Seoul Palaces Free on Wednesdays in 2026: Deoksugung Since 5 August, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung and Jongmyo From 7 October — Gyeongbokgung Still Only the Last Wednesday

Last updated: September 2026. The dates are from the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center's own notice of 28 May 2026 (국가유산청 궁능유적본부, 「문화가 있는 날」 무료개방 단계적 확대 시행 안내), which is published as a single image on its notice board; the fees, hours and hanbok rules are from the centre's guidance pages; the Culture Day law change is from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's release of 3 March 2026. Sources are listed at the end.

Seoul's palaces are going free on Wednesdays, but not all at once, and not in the way most English guides say. Korea turned every Wednesday into Culture Day (문화가 있는 날, munhwaga inneun nal) on 1 April 2026, replacing the old once-a-month version. That change did not make anything free by itself: the culture ministry left each venue to decide its own benefits. The palace office then published its own timetable, as an image on its notice board, which is why no English guide we found has quoted it. Here it is:

• Joseon royal tombs (세계유산 조선왕릉): free every Wednesday since 27 May 2026.
• Deoksugung (덕수궁): free every Wednesday since 5 August 2026.
• Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung and Jongmyo (창덕궁·창경궁·종묘): free every Wednesday from 7 October 2026.
• Gyeongbokgung (경복궁): not yet. The notice says only that it will be extended "after considering visitor safety and on-site crowding". Until then it is free on the last Wednesday of the month, as before.

So if you are in Seoul on a Wednesday in September, Deoksugung is free and Gyeongbokgung is not, unless it is Wednesday 30 September, the last Wednesday, when every palace is free. From 7 October the list gets longer. This guide gives the dates, the normal prices, the other ways in for free, and what is closed this autumn.

Daehanmun (대한문), the main gate of Deoksugung on Sejong-daero. Deoksugung is the only palace in central Seoul that is already free every Wednesday. Photo: lumoplank, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

Planning four palaces and a shrine in one trip: the current Lonely Planet Seoul has the palace maps and neighbourhood walks that turn a free Wednesday into a full day. As an Amazon Associate, EpicKor earns from qualifying purchases.

Quick Guide: which palace is free on which Wednesday, 2026

Adult prices apply to foreign visitors aged 19 to 64 (Koreans pay adult prices from 25). An integrated ticket covering the four palaces and Jongmyo, without the Secret Garden, costs ₩6,000. The next last-Wednesday free day for the whole set is 30 September 2026.

What changed in April, and why the palaces did not change with it

Culture Day began in 2014 as the last Wednesday of each month, when museums, galleries, cinemas and heritage sites offered free or cheap entry. On 3 March 2026 the Cabinet approved an amendment to the enforcement decree of the Framework Act on Culture (문화기본법 시행령) that made every Wednesday Culture Day from 1 April 2026.

What the amendment did not do is require anyone to give anything away. The culture ministry's own release says that existing discounts and benefits will be "run voluntarily by each part of the culture sector according to its own judgement". That single sentence explains the confusion. Some venues went weekly in April; some kept their benefit on the last Wednesday; cinemas moved to a different pattern entirely. Headlines saying "Culture Day is now every Wednesday" were true, and guides that turned that into "palaces are free every Wednesday" were not.

The palace office took the phased route. Its notice of 28 May, headed "phased expansion of free opening on Culture Day", describes the change as going from "free admission on the last Wednesday of each month only" (매월 마지막 주 수요일만) to "free admission every Wednesday, expanded in stages" (매주 수요일로 무료 관람일 단계적 확대), with the timetable in the list above. The royal tombs went first on 27 May, Deoksugung followed on 5 August, and the remaining palaces and Jongmyo join on 7 October.

Gyeongbokgung: why the biggest palace is last

Gyeongbokgung is the one missing from the timetable, and the office gives its reason in one line: expansion there will follow "comprehensive consideration of visitor safety and on-site crowding". It is the busiest of the palaces, and the office has been managing it as such this autumn: the Geunjeongjeon terrace (근정전 월대) is restricted from 2 September to 31 October, and the night viewing has its own ticket quota.

In practice, that means:

• Gyeongbokgung is free on the last Wednesday of each month, as it has been since 2014. In the rest of 2026 that is 30 September, 28 October, 25 November and 30 December.
• On every other Wednesday you pay ₩3,000, unless you are wearing hanbok, are 18 or under, or are 65 or over.
• It is closed on Tuesdays, not Mondays, which catches people who plan a Monday–Tuesday palace run.

If you want a free palace on an ordinary Wednesday in September, go to Deoksugung, about 1.2 km, a 15-minute walk, down Sejong-daero from Gwanghwamun, Gyeongbokgung's main gate, or to Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung after 7 October.

Seokjojeon (석조전), the neoclassical stone hall completed at Deoksugung in 1910, with the palace's fountain garden and the office towers of central Seoul behind it. Photo: lumoplank, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

Deoksugung: the palace that is already free every Wednesday

Deoksugung is the easiest win of the lot. It is small, central, next to City Hall station, open from 09:00 to 21:00, closed on Mondays, and on a normal day costs ₩1,000. Under the palace office's 28 May notice it has been free every Wednesday since 5 August. That notice is the only official record of the change we could find: the office's fee page and the Korea Heritage Service's Deoksugung guide page still print the old "last Wednesday" rule, and we found no separate announcement marking the start. The weekly free day makes a Wednesday evening walk through it, when the Seokjojeon hall and the stone-wall road outside are lit, the cheapest good evening in central Seoul.

Two things to know this autumn. Dondeokjeon (돈덕전), the reconstructed reception hall that houses exhibitions, is closed from 1 September to 25 October (both floors) while one exhibition comes down and the next goes up. And the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art's Deoksugung branch inside the palace is ticketed separately; it is also free over the Chuseok days below.

Deoksugung's own notice of 11 September also sets out the Chuseok free opening: the palace is free from Thursday 24 to Sunday 27 September 2026. Chuseok free opening has in past years covered the other palaces and Jongmyo too, but at the time of writing the 2026 notice we could read was Deoksugung's; check each palace's notice before you rely on it. Our Chuseok 2026 guide covers what else is open and closed that week.

Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung and Jongmyo from 7 October

From Wednesday 7 October 2026, three more sites join the weekly free list. Each has a catch worth knowing.

• Changdeokgung (창덕궁) is free, but its famous Secret Garden (후원, Huwon) is not. The garden runs on separate timed tours for ₩5,000 on top of the palace ticket, is excluded from Culture Day, and sells out; book it separately. The palace is closed on Mondays.
• Changgyeonggung (창경궁) is next door, joined to Changdeokgung by a gate, and open until 21:00. Its white-framed glasshouse, the 1909 Daeonsil (대온실), is the best reason to stay after dark. Note that the office has suspended the regular night viewing from 10 to 15 November.
• Jongmyo (종묘), the royal ancestral shrine and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the odd one. It is closed on Tuesdays, and on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays it normally admits visitors only on a timed guided tour of about 50 minutes; free wandering is allowed on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and Culture Day. The 28 May notice does not say whether the new weekly Wednesdays will be free wandering or free guided tours. Arrive expecting a tour time and you will not be disappointed.

The Daeonsil (대온실) glasshouse at Changgyeonggung after dark. Changgyeonggung stays open until 21:00. Photo: lumoplank, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

If you are building a day around the new rule, a Wednesday from October can be Changdeokgung in the morning (with the Secret Garden booked separately), Changgyeonggung through the connecting gate, Jongmyo in the afternoon, and Deoksugung in the evening, all without a ticket. The shortcut from Changgyeonggung into Jongmyo, the Bukshinmun gate on the Yulgok-ro palace-wall path, has so far opened only on weekends, public holidays and the last Wednesday of the month; if it is shut, walk round to Jongmyo's main gate on Jong-ro. Our Seoul palace night guide explains which palace is best after dark.

The other ways in for free, every day

You do not need a Wednesday to get in free. Three rules apply at every palace and at Jongmyo on any open day:

• Wear hanbok. Anyone in hanbok, Korean or foreign, enters free. The office's guidance is specific: traditional or modern (생활) hanbok both count, but you need a jeogori top with a chima skirt or baji trousers, and a wrapped collar. A durumagi coat on its own does not count, nor does a jeogori over jeans, a T-shirt printed to look like a jeogori, or a one-piece dress with no separate jacket. Rental shops around Gyeongbokgung all supply outfits that meet the rule; see our hanbok rental guide. The Secret Garden is the exception and still charges.
• Be 18 or under, or 65 or over. For foreign visitors, the free age limits are 18 and under and 65 and over (Koreans are free up to 24). Bring your passport as proof. The Secret Garden is different: only children aged 6 and under go free there; ages 7–18 pay ₩2,500 and 65 and over pay ₩5,000.
• The last Wednesday. Every palace and Jongmyo, including Gyeongbokgung, is free on the last Wednesday of the month; nothing in the new timetable removes that day.

What else changed with Culture Day

If you are planning a Culture Day evening beyond the palaces, the cinema deal is not weekly and not the old price. Since May 2026 the discount runs on the second and last Wednesday of each month, for shows between 17:00 and 21:00, at ₩10,000 for adults and ₩8,000 for teenagers at the three big chains. The ₩7,000 price that still appears in some March articles was the old once-a-month rate. Museums and galleries each set their own Wednesday benefits under the same "voluntary" rule; check the venue's page for the week you are there.

Prices change on 1 January 2027

The palace prices in the table have been frozen since 2005, and they are about to change. The Korea Heritage Service held a public debate on new fees on 8 September 2026 and will announce the new prices in November 2026, to take effect on 1 January 2027; a survey of 6,635 people presented at the debate put a fair palace ticket at ₩9,203 on average (experts alone said ₩7,940). Nothing published so far says whether the free categories will change. If you are travelling in 2027, treat the prices above as this year's, and check the new table before you go. We will update this guide when it is published.

Why English guides disagree

Search for Seoul palace free days and you will get three different answers, all published in 2026:

• "Free on the last Wednesday of every month." For the palaces this was true until 5 August; it stays true for Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung and Jongmyo until 7 October, and for Gyeongbokgung with no end date yet. Several city and travel sites have not updated, and the palace office's own fee page still says it too.
• "All the palaces are free every Wednesday since April." This is wrong today. It takes the Culture Day law change and assumes the palaces followed, including Gyeongbokgung, which has not.
• "Free for ages 6 to 24." That garbles the Korean rule (Koreans are free at 24 and under). Foreign visitors are free at 18 and under.

The exact start dates appear only in the palace office's 28 May notice, which is an image rather than text; the May news reports gave the plan by month, and no English guide we found gives the dates.

Roof guardian figures (잡상, japsang) on the entrance gate of Jongmyo, the royal ancestral shrine, which joins the weekly free list on 7 October 2026. Photo: Bgag, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

FAQ

Q: Are Seoul palaces free every Wednesday? Some are. Since 1 April 2026 every Wednesday is Culture Day in Korea, and the palace office is phasing in weekly free entry: Deoksugung since 5 August 2026; Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung and Jongmyo from 7 October 2026. Gyeongbokgung has no date and is free only on the last Wednesday of the month.

Q: Is Gyeongbokgung free on Wednesdays? Only on the last Wednesday of each month (30 September, 28 October, 25 November and 30 December in 2026). On other Wednesdays the adult ticket is ₩3,000. The palace office says weekly free entry there will follow once safety and crowding have been considered. Gyeongbokgung is closed on Tuesdays.

Q: Is Changdeokgung's Secret Garden free on Culture Day? No. The Secret Garden (후원) is excluded from Culture Day and costs ₩5,000 on top of the palace ticket, on timed tours that sell out.

Q: Can foreigners get into Korean palaces free with hanbok? Yes. Anyone wearing hanbok enters free, provided the outfit has a separate jeogori top with a skirt or trousers. One-piece dresses and a jeogori worn over jeans do not count.

Q: How much are Seoul palace tickets in 2026? Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung ₩3,000; Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung and Jongmyo ₩1,000; the Secret Garden ₩5,000 extra; an integrated ticket for all five ₩6,000. New prices will be announced in November 2026 and apply from 1 January 2027.

Q: Are the palaces free during Chuseok 2026? Deoksugung has announced free opening from 24 to 27 September 2026. Check each palace's own notice for the others before you go.

Sources

• Royal Palaces and Tombs Center (국가유산청 궁능유적본부), notice 「문화가 있는 날」 무료개방 단계적 확대 시행 안내, 28 May 2026 (image notice, id 20260528151556017843): royal tombs from 27 May, Deoksugung from 5 August, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung and Jongmyo from 7 October; Gyeongbokgung to follow after consideration of safety and crowding.
• Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, press release of 3 March 2026 on the Framework Act on Culture enforcement decree amendment: every Wednesday is Culture Day from 1 April 2026; benefits run voluntarily by each operator.
• Royal Palaces and Tombs Center, admission fees page (관람요금) and hours page, read 12 September 2026: fees, closing days, Jongmyo viewing formats, integrated ticket, age rules; Secret Garden excluded from Culture Day.
• Royal Palaces and Tombs Center, hanbok free-admission guideline (R705).
• Deoksugung Management Office, notice of 11 September 2026: Chuseok free opening 24–27 September 2026; notice of 1 September 2026: Dondeokjeon closed 1 September–25 October.
• Royal Palaces and Tombs Center notices: Geunjeongjeon terrace restriction 2 September–31 October 2026; Changgyeonggung night viewing suspended 10–15 November 2026.
• Kyunghyang Shinmun, Korea Herald, YTN and Seoul Economic Daily, 26 May 2026: reports of the phased expansion.
• MBC and Korea JoongAng Daily, 1 April 2026: Culture Day cinema discount on the second and last Wednesday, 17:00–21:00, ₩10,000 adults and ₩8,000 teenagers.
• Segye Ilbo, 9 September 2026, and Hankook Ilbo, 11 August 2026: palace fee review, new fees to be announced in November 2026 and applied from 1 January 2027.