Wearing a Traditional Hanbok to Visit Seoul Palaces

 

One of the most fun ways to explore Seoul and experience its culture is by wearing a hanbok while visiting its palaces, not to mention that wearing a hanbok gets you free admission! Finding a store that rents handbooks is easy; there are pockets of stores around the palace entrances, or you can book one on Klook. I chose Hanok Hanbok, not on Klook, because the outfits in the pictures appeared prettier and higher quality.  You select your outfit (your skirt and top are chosen separately), and they help you get dressed. My rental included a hairdo, which I didn’t use, so we were in and out in 30 minutes.

 

There are five remaining royal palaces in Seoul, including Gyeongbokgung Palace, Changdeokgung Palace, Changgyeonggung Palace, Deoksugung Palace, and Gyeonghuigung Palace.  Their architecture, from the Joseon Dynasty, gives you a small glimpse into the history of the city.

 

Rather than begin by visiting a palace, to avoid the crowds it gets, we started with nearby Bukchon Hanok Village.  It is home to over 900 traditional Korean houses (hanoks) dating back to the Joseon Dynasty 600 years ago. Though no longer populated by members of the royal family and aristocrats, there still are residents here so the area is considered a quiet zone, technically open 10am to 5pm.

 

Bukchon Hanok Village is worth visiting to get out of the city’s skyscrapers and see the traditional Korean homes.

 

One of the Korean men passing me showed his appreciation for my hanbok with a smile and thumbs up.

 

I like that the view of the traditional Bukchon Hanok Village has the modern city backdrop.

 

Next we headed to Changdeokgung Palace, built in 1405 as a secondary palace to Gyeongbokgung. Not first on my list, the palace has a tour of its Secret Garden for which we had reservations.

 

In pictures, everyone looks so elegant in their hanboks, not hot or sweating.  In case you are wondering, yes, it is noticeably hotter wearing the hanboks! Today was quite warm to be wearing all those layers.  At 89°, which felt like 93° in the high humidity, the direct sun was excruciating.  We contemplated hanging out in the air-conditioned bathrooms.

Jinseonmun Gate is one of three gates you must pass through to get to the main throne hall.

Running for cover to get out of the direct sun.

 

 

Injeongjeon, the main hall of the palace Changdeokgung.

The golden door gratings and traditional multicolored paintwork of Injeongjeon hall are beautiful.

 

Inside the Injeongjeon we discovered the beautiful folding screen with the painting of Irworobongdo (The Sun, the Moon and the Five Peaks), always set behind the king’s royal throne during the Joseon Dynasty. 

 

Changdeokgung Palace conveniently connects to Changgyeonggung Palace (for a separate entrance fee if you’re not wearing a hanbok). We strolled through the grounds while waiting for our garden tour.

 

Changdeokgung Palace’s Secret Garden Tour is the highlight of visiting Seoul’s palaces.  Do not miss it!  The Secret Garden is where royal family members strolled and meditated in private.  Entry is only allowed as part of their guided tour and tickets are very limited.  What I didn’t read anywhere or know in advance is that you are welcome to take the guided tour and/or stroll the grounds at your own pace. 

 

If you’re dressing up in a hanbok, the Secret Garden makes for the best pictures! Buyongji Pond is one of the most scenic views in the garden.

 

We ditched the tour to explore the gardens in private.  Overhearing the guide say, “the pond is square,” I suspect I didn’t miss out on any important tidbits.

 

Aeryeonji Pond - at this point, only two hours into our hanbok rental, Chris had already taken 600 pictures!

 

Having only a four-hour hanbok rental, I wasn’t worried about taking our time and incurring a late fee. However, due to the heat, we actually decided it would be easier to return them early before heading to the next palace.

 

As the largest and oldest palace, Gyeongbokgung Palace is the most popular.  I especially wanted to see its Gyeonghoeru Pavilion. Unfortunately, even without the hanboks on, we couldn’t will ourselves into its direct sun.  Instead, in the shade, we watched the changing of the royal palace guards at the main front gate. It occurs four times every day (except Tuesdays when the palace is closed) and is 20 minutes long.  Signaling the ceremony to begin, the impressively huge BOOM from the large buk (traditional Korean drum) echoed within the palace walls.

 

Gyeongbokgung Palace’s Royal Guard Changing Ceremony is a reenactment from the Joseon period.

 

After the changing of the guards ceremony, they allow you to pose with the guards.

 

Gwanghwamun Gate is the imposing main gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace.

 

For dinner we went to Gwangjang Market.  It is one of the ultimate places to experience traditional Korean street food and culture all under one delicious roof.  There is such a variety – plus insistent Korean “aunties” wanting you to eat their food – it makes it difficult to choose!  So far on the trip we haven’t had any Korean dumplings (mandu) and decided this would be the place to do it.  Most of the food stalls here sell it but thanks to the Seoul edition of Netflix’s Street Foods, we were looking for Cho Yonsoon, the “knife-cut noodle lady” in stall #70.  You would think that knowing the number of her stall would be good enough, except that they aren’t in numerical order.  We found #70 an entire intersection away from #69.  (Look for the Netflix sign.)

 

Gwangjang Market is one of the oldest and largest traditional markets in Seoul.

 

Cho Yonsoon is humble and friendly to everyone passing by!  It is no wonder she is so popular!

 

At Gwangjang Market we ordered mandu (order of half pork, half kimchi dumplings), spicy agar (jelly noodles), and kalguksu (noodle soup).

 

After dinner, we randomly walked through Dongdaemun Dak Hanmari Alley.  We were curiously attracted by its humming long lines of hungry people waiting for the delicious-smelling chicken soup that the alley is named after.  If we weren’t already full, we would’ve loved to try dak hanmari!

 

For our final activity of the day, we decided to check out a new light show in the area. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the DDP (Dongdaemun Design Plaza), it has a 'Seoul Light DDP 2024 Autumn' show from August 29th to September 8th, 2024.

The colorful display of lights at the DDP was really cool, at least for a minute.  A lot of the "Poetry of Time" featured some weird scenes and lack of color variety.

 

Chris was funny: "What's on the other side?" he wondered out loud.  The other side of the statue is a void.

Logistics:

Hanbok Rental:

I found “Hanokjip Hanbok” on google maps near Anguk Station.  They call themselves “Hanok Hanbok”.  You can make a reservation here: https://creatrip.com/en/blog/14156

The online price for four hours was ₩20,000/$14.65 each; I was quoted ₩5,000 per each 30 minutes after that.

 

Hanokjip Hanbok / Hanok Hanbok is on 2nd floor

 

Lots of pretty hanboks to choose from, separated by size.  Korean sizing runs smaller than U.S. - they gave me a medium.  (The straps on the skirt adjust.) Sometimes I tripped a little on the length; I noticed that all the other girls were in rentals that were too short.

The hanbok pricelist.  We got the premium rental.

 

Secret Garden Tour:

Buy your tickets online six days in advance: https://ticket.uforus.co.kr/web/main?shopEncode=&lang=en

50 tickets are available online and 50 tickets are available on the day of, first come first served; the ticket office opens at 9:00am.  Because you don’t have to stay with the tour guide, you can sign up for the tour in Korean if you are just taking the tour for its admission into the garden – which I would have done for a better tour time, had I known.