Gyeongbokgung

What it is

Gyeongbokgung was the first royal palace of the Joseon dynasty, established in 1395 a year after Hanyang, now Seoul, was chosen as the capital. King Taejo moved in at the end of that year, but his successors preferred Changdeokgung, and the palace only came fully into use under Sejong the Great, who made it his primary residence in 1421 and moved out of Changdeokgung by 1427. The Hall of Worthies sat here, and the work that produced the Korean alphabet was done on these grounds.

In 1592, during the Imjin War, the palace burned to the ground along with the two other palaces in the city. Rebuilding was postponed for lack of money, and the site lay largely unused for about 270 years. Reconstruction was ordered in 1865 by Queen Sinjeong, regent for the young King Gojong; the royal family moved in during 1868, two major fires interrupted the work in 1873 and 1876, and it was finished only in 1888.

What stands today is a partial recovery of that 1888 palace. Around 500 buildings existed then; Japan's colonial government sold off and demolished almost all of them, leaving 40 by 1945 and putting its own headquarters in the front courtyard. Restoration has run since 1990 and is planned to continue to 2045.

Checked 2026-08-26 · Source

What's inside

The palace is laid out on a north-south axis and the operator's own routes follow it. You enter through Gwanghwamun, cross the stone bridge Yeongjegyo behind Heungnyemun, and arrive at Geunjeongjeon, the throne hall, standing on a double stone terrace inside a walled courtyard with the ranked stone markers where officials once lined up. Behind it Sajeongjeon was the working audience hall, and Sujeongjeon, off to the west, held government offices.

The set piece is Gyeonghoeru, a banqueting pavilion raised on stone pillars in an artificial pond, visible from the path but normally entered only on a booked special tour. North of the audience halls come the living quarters: Gangnyeongjeon for the king, Gyotaejeon for the queen with its terraced rear garden, the Donggung compound for the crown prince, the Sojubang palace kitchens, Jagyeongjeon with its decorated chimney wall, and Heungbokjeon.

Further north the ground opens out to Hyangwonjeong, a small hexagonal pavilion on an island, and Geoncheonggung, where Queen Min was assassinated in 1895. Jibokjae, a library in Qing style, and the shrine compound Taewonjeon close the northern end.

Two national museums stand inside the walls, the National Palace Museum in the south-west corner and the National Folk Museum on the east side. Both keep their own opening hours and entry rules.

Checked 2026-08-26 · Source

How long to spend

The palace publishes three walking routes, of 40, 60 and 90 minutes. The 40-minute route covers the ceremonial spine only, as far as Gyeonghoeru; the 60- and 90-minute routes add the royal living quarters and Jagyeongjeon, and the 90-minute version is the one that gets you round the whole southern half without hurrying.

None of the three reaches the far north of the grounds. Hyangwonjeong, Geoncheonggung, Jibokjae and Taewonjeon are another twenty minutes of flat walking beyond the residential halls, and the walk back to Gwanghwamun from there is ten minutes on its own. Two hours is the realistic figure for a first visit that includes them, which is what this guide records.

The free guided tour is scheduled at one hour to an hour and a half and starts in front of the information office inside Heungnyemun. If you want the changing of the guard as well, add twenty minutes and arrive before 10:00 or 14:00 rather than after.

The two museums are each worth an hour and are not part of that estimate. Note also that staff begin clearing the grounds thirty minutes before closing time, with announcements, so the last usable half-hour is not usable.

Checked 2026-08-26

Season and crowds

Gyeongbokgung closes on Tuesdays. If that Tuesday is a public holiday or a substitute holiday the palace opens anyway and takes the following first non-holiday as its closing day instead, so check the Korean holiday calendar before planning a Tuesday visit.

Hours move with the season. From November to February the palace is open 09:00 to 17:00 with last admission at 16:00; from March to May and again in September and October, 09:00 to 18:00 with last admission at 17:00; from June to August, 09:00 to 18:30 with last admission at 17:30. Last admission is one hour before closing in every season.

The changing of the guard is performed at 10:00 and 14:00, with a separate sentry ceremony at Gwanghwamun at 11:00 and 13:00. Both are outdoor events and were suspended during the 2026 heatwave alerts, resuming on 10 August, so in high summer treat them as likely rather than certain.

Autumn brings two extras. A night opening runs from 2 September to 2 October 2026, 19:00 to 21:30 with last admission at 20:30, closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Guided special tours of Gyeonghoeru run 2 September to 30 October 2026 and, in spring, 1 April to 29 May, in Korean only and by online reservation.

Checked 2026-08-26 · Source

Tickets

Adult admission is 3,000 won, and 2,400 won each for groups of ten or more. The adult band means ages 25 to 64 for Korean nationals and 19 to 64 for foreign visitors, so a foreign visitor aged 18 or under, or 65 or over, enters free on production of a passport. Free entry also covers registered disabled visitors with one companion, pregnant visitors with one companion, and holders of the various veterans' and welfare cards the price list sets out; the last Wednesday of every month, Korea's Culture Day, is free for everyone.

Anyone wearing hanbok enters free. The rule is specific: an upper garment with a crossed collar plus a skirt or trousers. A jeogori over jeans, hanbok trousers under a T-shirt, a one-piece dress without a jeogori, or an overcoat alone will be turned away at the gate.

If you are seeing more than one palace, the 6,000 won integrated ticket covers Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung and Jongmyo, is valid six months from purchase and is sold at those ticket offices; it does not include Changdeokgung's rear garden.

The 2026 night opening is a separate 3,000 won ticket, 3,000 places sold online per night and 300 held for foreign visitors at the Gwanghwamun ticket office on the day.

Checked 2026-08-26 · Source

Getting there

The address is 161 Sajik-ro, Jongno-gu, and the palace office answers on 02-3700-3900. No car is needed, and a car is the worse option.

The nearest station is Gyeongbokgung on subway Line 3: exit 5, two minutes on foot. Anguk on Line 3, exit 1, and Gwanghwamun on Line 5, exit 2, are both about six minutes away, and the Gwanghwamun approach gives you the full frontal view of the main gate as you walk up. Buses 109, 171, 272, 601, 606, 710, 1020 and 7025 stop at the Gyeongbokgung stop; 171, 272, 401, 406, 704, 710, 1020 and 7025 also stop at Duksung Girls' School, on the other side of the block.

If you do drive, the palace car park is on the left at the start of the road from Gwanghwamun towards Samcheong-dong, with 240 underground spaces for cars and 50 above for coaches. It opens 06:00 to 23:00, and a small car pays 3,000 won for the first hour then 800 won per ten minutes; larger vehicles pay 5,000 won for the first hour. Wheelchair users are directed to the surface car park.

Checked 2026-08-26 · Source

What to watch out for

The hanbok exemption is the rule most often misread. Both traditional and modern everyday hanbok qualify, a jeogori without ribbon ties is fine and hanbok trousers with a zip waist are fine, but the garment must be a crossed-collar top with a skirt or trousers. A T-shirt-style modern jeogori does not count, a jeogori over jeans does not count, and a one-piece hanbok dress without a jeogori does not count. Staff check at the Heungnyemun entrance before waving you through.

The free guided tours leave exactly on time from the information office and latecomers are not admitted; they run in the rain. The foreign-language tours are for foreign visitors, and a Korean national may join only as someone's companion. Fewer than ten people need no booking; ten or more must book, up to thirty per session.

Beyond that: the palace shuts on Tuesdays, last admission is a full hour before the gate closes, and staff start moving visitors out thirty minutes before closing. The guard ceremonies are outdoors and are cancelled under heat warnings. The two museums inside the walls set their own hours and conditions, which are not the palace's, so confirm them separately rather than assuming the palace ticket or the palace timetable applies.

Checked 2026-08-26 · Source

Photography

The palace faces south, so the light works in your favour early and against you in the middle of the day. Geunjeongjeon photographs best in the first two hours after the 09:00 opening, from the corners of the courtyard colonnade rather than dead centre: from there the roof lines separate and Bugaksan rises behind the hall, which is the picture that says Seoul rather than any palace anywhere.

Gyeonghoeru is the reverse case. The pond reflects it cleanly in late afternoon from the eastern bank, and in still weather the columns double in the water; from the western path in the morning you are shooting into the sun. Hyangwonjeong, at the northern end, is small enough to fill a frame and is usually the quietest of the set pieces because most visitors turn back before reaching it.

Crowds are part of the subject here. Rented hanbok is everywhere on fine weekends and gives you colour against grey stone, but it also means the courtyards are never empty; if you want clean architecture, come on a weekday in the first hour. For the changing of the guard, stand to the side of the parade ground rather than behind the front rank at Gwanghwamun, where the view is a wall of raised phones.

Checked 2026-08-26

Where it is

Nearby

External links

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