Every Palace That's Free in Hanbok (2026) — and the One That Isn't

Published Aug 2, 2026

Wear hanbok properly and five palaces are free: Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung, and Jongmyo. The Joseon Royal Tombs are free too. The one exception is Changdeokgung’s Secret Garden — you pay 5,000 won regardless of what you’re wearing.

At full price, visiting all five would cost 9,000 won. With the integrated palace ticket it comes to 6,000 won. The idea that “hanbok rental pays for itself through saved entry fees” does not hold up to the arithmetic. What hanbok actually saves you is time in line at the ticket booth. The real calculation is about which day of the week you go and how many hours you rent.

Which palaces are free if I wear hanbok?

Palace / Site	Regular price (adult)	In hanbok	Closed
Gyeongbokgung	3,000 won	Free	Tuesday
Changdeokgung (main hall)	3,000 won	Free	Monday
Changdeokgung Secret Garden	5,000 won (main hall ticket required separately)	Not free	Monday
Changgyeonggung	1,000 won	Free	Monday
Deoksugung	1,000 won	Free	Monday
Jongmyo	1,000 won	Free	Tuesday
Joseon Royal Tombs (Seolleung, Jeongneung, etc.)	1,000 won	Free	Monday

The Royal Palaces and Tombs Agency officially lists “persons wearing hanbok” among its free admission categories. This applies to both Korean nationals and foreign visitors.
The Secret Garden is different. Its free admission list is limited to children under 7, national merit recipients (Korean nationals), and registered disabled visitors (Korean nationals). Hanbok wearers are not included. On top of that, you must also buy a main hall ticket to access the garden.
Sajikdan, Chilgung, and Sungnyemun Gate are free to begin with.

Note — Integrated Palace Ticket: 6,000 won, valid for six months from the date of purchase for one visit each to the four main palaces plus Jongmyo (Changdeokgung Secret Garden excluded). Sold at palace ticket booths. If someone in your group is not wearing hanbok, this is the better option.

Which day of the week should you go? (This is where most people get it wrong)

Palace closing days split into two groups. Pick the wrong day and the whole plan collapses.

Day	Open	Closed
Monday	Gyeongbokgung, Jongmyo	Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung, Joseon Royal Tombs, Sungnyemun
Tuesday	Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung	Gyeongbokgung, Jongmyo, Chilgung
Wednesday–Sunday	All open	—

Renting hanbok outside Gyeongbokgung on a Tuesday is the worst possible move. Both Gyeongbokgung and Jongmyo are closed. Pivot to Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung instead and the day is salvaged.
If it’s Monday, focus on Gyeongbokgung. The Changdeokgung group is fully shut.
When a regular closing day falls on a public holiday or substitute holiday, the palace opens that day and closes on the first non-holiday weekday that follows.

How many palaces can you fit into one rental?

The usable time in hanbok is your rental duration minus 20–30 minutes for changing and hair. Add walking time between palaces on top of that.

Rental duration	Realistic route
2 hours	Gyeongbokgung alone. Even then, you’ll have to move briskly.
4 hours	Gyeongbokgung + Bukchon alleys, or Gyeongbokgung + Changdeokgung main hall
Full day	Gyeongbokgung → Changdeokgung → Changgyeonggung → (Palace Wall Path) → Jongmyo. All four.

Three route tips

Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung connect inside the grounds. You do not need to exit and re-enter (you do need to pass each gate, but in hanbok both are free).
Changgyeonggung and Jongmyo are linked by the Palace Wall Path (the green corridor above Yulgok-ro). Note that Jongmyo’s entry method depends on the day of the week — see below.
Deoksugung sits apart from the others. It is near City Hall Station, so bundling it with the other four requires a subway ride. The upside: it stays open until 9 p.m.

Why can’t you just walk into Jongmyo?

Jongmyo operates completely differently depending on the day.

Day	Entry method
Saturday, Sunday, public holidays, Culture Day (last Wednesday of each month)	Free roaming — walk in as you like
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday	Timed entry only — enter at a fixed time and follow a guide for one hour
Tuesday	Closed

On timed-entry days, each language has its own schedule: English at 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00; Chinese at 11:00, 15:00; Japanese at 09:40, 11:40, 13:40, 15:40. Each slot holds 200 people (100 online reservation + 100 on-site).

The easiest way to visit Jongmyo in hanbok is on a Saturday or Sunday. If you go on a weekday, you need to work backwards from the guided tour start time when choosing your rental slot.

When does entry close? (Not the same as closing time)

This is the most common mistake. The ticket booth closes one hour before the palace does.

Palace	June–August	March–May, September–October	November–February
Gyeongbokgung	09:00–18:30 (last entry 17:30)	09:00–18:00 (last entry 17:00)	09:00–17:00 (last entry 16:00)
Changdeokgung	09:00–18:30 (last entry 17:30)	09:00–18:00 (last entry 17:00)	09:00–17:30 (last entry 16:30) ※Nov–Jan
Deoksugung	09:00–21:00 (last entry 20:00) — year-round
Changgyeonggung	09:00–21:00 (last entry 20:00) — year-round

Deoksugung and Changgyeonggung stay open until 9 p.m. all four seasons. No special night-opening ticket required — just walk in. In hanbok, it’s free. These two are the most reliable answer for evening hanbok photos.
From 30 minutes before closing, announcements begin asking visitors to head toward the exit.

What counts as ‘hanbok’ for free entry?

These are the criteria from the Royal Palaces and Tombs Agency’s Hanbok Free Admission Guidelines.

What qualifies

Both traditional hanbok and modern saenghwal hanbok
Top (jeogori) + bottom (skirt chima or trousers baji) worn together
The jeogori must keep its overlapping collar shape — goreum ties are not required, and the knot style does not matter
Skirts: any fastening style is fine
Trousers: should approximate the sapok-baji cut
Cross-gender wearing is permitted. A man in a skirt or a woman in trousers still gets free entry (the gender clause was removed on 1 July 2019 following a National Human Rights Commission recommendation)

What does not qualify

Just a durumagi (outer coat) — a durumagi is considered outerwear, equivalent to wearing only a coat over underwear
Jeans with only a jeogori on top
A t-shirt with hanbok trousers
A dress-style one-piece without a jeogori

Visitors are asked to dress in a manner suited to the dignity of the palace; excessive exposure is not permitted.

A practical tip when choosing at the rental shop: Some trendy ‘fusion’ lines replace the jeogori with a short top or use a one-piece design. At the counter, just ask once: “Will this qualify for free palace entry?” As long as it has a jeogori plus a skirt or trousers, it nearly always passes.

Jongmyo on a weekday — one timing trick

If you find yourself visiting on a timed-entry day, the 14:00 English tour and the 14:30 Japanese tour leave a useful gap between the morning and afternoon Gyeongbokgung Guard Ceremony (10:00 and 14:00). Rent at 09:00, see the 10:00 ceremony, walk the 15 minutes to Jongmyo, and join the 12:00 English tour. After that, the Palace Wall Path leads to Changgyeonggung, which stays open until 21:00.

I ran a hanbok rental shop at Gyeongbokgung from 2015 to 2025. These closing-day patterns, the Jongmyo entry quirks, and the Secret Garden surprise are things I explained at the counter hundreds of times. The most common reaction was: “I wish I’d known that before I booked.”

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Frequently asked questions

Are all Seoul palaces free if I wear hanbok?

Gyeongbokgung (3,000 won), Changdeokgung main hall (3,000 won), Changgyeonggung (1,000 won), Deoksugung (1,000 won), Jongmyo (1,000 won), and the Joseon Royal Tombs (1,000 won) are all free in hanbok. The one exception is the Changdeokgung Secret Garden — you still pay 5,000 won and must also buy a separate main hall ticket. The Secret Garden's free admission list covers only children under 7, national merit recipients (Korean nationals), and registered disabled visitors (Korean nationals).

Which day of the week should I wear hanbok to the palaces?

Closed days fall into two groups. On Monday, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung and the Joseon Royal Tombs are closed — but Gyeongbokgung and Jongmyo are open. On Tuesday, the opposite: Gyeongbokgung and Jongmyo are closed, while Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung and Deoksugung are open. If you planned only Gyeongbokgung on a Tuesday, you will arrive to closed gates. When a regular holiday falls on a public holiday, the palace opens that day and closes on the next non-holiday weekday instead.

Can I visit a palace at night in hanbok?

Deoksugung and Changgyeonggung stay open until 9 p.m. year-round (last entry 8 p.m.). Unlike Gyeongbokgung's seasonal night openings, these require no separate reservation, and hanbok wearers enter free. Gyeongbokgung closes between 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. depending on the season, so for night hanbok photos, Deoksugung or Changgyeonggung is the practical answer.

What kind of hanbok qualifies for free entry?

You need both a top (jeogori) and a bottom (skirt chima or trousers baji). Both traditional hanbok and modern saenghwal hanbok are accepted. The jeogori must keep its overlapping collar shape — goreum ties are not required. Cross-gender wearing is permitted: a man in a skirt or a woman in trousers still qualifies. What does not qualify: just an outer coat (durumagi) alone, jeans with only a jeogori top, a t-shirt with hanbok trousers, or a dress-style one-piece without a jeogori.

Shops this applies to

Prices and free extras are the shops’ own published figures. No paid rankings.

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