Check Before you go
Palace Picker
Pick a day and when you'll get there. We'll show which palaces are open, what you'll pay and the next English tours.
Palace hours, fees and tour times last checked Oct 2026. Always confirm with the official source.
Best pick
How it decides
For the day you pick, each palace is checked against its weekly closing day and the Korean public holiday calendar. The four ticketed palaces follow one rule: if the closing day is a public holiday, they open that day and close on the next non-holiday instead. Gyeonghuigung, run by the Seoul Museum of History, is closed on Mondays and 1 January; whether it shifts its closing day around holidays isn't published, so we flag those dates.
Hours follow the season: Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung close earlier in winter, while Changgyeonggung and Deoksugung stay open until 21:00 all year. Last entry is one hour before closing at the ticketed palaces. If you enter an arrival time, tours that have already started are hidden and the best pick is the first of Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Deoksugung, Changgyeonggung and Gyeonghuigung that is open and leaves you enough time for a proper visit.
Who pays what
| Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung | ₩3,000 (foreign adults 19–64) |
|---|---|
| Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung | ₩1,000 |
| Gyeonghuigung | Free |
| Secret Garden tour | +₩5,000 (₩2,500 ages 7–18), on top of the Changdeokgung ticket |
| Integrated ticket | ₩6,000: one entry each to the four ticketed palaces and Jongmyo within six months, Secret Garden excluded |
Entry is free for foreign visitors aged 18 and under or 65 and over, and for anyone in a full hanbok. The Korea Heritage Service also lists every Wednesday as a free "Culture Day" at the palaces, except Gyeongbokgung and the Secret Garden.
Sources and limits
Hours, fees, tours and ceremony times come from the Korea Heritage Service'shours andfees pages, and Gyeonghuigung's from theSeoul Museum of History. Palaces can shorten hours, and ceremonies are cancelled in bad weather, so check on the day for anything you can't miss. For several days at once, use Open or Closed?; to grab Secret Garden tickets, set a Booking Alarm.
Questions people ask
Which palace is open on a Monday or a Tuesday?
On Mondays only Gyeongbokgung is open, because Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung and Gyeonghuigung all close that day. On Tuesdays Gyeongbokgung closes and the other four are open. If the closing day is a public holiday, the four ticketed palaces open anyway and close on the next non-holiday.
I only have the evening. Can I still see a palace?
Yes. Changgyeonggung and Deoksugung are open until 21:00 every day they are open, with last entry at 20:00, so you can walk in after dinner without booking. Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung close between 17:00 and 18:30 depending on the season.
Do I need to book the free English tours?
Not for the regular English palace tours at Gyeongbokgung, which run at set times every day the palace is open, without booking. The Secret Garden at Changdeokgung is different: it is a timed ticket that sells out, with half the places released online at 10:00 six days ahead.
Is there a cheaper day to visit?
The Korea Heritage Service lists every Wednesday as a free "Culture Day" at the palaces, except Gyeongbokgung and the Secret Garden tour. Foreign visitors aged 18 and under or 65 and over, and anyone in a full hanbok, get in free on any day.