Culture & History
Seoul Palace Free Admission: 18 and Under, 65 and Over, Free
If you are 18 or under, or 65 or over, the royal palaces are free for you as a foreign visitor — and nobody tells you at the gate. That is one of about twenty free-admission categories, plus a monthly free day and a pass that pays for itself after three sites. Here is the whole list.
The ticket windows at Seoul’s palaces are small wooden booths, and the queue in front of them moves slowly because most people in it do not need to be there.
Start with the one that catches people out.
Foreign visitors aged 18 or under, and aged 65 or over, get into the royal palaces free. Not discounted — free. It is written into the admission rules, and the age bands for foreigners are deliberately wider than the ones for Korean nationals.
| Free | Paid adult band | |
|---|---|---|
| Korean nationals | 24 and under, 65 and over | 25–64 |
| Foreign visitors | 18 and under, 65 and over | 19–64 |
Nobody announces this at the ticket window. If you are travelling with a teenager or a parent, that is a ticket each you did not need to buy — at every palace, every day.
You do need proof. The rule is that anyone claiming free admission must show supporting identification, so a passport matters here.
The full list
Beyond age, the free-admission categories run to about twenty. Most are specific to Korean residents, but several apply to visitors:
Anyone, regardless of nationality:
- Wearing hanbok. We wrote a whole guide to what counts, because the definition is stricter than rental shops explain.
- Pregnant visitors and one accompanying person, under the Mother and Child Health Act.
- Registered disabled visitors, plus one companion for those with severe disability.
- State guests and diplomatic missions, with their parties.
- Licensed tourist interpretation guides leading a group, wearing their credential.
Korean residents only:
- Parents holding a local-government multi-child card
- Recipients of basic living security benefits, and specified near-poverty categories
- Independence patriots, national merit holders, and their spouses and surviving family
- Active-duty soldiers in uniform
- Holders of national intangible heritage designations
- Teachers accompanying school groups
The free day nobody plans around
The last Wednesday of every month is Culture Day, and the palaces are free for everyone.
One exclusion: Changdeokgung’s Huwon, the Secret Garden, is not included. It is not included in the combined ticket either, and hanbok does not get you in there. The Huwon sits outside every discount mechanism the palaces have.
If your dates are flexible at all, a last Wednesday saves the entire ticket cost of a palace day — and the Huwon rules are set out separately in the Secret Garden guide.
If you are paying, do the arithmetic
Full price for all five sites, bought separately:
| Adult | |
|---|---|
| Gyeongbokgung | ₩3,000 |
| Changdeokgung (palace grounds) | ₩3,000 |
| Changgyeonggung | ₩1,000 |
| Deoksugung | ₩1,000 |
| Jongmyo | ₩1,000 |
| Total | ₩9,000 |
The combined ticket is ₩6,000 and is valid for six months from purchase. It covers the four palaces plus Jongmyo, and excludes the Huwon.
So the break-even is three sites. Two sites, buy separately; three or more, buy the pass. It is sold at the ticket offices of the four palaces and Jongmyo.
One warning attached to the pass: refunds are only possible at the palace where you bought it, and once any portion has been torn off, no refund at all.
Other tickets that exist and rarely make sense
There are passes aimed at residents rather than visitors, and it is worth knowing they exist so you can ignore them confidently.
- Lunchtime pass — ₩5,000 for Gyeongbokgung or Changdeokgung, ₩3,000 for the others. Entry only between 12:00 and 14:00, ten visits over three months.
- Monthly pass — ₩30,000 for Gyeongbokgung or Changdeokgung, ₩10,000 for the others. One month, one site, and it requires a photograph.
- Annual passes — from ₩30,000 to ₩100,000 depending on coverage. The ₩100,000 tier admits one companion free.
For a trip of any normal length, the ₩6,000 combined ticket beats all of these.
One more discount, if you happen to live there
Residents of the district a palace or tomb sits in get 50% off on presentation of ID or a residence certificate. Discounts do not stack — you cannot combine the local-resident discount with the group rate.
Group rates, for reference, start at 10 people and knock the adult ticket down to ₩2,400 at Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung, ₩800 at the smaller sites. The Huwon has no group discount.
What this article does not claim
Prices, age bands and the free-admission list are as published by the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center on the date shown above. Categories tied to Korean welfare and veterans’ legislation change when the underlying laws change.
We have also not tested how strictly each category is checked at the gate. The published rule is that proof is required in all cases; bring your passport and expect to show it.
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Sources & last checked
- Public institution · checked 2026-08-14 관람요금 — 궁능유적본부, 국가유산청
- Public institution · checked 2026-08-14 한복무료관람 가이드라인 — 궁능유적본부, 국가유산청