Buying single tickets to all five royal sites in central Seoul costs 9,000 won. The Royal Palace Pass costs 6,000 won and stays valid for six months. Two palaces already cover the cost, so if Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung are both on your list, the decision is made.
All figures below come from the official fee table published by the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center under the Korea Heritage Service, checked in September 2026. One warning: some individual palace pages on the heritage agency site still show the pass as 10,000 won valid for three months. That is the pre-May 2024 price. The current price is 6,000 won for six months.
Foreigners start paying at 19, Koreans at 25
This is the part that confuses most visitors. The paid adult bracket is ages 19 to 64 for foreign visitors, but ages 25 to 64 for Korean nationals.
- Foreign visitors aged 18 and under — free
- Foreign visitors aged 65 and over — free
- Korean nationals aged 24 and under — free
- Korean nationals aged 65 and over — free
Because of this, there is no separate youth or child price at the main palace grounds. You either pay the adult fare or enter free. The only exception is the Huwon garden at Changdeokgung. Bring your passport if you are claiming a free entry based on age.
Current admission fees
| Site | Adult | Group of 10+ | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gyeongbokgung Palace | 3,000 won | 2,400 won | Tuesday |
| Changdeokgung Palace | 3,000 won | 2,400 won | Monday |
| Changgyeonggung Palace | 1,000 won | 800 won | Monday |
| Deoksugung Palace | 1,000 won | 800 won | Monday |
| Jongmyo Shrine | 1,000 won | 1,000 won | Tuesday |
Jongmyo is the only site with no group discount. Note the split closing days: Gyeongbokgung and Jongmyo close on Tuesdays, the other three close on Mondays. Planning a Monday or Tuesday visit without checking this is the most common mistake. When a closing day falls on a public holiday the site opens and closes on the next non-holiday instead.
The Royal Palace Pass
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Price | 6,000 won |
| Validity | Six months from purchase |
| Entries | One visit per site |
| Included | Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung palace grounds, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung, Jongmyo |
| Not included | Changdeokgung Huwon garden |
| Where to buy | Ticket offices at the four palaces and Jongmyo |
| Refunds | Only at the site where you bought it, and only if no coupon has been torn off |
When the pass pays off, and when it does not
The break-even point is simple. Two 3,000-won tickets, or one 3,000-won ticket plus three 1,000-won tickets, comes to exactly 6,000 won. Anything beyond that and the pass wins.
Worth buying:
- All five sites — 6,000 instead of 9,000, saves 3,000 won
- Gyeongbokgung + Changdeokgung + one cheaper site — saves 1,000 won
- Gyeongbokgung + Changdeokgung — exactly even, with three sites left as a free option
Not worth buying:
- One palace only — Gyeongbokgung alone is 3,000, so the pass loses 3,000 won
- Changgyeonggung + Deoksugung + Jongmyo only — 3,000 instead of 6,000, loses 3,000 won
- Anyone entering free by age — single tickets cost nothing, so the pass is a pure loss
How to get in for free
- The age brackets above
- Wearing hanbok
- The last Wednesday of every month, Korea’s “Culture Day”
- Visitors with disabilities, pregnant visitors with one companion, and certain other categories, with documentation
Neither hanbok nor Culture Day applies to the Changdeokgung Huwon garden.
The hanbok rule has specific requirements
Renting hanbok near the palaces is popular precisely because it waives admission, but the agency publishes actual criteria and staff do check.
- Both formal and modernised hanbok count
- You must wear a top (jeogori) and a bottom (skirt or trousers) together. An outer robe alone does not qualify
- The jeogori must have an overlapping front collar. How it fastens does not matter
- Trousers must follow the traditional sapok cut
- Skirts have no restriction on how they close
- Excessively revealing outfits are rejected
Explicitly rejected: jeans with a jeogori, and a hanbok skirt or trousers with a T-shirt. Wearing only a gollyongpo, dopo or cheollik robe does not count either, since these are outer garments. Since July 2019 you may wear hanbok of any gender.
Changdeokgung Huwon is priced and booked separately
The garden, often marketed in English as the Secret Garden, requires a palace grounds ticket on top of the garden fee. You cannot walk in on your own — entry is by guided group only.
| Visitor | Garden | Total with grounds |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign adult 19–64 | 5,000 won | 8,000 won |
| Ages 7–18 | 2,500 won | 2,500 won (grounds free) |
| Ages 65+ | 5,000 won | 5,000 won (grounds free) |
There is no group discount, and age 65+ does not make the garden free. Only children aged 6 and under enter the garden free.
Booking opens six days before your visit at 10:00 and runs until the previous day, first come first served. Each session holds 100 people: 50 online and 50 sold on site from 09:00 on the day, up to 15 minutes before the session. The walk takes about 70 minutes. Arrive late and you forfeit both entry and refund. The meeting point is the garden entrance, which is a 15-minute-plus walk from Geumho Gate, so allow extra time.
Foreign-language sessions run in English (10:30, 11:30, 14:30, plus 15:30 from March to November), Chinese (Tue/Thu/Sat 12:30) and Japanese (Wed/Fri/Sun 13:30). The official guidance warns that April–May and October–November sell out quickly both online and on site. The Okryucheon stream area is closed for restoration.
Autumn 2026 night programmes
Changgyeonggung and Deoksugung are open until 21:00 all year with last entry at 20:00, so they need no special night event. The others run limited seasons.
| Programme | Dates | Price | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gyeongbokgung night viewing | 2 Sep – 2 Oct | 3,000 won | 19:00–21:30, last entry 20:30. Closed Mon and Tue |
| Changdeokgung Moonlight Tour | 10 Sep – 17 Oct | 30,000 won | Thu–Sun, 28 people per session, lottery |
This matters for foreign visitors: Gyeongbokgung night viewing admits 3,300 people a day, and 300 of those tickets are held back for foreign visitors to buy on site — bring your passport and you can get up to two. The other 3,000 go online in advance. Children aged 6 and under, visitors 65 and over, and anyone in hanbok enter free without booking, though an accompanying adult still needs a ticket.
The Changdeokgung Moonlight Tour runs dedicated foreign-language sessions in English, Chinese and Japanese on 20 September, 27 September, 4 October and 11 October, booked through Creatrip. The price for those specific sessions was not stated in the official release.
Deoksugung also runs “Night at Seokjojeon” from 9 September to 18 October, Wednesday to Sunday, at 35,000 won per person according to the heritage agency’s press material. We could not locate the primary notice for this one, so confirm on the official site before booking.
Foreign-language tours are free
You pay admission only. No reservation is needed for groups under 10.
| Site | English | Chinese | Japanese |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gyeongbokgung | 11:00, 13:30, 15:30 | 10:30, 15:00 | 10:00, 14:30 |
| Changdeokgung grounds | 10:15, 13:15 | Tue/Thu/Sat 10:00 | Wed/Fri/Sun 11:00 |
| Changgyeonggung | 11:00, 15:00 | 14:00 | 10:00 |
| Deoksugung | 10:45, 13:30 | 10:00, 14:30 | 09:30, 16:00 |
| Jongmyo | 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00 | 11:00, 15:00 | 09:40, 11:40, 13:40, 15:40 |
Gyeongbokgung also runs Spanish (Fri/Sat 10:30, 15:00) and French (Wed/Thu 11:00, 15:00). The Gyeongbokgung tour starts at the information desk just inside Heungnyemun Gate and takes 1 to 1.5 hours. At Changdeokgung, meet at the guard house opposite Injeongmun Gate; the walk takes about 50 minutes. Deoksugung tours gather at the information board past Geumcheongyo Bridge.
Jongmyo works differently on weekdays
On Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Jongmyo admits visitors only on timed guided sessions — you cannot wander freely. Each session takes 200 people, 100 booked online and 100 sold on site. On Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and Culture Day, free-roaming entry is allowed and the north gate on Yulgok-ro opens. Closed Tuesdays. The English sessions listed above run year-round.
Opening hours
Gyeongbokgung runs 09:00–18:00 in March to May and September to October (last entry 17:00), 09:00–18:30 in June to August (last entry 17:30), and 09:00–17:00 from November to February (last entry 16:00). Changdeokgung grounds run 09:00–18:00 from February to May and September to October, 09:00–18:30 in June to August, and 09:00–17:30 from November to January.
Getting there
- Gyeongbokgung — Line 3 Gyeongbokgung Station, Exit 5, 2 minutes
- Changdeokgung — Line 3 Anguk Station, Exit 3, 5 minutes
- Changgyeonggung — Line 4 Hyehwa Station, Exit 4, 12 minutes
- Deoksugung — Line 1 or 2 City Hall Station, Exit 2, 2 minutes
- Jongmyo — Line 1, 3 or 5 Jongno 3-ga Station, Exit 11 or 8, 5 minutes
All five sit within walking distance of each other in central Seoul, which is what makes the six-month pass practical even on a short trip.
Sources
A fee increase for 2027 has been announced, but no figures have been published. The numbers here are current as of September 2026.