Gyeongbokgung Tickets and Entrance Fee
Gyeongbokgung costs ₩3,000 for adults in October 2026 and is free in hanbok or for visitors 18 and under or 65 and over. Where to buy, the fee review, and tours with the ticket.
A ticket to Gyeongbokgung costs ₩3,000 for an adult in October 2026, bought at the ticket office on the day; you do not need to book ahead for a daytime visit. Foreign visitors aged 18 and under or 65 and over go in free with ID, and so does anyone wearing hanbok. If you would rather go in with a guide, Korea Guide Tour’s Gyeongbokgung Palace Half Day Tour includes the ticket and two hours inside, from US$42 a person (checked October 2026).
Who pays, and who goes in free
| Visitor | Admission (October 2026) |
|---|---|
| Adults, 19 to 64 | ₩3,000 |
| Foreign visitors aged 18 and under | Free |
| Visitors aged 65 and over | Free |
| Anyone wearing hanbok | Free |
Korean citizens aged 24 and under also go in free. If you qualify for free entry you skip the ticket office and show ID, or simply your hanbok, at Heungnyemun Gate, with no reservation. Bring a passport for teenagers and grandparents: the age has to be shown. The hanbok rule has its own conditions, a jacket with a skirt or trousers rather than a coat over your clothes, and is Gyeongbokgung free with hanbok? sets them out.
Do you need to book?
Not for a normal day: tickets are sold at the palace on the day. The exception is the night opening, a few weeks each spring and autumn, when tickets go on sale online in advance and are limited; the night tour guide explains how that works. The other thing to plan around is the calendar: the palace is closed every Tuesday, and the last entry is an hour before closing.
A price rise is coming, but has no date
The Korea Heritage Service said earlier in 2026 that admission to the main palaces would go up from January 2027. In October 2026 it told lawmakers that the timing of the new fees was undecided, and that free entry in hanbok was being reviewed as well. For now the fee is ₩3,000; check again before a 2027 visit.
Combined tickets and the Secret Garden
Some travel guides list a combined ticket for the palaces and Jongmyo Shrine. We could not confirm one on the heritage service’s own pages in October 2026, so ask at the ticket office; at ₩3,000 a palace, separate tickets cost little anyway. The one extra ticket worth planning is at Changdeokgung, where the Secret Garden is entered only on a guided tour, ₩5,000 for adults on top of the palace ticket, with half the places sold online and half on the day. Changdeokgung vs Gyeongbokgung covers it.
When a tour is worth more than the ticket
A ticket gets you in; it does not tell you which building is the throne hall or why it was rebuilt in King Gojong’s reign after burning in the Imjin War of the 1590s. Korea Guide Tour’s half-day tour meets at Gyeongbokgung Station, walks you through the main gate and the courts of the palace, and ends at Gyeonghoeru, the banquet pavilion on its pond, with time to explore afterwards. Guests this year praise their guides, Sally, Sue and Joy, for the history and the hidden stories. Two things to know: the tour needs at least four people to run, and weekend and holiday dates cannot be confirmed, so book a weekday. One guest in April lost the guard ceremony to rain, but the tour went ahead.
Pick how you go in:
Palace Half-Day Tour
Two hours inside with the ticket included. Weekdays only, 4 people minimum.
Check dates →Seoul Highlights Tour
Guard change, palace, folk museum, Insadong and N Seoul Tower; admission included.
See the highlights tour →Prices and review counts as listed on GetYourGuide in October 2026, not a quote.
Check dates and book
The Palace With a Guide, Ticket Included
Korea Guide Tour's half-day tour spends two hours inside Gyeongbokgung with an English-speaking guide, from the main gate to Gyeonghoeru, with the entrance ticket included. Rated 4.8 from 133 reviews, from US$42 a person as of October 2026, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
Check Palace Tour Dates