Seoul has five royal palaces that visitors can enter, and they do not all close on the same day. If you plan a palace day on the wrong weekday, you may find the gate shut. This guide lists the closing day of each palace, its opening hours and its listed fee, so you can match a palace to your day.
We read the English pages of the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) for each palace on 11 October 2026. Those pages show no update date, so treat them as the latest listing we could read, not as a guarantee. Always check the palace’s official page before you go.
The Short Answer
- Gyeongbokgung is closed on Tuesdays.
- Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung and Deoksugung are closed on Mondays.
- Gyeonghuigung is closed on Mondays and on 1 January.
That gives you a simple rule. On a Monday, Gyeongbokgung is the palace that is open. On a Tuesday, Gyeongbokgung is closed and the other four are open. From Wednesday to Sunday, all five are open on the days listed. The one exception we found is Gyeonghuigung, which is also closed on 1 January.
The Five Palaces at a Glance
Gyeongbokgung (경복궁)
- Closed: Tuesdays.
- Hours: 09:00 to 17:00 from November to February (last admission 16:00); 09:00 to 18:00 from March to May and from September to October (last admission 17:00); 09:00 to 18:30 from June to August (last admission 17:30).
- Fee: adults 3,000 won.
KTO’s TourAPI listing adds that if the regular closing day overlaps a public holiday, the palace opens, and the next non-holiday day becomes the closing day.
Changdeokgung (창덕궁)
- Closed: Mondays.
- Hours: 09:00 to 18:00 from February to May and from September to October; 09:00 to 18:30 from June to August; 09:00 to 17:30 from November to January. Last admission is one hour before closing.
- Fee: 3,000 won for the palace. The Secret Garden (Huwon) is listed at 5,000 won for adults and 2,500 won for children.
The page does not describe how Huwon visits are organized, so we cannot tell you whether you need a time slot or a guide. Check the official page for that.
Changgyeonggung (창경궁)
- Closed: Mondays.
- Hours: 09:00 to 21:00, last admission 20:00.
- Fee: 1,000 won for individuals, 800 won per person for groups of 10 or more.
Deoksugung (덕수궁)
- Closed: Mondays.
- Hours: general admission 09:00 to 21:00, last admission 20:00. Some exhibition halls have shorter hours, and the art museum needs a separate ticket.
- Fee: 1,000 won for individuals, 800 won per person for groups of 10 or more.
Gyeonghuigung (경희궁)
- Closed: Mondays and 1 January.
- Hours: 09:00 to 18:00.
- Fee: the page we read does not state one.
When a Closing Day Is a Holiday
The KTO pages for Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung and Deoksugung say that if a Monday is a public holiday, the palace closes on the following business day instead. For Gyeongbokgung, KTO’s English page says that if a Tuesday is a public holiday, it closes on the following business day. Visit Seoul, the city’s tourism site, says the palace opens when a closing day overlaps a holiday.
The two descriptions point the same way: the weekly closing is moved, not dropped. We did not find a clear statement of which day becomes the closing day in every case, so on a holiday week, confirm the date with the palace.
Planning by Weekday
This part is our own reading of the listings above, not a sourced schedule.
- Monday: Gyeongbokgung is open. The other four are closed.
- Tuesday: Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung and Gyeonghuigung are open. Gyeongbokgung is closed.
- Wednesday to Sunday: all five are open. Gyeonghuigung is also closed on 1 January.
If your only free day in Seoul is a Monday, Gyeongbokgung is the palace to choose. If it is a Tuesday, pick one of the other four. Because Changgyeonggung and Deoksugung are listed with hours until 21:00 and last admission at 20:00, they are the ones with listed hours into the evening. We did not check whether any evening or night program is running this season.
Fees at a Glance
According to the pages we read, Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung are 3,000 won, and Changgyeonggung and Deoksugung are 1,000 won. Yonhap News reported on 5 August 2026 that these fees have not changed since 2005. It also reported that the Korea Heritage Service plans to announce new fees in November, to take effect on 1 January 2027. We have not seen the new amounts.
Visitors in a complete hanbok are listed as free at Gyeongbokgung. See our separate guide: Wearing Hanbok: Free Palace Entry Rules.
For a Gyeongbokgung visit combined with Bukchon and lunch nearby, see Gyeongbokgung, Bukchon and Tongin Market: A Seoul Half-Day Guide.
FAQ
Which palace should I visit on a Monday? Gyeongbokgung is open. The other four are closed on Mondays.
Which palace should I visit on a Tuesday? Gyeongbokgung is closed. Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung and Gyeonghuigung are open.
Which palaces stay open into the evening? KTO lists Changgyeonggung and Deoksugung with hours to 21:00, with last admission at 20:00.
What We Could Not Confirm
- Whether any hours changed for holidays such as Seollal or Chuseok.
- Night viewing programs, special events and ticketing for this season.
- The admission fee for Gyeonghuigung.
- How Changdeokgung’s Secret Garden visits are organized.
- Hours and closing days for Jongmyo Shrine and the royal tombs, which we did not read.
Sources
Checked on 11 Oct 2026. None of these pages shows an update date.
- Korea Tourism Organization, Visit Korea English pages: Gyeongbokgung ( https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/svc/contents/contentsView.do?vcontsId=87740 ), Changdeokgung ( https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/svc/whereToGo/locIntrdn/rgnContentsView.do?vcontsId=94399 ), Changgyeonggung ( https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/svc/contents/contentsView.do?vcontsId=111553 ), Deoksugung ( https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/svc/contents/contentsView.do?vcontsId=110650 ), Gyeonghuigung ( https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/svc/contents/contentsView.do?vcontsId=110682 ).
- Korea Tourism Organization, TourAPI (Korean service): Gyeongbokgung (content ID 126508), closing day and holiday rule. Photographs from this listing, KOGL Type 1, used unaltered.
- Visit Seoul, Gyeongbokgung: https://english.visitseoul.net/attractions/Gyeongbokgung/ENP000072 (marked as of 2026).
- Yonhap News via Daum, 5 Aug 2026, palace fee plan: https://v.daum.net/v/20260805160024288 .
