Four Places to Visit in Ikseon-dong: The Hanok Village, Unhyeongung, Jongmyo and Changdeokgung

Half a day is enough. Changdeokgung takes two hours with the rear garden, Jongmyo about an hour, Unhyeongung thirty minutes, and Ikseon-dong as long as you want to sit in it. Stretching that to a full day means adding the palace next door, and then you are doing a palace circuit rather than a neighbourhood.

Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays are the only days all four work as a walk-up. Mondays close Unhyeongung and Changdeokgung; Tuesdays close Jongmyo; and Wednesday to Friday all four are open but Jongmyo admits you only on a timed guided tour. Public holidays override the Monday closures — Unhyeongung opens when the Monday is a holiday, while Changdeokgung applies its own substitution rules and may shift its closure to the following day.

Not on most days. On Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday entry is by timed guided tour, and the shrine opens for self-guided visits only on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and Culture Day. Self-guided means unescorted, not free — the KRW 1,000 admission is the same on every open day.

Changdeokgung, then Jongmyo, then Unhyeongung, then Ikseon-dong. Changdeokgung and Jongmyo both stop admitting an hour before closing, so a late start is what shuts you out of them. The common mistake is the reverse: Ikseon-dong first because it is next to the station, then finding the palaces on last admission.

Afternoon and evening. Its roughly 330 shops and cafes are mostly afternoon-and-evening businesses, so arriving in the morning means arriving to shutters. The lanes themselves have no gate and no hours, so walking them works at any time — but if the point is to sit down somewhere, see the palaces first.