In the modern day, South Korea has five palaces remaining from the Joseon Dynasty, which lasted from 1392 until 1910. They are named Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung, and Gyeonghuigung. As Korea fell into a period of suppression under Japanese occupation in 1910, large sections of the palaces were destroyed to weaken the national identity of Korea. Over many decades since liberation, the Korean government has been strongly invested in the restoration and reconstruction of the palaces that represent royalty and history.
It can be hard to learn about the history of the palaces while visiting, but fortunately, I learned a lot about heritage sites in my favorite class, Korean Cultural Diplomacy. It’s offered at Korea University, and if it works for your degree program, look no further than this course! I strongly recommend it if you are interested in culture/heritage studies.
Gyeongbokgung Palace – 경복궁
If you visit South Korea as a tourist, it’s very likely that you have Gyeongbokgung Palace on your itinerary. It’s the most famous and largest palace, with a history of being the main palace of the Joseon dynasty. All of the palaces have large main buildings where the king would meet with his subjects, and many are surrounded by other administrative office buildings. As a student studying through TEAN, one of our weekend excursions was wearing hanbok at Gyeongbokgung Palace.
It can get extremely crowded some days, so plan accordingly!Hanbok
Hanbok is one of the core cultural pieces of the traditional Korean identity. As tourists primarily visit Gyeongbokgung Palace, that’s where you will see most hanboks—probably in the entirety of Seoul. The Korean government wants to share hanbok with visitors, creating positive and memorable experiences that we can associate with South Korea. One thing I’ve noticed here is that wearing a hanbok as a foreigner is interpreted purely as cultural appreciation. Sometimes wearing cultural clothing like this can gather negative attention, but my Korean friends have said that they are happy to see people from around the world excited to wear traditional Korean clothing. It’s promoted as a core part of the Korean cultural experience, and it is incentivized by waiving entry fees for anyone wearing a hanbok. It’s really fun to go with friends and take photos on the palace grounds, especially during cherry blossom season.
Renting a hanbok outside of the TEAN excursion is just as easy. Around the palace grounds, there are many shops where you can rent the clothes for 2-4 hours, most often for around $20-30. Wearing a hanbok at Gyeongbokgung has been one of my favorite experiences in Korea, and I strongly recommend doing it on your next visit to Korea.
One of my photos at Gyeongbokgung Palace, doing the k-heart! I definitely made the right choice of the hanbok style!Changdeokgung Palace & Secret Garden – 창덕궁
The second most popular is Changdeokgung Palace, which is the only royal palace to be recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The palace buildings and the Secret Garden make Changdeokgung Palace the most traditional palace complex, with each building and pavilion being placed carefully to assimilate with nature. Everything is placed in accordance with pungsu, which is Korea’s equivalent of feng shui. You can get lost walking through the buildings here, so spend some time roaming and fall into dreaming about walking through these palace grounds during the Joseon period.
This palace was extremely beautiful, but visiting the Secret Garden can be somewhat of a struggle with how entry tickets are offered. Arrive early! Half of the English tour tickets each day are sold far in advance online, so you may show up and tickets for the Secret Garden are sold out, leaving you to have to return the next day, even earlier.
The main building in the Secret Garden at Changdeokgung Palace.Changgyeonggung Palace – 창경궁
Changgyeonggung Palace really surprised me with how beautiful of a nature walk it provided. Home to the first greenhouse in Korea, there are a lot of beautiful plants to see. There is a vast lake in these grounds with an island in the middle, and I was stunned by how beautiful it looked when I visited.
Changdeokgung Palace and Changgyeonggung Palace were once one palace but were split into two. As the combined palace had previously acted as a place of relaxation and natural beauty for royal family members, it’s unfortunate that the beauty had been split into two sections.
This beautiful lake view stunned me when I visited at the tail end of cherry blossom season.Deoksugung Palace – 덕수궁
My third favorite palace after the former two is Deoksugung Palace. It is one of the least crowded palaces and blends traditional Korean and Western architectural styles. It was really surprising to see a Greco-style building in South Korea. There are three museums in Deoksugung Palace, so if they are open, you can definitely spend a lot of time here learning about the history of Korea right before Japanese occupation. If you want to take photos for Instagram, I feel like Deoksugung Palace is the best due to being less crowded and more architecturally distinct!
A beautiful side-by-side of Western and Eastern architecture at Deoksugung Palace.Gyeonghuigung Palace – 경희궁
Lastly, Gyeonghuigung Palace is the least popular royal palace. This would be the go-to palace if you want a free-entry, non-crowded walk through Korean architecture! For the sake of visiting all of them, it shouldn’t take too long to visit this smaller palace, so during your semester stay, consider dropping by if you’re nearby.
Tips for Visiting:
Upon arriving at your first palace, purchase the Royal Palace Pass. For ₩10,000 won, you get entrance to the four palaces (Gyeonghuigung is not included as it is free to enter!) as well as the UNESCO World Heritage site Jongmyo Shrine, the oldest Confucian royal shrine. You are able to save ₩4,000 won with this bundle as opposed to paying the single entry fee at each palace.
It is fun to see traces of the past through architecture, but visiting the palaces can sometimes feel lackluster. Many of the palaces are significantly smaller than they used to be prior to Japanese occupation. I found it very thought-provoking to think about how grand they must have been, standing taller and spanning a greater distance than they do in the present.
So, when you visit Korea, make sure to visit the Royal Palaces! They’re easily accessible through public transportation, on either a bus route or subway line. I’ve gone multiple times to some, and I love the feeling of being transported into the past of the Joseon dynasty. It’s a surreal feeling and a nice change of pace in a modern, urban city such as Seoul.
Andrew Bower, University of Central Florida, is studying abroad in South Korea with TEAN.
