First Time in Seoul: 5 Places to Start
Gyeongbokgung Palace, Bukchon Hanok Village, Myeongdong, N Seoul Tower and the Han River parks, compared on what you'll see, when to go and who each suits. Two of the five charge admission; the other three have no opening hours, and something else to check instead.
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If this is your first trip to Seoul, these five are the usual starting point. A palace, a lane of hanok roofs, a shopping street, an observation deck and the riverside — they do not overlap, so between them you get a fair idea of what kind of city this is.
Choosing between them is simple. With one day, pair Gyeongbokgung and Bukchon and add either Myeongdong or Namsan in the evening. With two, put the palace, the hanok lanes and the shopping street on the first and the river and the tower on the second. If you already know what you came for: history is Gyeongbokgung, shopping is Myeongdong, photographs are Bukchon, the night skyline is N Seoul Tower, and somewhere to sit is the Han River.
Two things actually shape the plan. Only two of the five charge admission, and the other three have no opening hours — but each has something else you need to check.
Gyeongbokgung and N Seoul Tower — the day and the budget
Gyeongbokgung and N Seoul Tower are the ticketed pair, and they constrain opposite things. The palace fixes which day you go; the tower fixes how much the day costs.
Gyeongbokgung and N Seoul Tower compared
| Attribute | Gyeongbokgung Palace | N Seoul Tower |
|---|---|---|
| Adult admission | KRW 3,000 | KRW 29,000 |
| Closed | Tuesdays — the next weekday if that is a holiday | Never |
| Doors | 17:00 Nov–Feb · 18:00 Mar–May and Sep–Oct · 18:30 Jun–Aug | 22:30 weekdays · 23:00 weekends and holidays |
| Last entry | 1 hour before closing | 30 minutes before closing |
| What it means for a plan | The weekday gets decided first | The evening can stay open |
The gap between them is nearly tenfold. Gyeongbokgung's KRW 3,000 is about as cheap as a real admission fee gets in Seoul, and N Seoul Tower's KRW 29,000 is far and away the largest expense on this list. If the budget is tight, there is a middle option: take the cable car up Namsan without buying the observatory ticket, and look out over the city from the walking paths and the pavilion at the top.
In planning terms, the palace ties the weekday down and the tower frees the hour up. Gyeongbokgung closes on Tuesdays, and when that Tuesday is a public holiday the closure moves to the next weekday, so "just avoid Tuesday" is not always right. N Seoul Tower, by contrast, never closes for a day and stays open late, which makes it the easiest thing to bolt onto the end of an evening.
Bukchon, Myeongdong and the Han River — what to check instead of hours
Bukchon, Myeongdong and the Han River parks have no opening or closing time, which is why searching for one returns nothing useful. Each has something else worth knowing.
Bukchon Hanok Village — you cannot go in after 17:00. Under Article 48-3(7) of the Tourism Promotion Act and Article 20 of the Jongno-gu ordinance, the designated red zone (roughly 34,000 m² around Bukchon-ro 11-gil) is closed to visitors from 17:00 until 10:00 the following morning. The fine for entering is KRW 100,000, and enforcement began on 1 March 2025. It is the one rule on this list that costs money to break, which means Bukchon belongs in the daytime part of a plan.
The reason the rule exists is that Bukchon is a neighbourhood people live in rather than an open-air attraction. In the lanes, keep your voice down and do not photograph or look through gateways into private courtyards.
Myeongdong — the hours belong to the shops, not the street. Jung-gu's own listing fills the opening-hours field for Myeongdong with "varies by shop". There is no single opening or closing time for the street. In practice the evening is livelier than the afternoon and the food carts set up down the middle of the road after dark, but the stores shut before the carts do — so if shopping is the point, go early in the evening.
The Han River parks — open around the clock, with a schedule of fines instead. No gate, no admission, open all year. What applies instead are the penalties under the Han River park ordinance: camping or cooking outside a designated area KRW 1,000,000, leaving picnic rubbish KRW 100,000, parking outside a designated area and having a dog off the lead KRW 50,000 each. Spreading a mat and eating delivered food is fine; anything involving an open flame has to happen in the marked spots.
If you split it over two days
Start day one at Gyeongbokgung, walk on to Bukchon, finish there before 17:00 and move to Myeongdong for the evening — the three sit within reach of subway lines 3 and 4 and the day joins up on foot. Spend the afternoon of day two by the river and go up N Seoul Tower at dusk, which gets you the same city once by day and once by night. If you have a third day, this is where another palace or a museum fits.
In this list
SeoulGyeongbokgung Palace
The main Joseon palace, with the throne hall and the banquet pavilion still standing — the most organised introduction to Korean history in the city. It is the one of the five that closes on a weekday, so it decides which day the trip starts on, and its ticket office shuts an hour before the gates do.
- What you'll see
- The main Joseon palace, Geunjeongjeon and Gyeonghoeru
- What kind of place
- A ticketed palace you walk into
- Best time of day
- Morning
- Best for
- A first look at Korean history
Jan–Feb, Nov–Dec 09:00–17:00 (last entry 16:00) · Mar–May, Sep–Oct 09:00–18:00 (last entry 17:00) · Jun–Aug 09:00–18:30 (last entry 17:30)Every Tue (open if it falls on a public holiday; closed the next weekday instead)₩3,000
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- Seoul
Bukchon Hanok Village
A hillside neighbourhood of tiled roofs, with the lanes that look down over the city being the ones people photograph. It is the entry here with hours you are shut out by rather than shut in by — the designated area is off limits to visitors in the evening — so it has to go in the daytime half of a plan.
- What you'll see
- Tiled roofs and city views between the lanes
- What kind of place
- A residential neighbourhood, no admission
- Best time of day
- 10:00–17:00
- Best for
- Walking somewhere quietly
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SeoulMyeongdong Shopping Street
Dense cosmetics and clothing shops, with a lane of street-food carts down the middle of the road in the evening. The street itself has no opening or closing time and each shop keeps its own, so late in the evening you get shuttered stores and open carts side by side.
- What you'll see
- Cosmetics and clothing shops, evening street food
- What kind of place
- An open street, hours vary by shop
- Best time of day
- Evening
- Best for
- Shopping and street food
not published by the operator
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- Seoul
N Seoul Tower
The observation deck on top of Namsan, with the city and the river laid out below. It is the largest single expense of the five, but it never closes for a day and runs late into the evening, which makes it the easiest thing to attach to the end of another day. Cable car, shuttle bus or a walk up.
- What you'll see
- The whole city and the Han River from above
- What kind of place
- A paid observation deck reached by cable car or bus
- Best time of day
- Dusk into the evening
- Best for
- Seeing the skyline once, at night
Mon~Fri 10:00–22:30 (last entry 22:00) · Sat·Sun·holidays 10:00–23:00 (last entry 22:30)₩29,000
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TravelSeoulEnjoying the Han River Parks
Riverside paths and cycle lanes, where the local habit is a mat on the grass and something bought from the convenience store behind you. There is no single place called "Han River Park" — Yeouido, Banpo and Ttukseom are different parks — so this entry points at a guide to choosing between them rather than at one location.
- What you'll see
- Riverside paths, cycle lanes, room to sit
- What kind of place
- A collective name for Yeouido, Banpo, Ttukseom and others
- Best time of day
- Late afternoon
- Best for
- Building a rest into the day
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Frequently asked questions
Can I do all five in one day?
You can, but it is not worth it. Gyeongbokgung alone takes most of a morning and Bukchon closes to visitors at 17:00, so a single day realistically means the palace and Bukchon before late afternoon, then either Myeongdong or Namsan in the evening. Over two days it splits cleanly: Gyeongbokgung, Bukchon and Myeongdong on the first, the river and the tower on the second.
If I only have one day, where should I start?
Gyeongbokgung. It is the one of the five with a day-of-week constraint, so it anchors the plan, and it answers most directly what you came to Seoul to see. Bukchon is walkable from it, so a morning at the palace and an early afternoon in the lanes is the natural pairing.
Which of them are free?
Bukchon Hanok Village, Myeongdong and the Han River parks cost nothing to enter. Gyeongbokgung is KRW 3,000 for an adult and N Seoul Tower's observatory is KRW 29,000, by far the biggest expense here. Note that the Han River parks being free is not the same as costing nothing — cooking or camping outside the designated spots carries a fine.
What if it rains?
Four of the five are outdoors. Myeongdong is the one that works unchanged in the wet, with its underground arcade and indoor stores, and while N Seoul Tower's deck is indoors there is nothing to look at on a grey day. If rain is forecast, this is a list to swap for an indoor one.
Are they suitable with children?
The Han River parks are the easiest — flat, open, no time limit, and bicycles for hire. Gyeongbokgung involves a lot of walking on a large site, and Bukchon is hills and steps in a residential area where you need to keep quiet. If you are pushing a stroller, leave Bukchon out.
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Official sources
- Reference: VISITKOREA — '100 Must-Visit Tourist Spots of Korea', a nationwide list. Of this article's five picks it carries Gyeongbokgung, Myeongdong and Namsan; Han River Park and Bukchon are not in it. Not a Seoul-specific visitor page
- Fact check: Jongno-gu — Bukchon red-zone visitor hours, KRW 100,000 fine and exceptions
- Fact check: Seoul Future Hangang Headquarters — prohibited activities and official fine table
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