Mid-range · 6-hour walk · Seoul
The palaces and Bukchon in six hours
Two Joseon palaces with the preserved hanok village between them, then the craft street and the daylighted stream.
Seoul's old quarter is a valley between two palaces, filled with tiled wooden houses that people still live in. Wear hanbok and both palaces are free, which is why a third of the visitors are in rented costume. Changdeokgung's Secret Garden is a separate timed ticket and the best thing in either palace.
The route, stop by stop
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Gyeongbokgung
The main Joseon palace, burned by the Japanese twice and rebuilt. The guard-changing ceremony runs at 10 and 14.
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Bukchon Hanok Village
Six hundred years of tiled wooden houses, still residential. Signs ask for quiet between 17:00 and 10:00 and they mean it.
45 min here Walk here → -
Changdeokgung
The best preserved of the five palaces. The Huwon rear garden is a separate guided ticket and sells out early.
60 min here Walk here → -
Insadong
Antiques, paper, brushes and tea houses. The main street is closed to traffic at weekends.
40 min here Walk here → -
Cheonggyecheon
A stream buried under an expressway in the 1950s and dug back out in 2005. Eleven kilometres of it, five metres below the traffic.
30 min here Walk here →
More walks in Seoul
More in Seoul
Every walking route in Seoul, the full Seoul guide for where to stay and what a day costs, or walks in other cities.