Seoul Attraction Tours and Bus Routes
Two licensed operators run the hop-on hop-off circuits that string Seoul’s spread-out landmarks into one ticket, and both start from different sides of the old city.
Tiger Bus (Seoul City Tour Bus)
Tiger Bus departs from the Koreana Hotel ticket booth near Gwanghwamun. Its Downtown Palace Namsan course runs a loop through Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Insadong, DDP, Myeongdong, and N Seoul Tower for 24,000 won adult, hop-on hop-off all day. The separate Night View course is a non-stop 90-minute evening run across the Han River bridges to see N Seoul Tower and the Banpo fountain lit up, for 20,000 won; it does not run Mondays. Details and current departure times are on seoulcitybus.com .
Yellow Balloon City Bus
Yellow Balloon departs from DDP and runs a Traditional Culture course through Bangsan Market, Gwangjang Market, Changgyeonggung, Tongin Market, and Seodaemun Prison History Hall for 20,000 won adult. It suits a day built around markets and history rather than the tower-and-skyline version Tiger Bus leans on. Schedule and stops are on ybtour.co.kr .
The palace night tours, and why they sell out
Three separate evening openings run seasonally, mostly spring and autumn, and are worth planning around rather than walking up to. The Changdeokgung Moonlight Tour is a guided night walk through the lantern-lit Secret Garden with tea and a gayageum performance, around 30,000 won, and its Interpark booking window can close in under 2 minutes once tickets go live. Gyeongbokgung’s Starlight Tour pairs a royal court dinner in the palace kitchen with a lantern-lit walk to Jibokjae for roughly 60,000 won. A third, lower-key option, Gyeongbokgung’s general night viewing, opens the main courtyards after dark for 3,000 won at the gate, cash and passport, with no advance booking. Book the Changdeokgung Moonlight Tour dates on GetYourGuide to get a reminder set before the release window opens.
Han River cruises
E-Land runs cruises from Yeouido Dock: a 40-minute day loop past the National Assembly and 63 Building for around 19,000 won, and a 70-minute sunset or moonlight cruise with live jazz timed to pass under the illuminated bridges and the Banpo fountain, 25,000 to 32,000 won. Korean maritime law requires every passenger to show an original physical passport or photo ID before boarding; a phone photo of it will not be accepted at the gate. Schedules are on elandcruise.com .
Booking around the gaps
None of these routes cover Everland, Suwon, or the DMZ, all of which run as their own separate day trips; see the Seoul day trips guide for those. For a full multi-day sequence that fits a bus loop, a cruise, and a night tour into one trip without doubling back, the 5-day Seoul itinerary lays out the order.
The verdict: pick one hop-on bus course, not both operators’ full routes on the same day, since Tiger Bus and Yellow Balloon overlap enough at DDP and the palaces that running both wastes a ticket.