Seoul palace tickets: family ages, nationality and the Secret Garden

Korean nationals · KRW

Foreign nationals · KRW

All ages are in full years. For ages 19–24, nationality changes the grounds fee; bring identification or documents for your age, nationality and any other exemption.

The garden is reached through the palace grounds. Prepare a general grounds ticket or evidence of free admission, then a separate garden ticket for the correct session. Official booking instructions tell free/discounted visitors to reserve and pay online first, then present evidence and request a refund at the ticket office before admission on the day. Free admission still has reservation and capacity rules.

Visitors aged 65+ still pay KRW 5,000 each for the garden even when grounds admission is free. For a 22-year-old, nationality changes the grounds fee, so the same age group costs KRW 3,000 more for foreign visitors.

Without the garden, ages 35, 37 and 10 pay 6,000 at Gyeongbokgung, 6,000 at Changdeokgung grounds or 2,000 at Deoksugung. Family totals show the final admission cost, which can differ from an exempt visitor’s initial online payment.

The KRW 6,000 combination ticket covers the four palaces and Jongmyo and is valid for six months from purchase. It excludes the Secret Garden. The table compares one visit per venue by one normally paying adult, outside free-admission days.

Garden online booking opens at 10:00 Korean time six days before the visit date, excluding that date, and runs until the preceding day on a first-come basis. Each session allows 100 people: 50 online and 50 sold on the day. On-site sales for all sessions begin at 09:00 that morning. These are capacity rules, not live availability.

Garden tickets can only be bought until 15 minutes before the session. Official guidance says the walk from the main palace gate to the garden entrance can take over 15 minutes. Allow extra time for evidence checks, refunds and queues. Failure to meet the garden entry time means no entry or refund.

The booking page restricts Korean-national bookings for foreign-visitor sessions, allowing up to two Korean companions when accompanying a foreign visitor. Choose a session matching your party and guiding language. Special night events and temporary arrangements are outside this general fee comparison.

Changdeokgung (창덕궁) is at 99 Yulgok-ro (율곡로 99), Jongno-gu, Seoul. The operator estimates a five-minute walk from Anguk Station (안국역), line 3 exit 3, or ten minutes from Jongno 3-ga (종로3가역), lines 1/3/5 exit 7. These are operator estimates, not measured or step-free routes. The palace states there is no parking facility.

For an optional stop afterwards, consider Insa-dong. Korea Tourism Organization lists Jeontong Dawon (전통다원), inside the Kyung-in Museum of Fine Art at 11-4 Insadong 10-gil, for jujube or ginger tea and yugwa, a fried rice sweet. Tea and food are excluded from the ticket totals.