Seoul Palace Sightseeing and Tickets
Seoul’s sightseeing core is five palaces that close on two different days, so the biggest planning mistake is showing up on the wrong one.
The five palaces and their closing days
Gyeongbokgung, the largest and most visited, closes on Tuesdays; admission is 3,000 won and the Royal Guard Changing Ceremony runs free outside Heungnyemun gate at 10am and 2pm. Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung, and the free-entry Gyeonghuigung all close on Mondays instead, so a Monday visit rules out four of the five and a Tuesday visit rules out the other one. Changdeokgung is 3,000 won for the grounds; Changgyeonggung and Deoksugung are 1,000 won each. Jongmyo Shrine, the Confucian royal shrine near Jongno 3-ga, closes Tuesdays like Gyeongbokgung and runs guided-only tours on weekdays, self-guided on weekends.
The Royal Palace Pass
A combined ticket, sold as the Royal Palace Pass, costs 6,000 won and covers one entry each to Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung, and Jongmyo Shrine, valid for six months from the purchase date. It does not include Gyeonghuigung, which is free anyway, and it does not include Changdeokgung’s Secret Garden at any tier. Buying the five covered admissions separately costs 9,000 won, so the pass saves 3,000 won and mostly buys the convenience of one ticket instead of five. Details and the official coverage list are on royal.khs.go.kr .
The Secret Garden is always separate
Changdeokgung’s Huwon, known as the Secret Garden, needs its own timed ticket at 5,000 won regardless of which palace pass you hold and regardless of hanbok status. English-language tours run at set times through the day with a strict daily quota; half the tickets release online six days ahead and the rest sell at the gate that morning. In autumn the online half can sell out within minutes, so book it as soon as your dates are fixed.
Hanbok entry, one exception
Anyone wearing hanbok, traditional or modernized, gets free admission to all four fee-charging palaces and Jongmyo Shrine. The Secret Garden is the one place that discount never reaches. Book a Gyeongbokgung and Bukchon guided walk on GetYourGuide if you’d rather have the guard ceremony and the throne hall explained than just photographed.
Bukchon Hanok Village, and its curfew
Bukchon, the hanok neighborhood between Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung, is a residential district, not a museum, and Jongno District enforces visiting hours of 10am to 5pm Monday through Saturday with Sundays off-limits in the designated residential lanes. Fines of 100,000 won for unauthorized visits outside those hours have been actively issued since 1 March 2025.
Dongdaemun Design Plaza
DDP, the Zaha Hadid-designed exhibition building near Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station, is open as a public space around the clock, with exhibition halls typically running 10am to 8pm and an LED facade show most evenings.
For the itinerary version of this, the 3-day Seoul itinerary sequences the palaces around their closing days, and the Seoul activities guide covers what to do once you’re already in hanbok.
The verdict: buy the Royal Palace Pass only if you’re doing three or more of its five covered sites; for just Gyeongbokgung and Bukchon, single tickets or a hanbok rental cost less.