Seoul's Five Palaces, Ticket by Ticket
Show up at Gyeongbokgung on a Tuesday and you’ll find the gates shut while every other palace in the city is open, because Seoul’s five royal sites don’t share a single closing day.
Five Palaces, One Different Closing Day
Gyeongbokgung, the largest and most photographed of the five, closes on Tuesdays; standard admission is KRW 3,000, and the Royal Guard Changing Ceremony runs free at 10:00 and 14:00 outside Heungnyemun. Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung, and Gyeonghuigung all close on Mondays instead. Changdeokgung’s grounds cost KRW 3,000 and hold UNESCO World Heritage status; Changgyeonggung is KRW 1,000 and stays open until 21:00 with an illuminated Victorian-era greenhouse; Deoksugung is also KRW 1,000, with the neoclassical Seokjojeon hall and the Doldam-gil stonewall walkway; Gyeonghuigung, the least visited, is free. Jongmyo Shrine, the Confucian ancestral shrine, closes on Tuesdays like Gyeongbokgung and costs KRW 1,000, with English guided tours on weekdays around 10:20, 12:20, 14:20, and 16:20, and self-guided access on weekends and designated Culture Days. Book a guided palace walk if you’d rather have someone explain the Joseon layout as you go.
The Combined Pass, and What It Actually Covers
The Royal Palace Pass covers one entry each to Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung’s grounds, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung, and Jongmyo Shrine for KRW 6,000, valid for six months from purchase. What it does not cover, at any price tier, is Changdeokgung’s Secret Garden (Huwon); that always needs its own separate timed ticket, an extra KRW 5,000 on top of the palace entry, bought online when the quota opens six days ahead at 10:00 KST or at the gate from 09:00 on the day. Wearing a hanbok gets you free entry to all four fee-charging palaces and Jongmyo, but never to the Secret Garden either. The Royal Palaces and Tombs Center publishes the pass’s exact coverage if you want to see the official wording.
Beyond the Palace Gates
Bukchon Hanok Village (Line 3, Anguk, Exit 2) is open for visitors Monday through Saturday, 10:00 to 17:00, with Sundays kept as a rest day in the residential lanes; a KRW 100,000 fine, enforced since 1 March 2025, applies to unauthorized group disruption outside those hours, per Jongno District’s own notices . Dongdaemun Design Plaza (Line 2/4/5, Exit 1/2), Zaha Hadid’s curved aluminum landmark, stays open around the clock outdoors, with exhibition halls typically running 10:00 to 20:00 and an evening Seoul Light projection on the facade.
Getting Between Them
Skip Google Maps for walking directions here; South Korea’s mapping export restrictions break its turn-by-turn routes, so use Naver Map or KakaoMap instead. For a route that strings several of these palaces into one day, see the walking tours guide , and browse a hotel near Anguk or Gwanghwamun if you want to start each morning on foot.