Seoul City Tour Bus: Day Course, Stops and Hours

The Seoul City Tour Bus is a hop-on, hop-off bus that loops through central Seoul. Its day course passes palaces, shopping areas and N Seoul Tower, so it can work as a simple way to see several sights without planning each transfer.

This guide covers the day course only. We read the operator’s official English pages on 11 Oct 2026 and report what they say. Fares were the hardest part to pin down, and we explain why below.

Quick answer – Course: Downtown, Palaces & Namsan Course, hop-on, hop-off, 15 stops. – Start: Gwanghwamun ticket booth, 68-2 Taepyeong-ro 1-ga, Jung-gu. – Buses: first 9:20, last 16:50, both from Gwanghwamun. – Closed: Mondays (open on holiday Mondays, closed the next Tuesday instead). – Ticket: valid for the whole day. Fares: not confirmed here.

What the Day Course Is

The operator calls it the Downtown, Palaces & Namsan Course. A boarding pass lets you get on and off at any of the 15 stops during the day. The full loop takes about 1.5 hours if you stay on the bus.

The stops, in the order the official page lists them, are:

Gwanghwamun Station (departure)
Myeong-dong
Namsangol Hanok Village
Ambassador Seoul Pullman Hotel
Shilla Hotel, Jangchungdan Park
N Seoul Tower
Hyatt Hotel
Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), Dongdaemun Market
Daehak-ro
Changgyeonggung Palace
Changdeokgung Palace
Insa-dong, Bukchon
Cheongwadae (Blue House)
Gyeongbokgung Palace, Folk Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art (as the official page lists it)
Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, Gwanghwamun Square

The route ends back at Gwanghwamun Station.

Times and Closed Days

First bus: 9:20 from Gwanghwamun.
Last bus: 16:50 from Gwanghwamun.
Interval: the course page says about every 25 minutes. The FAQ page says every 30 minutes. The two official pages disagree, so plan for up to 30 minutes between buses.
Closed days: Mondays. The course page says it is open on holiday Mondays and closed on the Tuesday instead.

Because the last bus leaves Gwanghwamun at 16:50, treat the day course as a daytime activity. The page does not say what time the last bus reaches each stop, so we cannot tell you the latest time to board at a stop farther along the loop.

How Tickets Work

Where to board: the Gwanghwamun ticket booth. You show your boarding pass to the driver.
Booking: online booking is available until the day before travel. Same-day online booking is not offered. On the day, you can buy a ticket at the booth.
If you booked online: give your name at the booth to receive your boarding pass.
Validity: the boarding pass is valid for the whole day.
Seats: unreserved, first come, first served. If the bus is full, you wait for the next one, so arriving early is advised.
Children: the child fare applies from 48 months through age 18. Children under 48 months ride free, one per accompanying adult, without a seat.

Fares

We could not confirm a clear fare for the day course. The course page does not list adult or child prices. The operator’s home page shows more than one figure per ticket without saying which is the regular price and which is a discount, so we do not want to guess. Check the price on the booking page when you buy. You can also call customer service at 02-777-6090.

Night Course

The operator also runs a night course, the Han River Namsan Night Tour. The FAQ page says it departs at 19:00, or 19:30 from May to August. The operator’s home page describes the course as 90 minutes, with 25 minutes of photo time. We did not find its closed days on the pages we read.

Is It Right for You?

This is our opinion, not an official claim. A hop-on, hop-off bus suits a first visit when you want to see several areas and do not want to work out each transfer. If you prefer to spend most of your day in one place, it is probably not needed.

If N Seoul Tower is your main goal, you can also reach it by cable car or a Namsan bus. Our N Seoul Tower and National Museum guide covers those options and the tower’s opening hours.

What We Could Not Confirm

Day course adult and child fares.
The exact time the last bus reaches each stop, and whether buses are very full at busy times.
Which stop is best for a first visit. The pages do not say.
Closed days of the night course.
Whether stops are changed during road works. The pages we read did not mention it.

Before You Go

Check the operator’s English site and the Gwanghwamun booth for the latest timetable and fares. Do not rely on older articles, because routes and times have changed over the years. The Instagram cards for our Seoul guides are at @rolo.koreaguide.

Related guides

Sources

Checked on 11 Oct 2026.

Seoul City Tour Bus (official English site), home page: https://seoulcitybus.com/en/
Seoul City Tour Bus, Downtown, Palaces & Namsan Course: https://seoulcitybus.com/en/tours/1
Seoul City Tour Bus, FAQ: https://seoulcitybus.com/en/support/faq