afraid I’m allergic, so it wouldn’t be my top hangout. However, I do adore cats, and I can see the appeal for those who can’t have a cat, for whatever reason.
travelcats Post author
Yes, a cat café would definitely probably be a pleasant place for you after a couple of minutes!
Mariah-Food, Booze, & Baggage Post author
Interesting. I did read somewhere about a cat cafe opening in San Francisco; that was the first time I’ve heard about places like this.
travelcats Post author
Hi Mariah, as far as I know there are no pet cafes in SF yet, but at least one is hoping to open this summer. I think the issue in the U.S. is that there are a lot more regulations regarding the mix of animals and food/drinks.
Corinne Post author
We visited a cat cafe while in Tokyo and like you, we really had a great time. After living in Asia and realizing how little space apartments usually are, it totally makes sense. In Korea, they take care of this with board game rooms, TV and DVD rooms, all kinds of things to let you be with a group of friends or animals without them being in your house. As travelers, we always are looking at how to get a pet fix, too!
travelcats Post author
It really is interesting as a lot of Asian people are scared of cats and dogs as they are fairly uncommon in the cities but the pet cafes have really been embraced there by young people. We really enjoyed the experience at y Cat Cafe and would definitely like to check out some more as we travel!
Wendy@BlushandBarbells Post author
This sounds like a great idea, and I really hope that the cats are rescues. San Francisco is a no-kill city, so the cats in the cafes there will definitely be rescues.
travelcats Post author
I am not sure about the cats in Asia as keeping cats (and even dogs) indoors is fairly uncommon in Korea as when we went to the park with my cousin’s family who brought their dog, the dog was the star attraction. So not sure if they have shelters or not. But in SF, the cafe I have read about (KitTea) will have adult cats from a local shelter.
Dee Post author
I’m back! Turns out there is one here! Will definitely go visit it soon!
travelcats Post author
Yeah, now you can visit the one in Singapore, let me know what you think!
Dee Post author
This is the first time I’ve read about cat cafes and it’s a very interesting and detailed read! I love cats but can’t have one and would love to go to one, but I don’t think they have one here in Singapore yet. Will have to research!
Samantha Angell Post author
This sounds so great- and something I’ve never heard of! I will definitely be checking out the cat and dog cafes in Europe, as when my husband and I are over there for 9 months of the year we can’t bring our pets. I’m definitely a crazy cat lady- when I was in Thailand a few weeks ago I bought a box of cat food, carried it in my purse, and constantly left little piles of kitty food for the strays. Thanks for sharing!
travelcats Post author
I don’t think they are quite as popular or widespread in Europe as Asia yet, but they have been popping up all over the place in the past few years. I am sure you’ll be able to run across at least one as they are spreading!
Polly Post author
All my friends in Japan/Korea have done this and it looks so fun! It’s great to see that all the cats look healthy and happy (well, as happy as some cats ever are)!
travelcats Post author
Yes, we are very happy to see that the cats seemed to be content and well cared for at this particular cafe!