Historical/Culture Exploring Day in Seoul
If you are going Korea for the first time, you have to visit the palaces!
Basically there are 4 main palaces in Korea:
1) Gyeongbokgung Palace (경복궁)
2) Deoksugung Palace (덕수궁)
3) Changdeokgung Palace (창덕궁)
4) Changgyeonggung Palace (창경궁)
You can visit all 4 palaces for 10 000won:
Four Palaces (Changdeokgung Palace (including Huwon, Secret Garden), Changgyeonggung Palace, Deoksugung Palace, Gyeongbokgung Palace) and Jongmyo Shrine - ticket may be used within a month after purchase.
From the Visit Korea website, it was stated that tours are being offered in different languages but I'm not sure it it is free. Check it out here: Visit Korea
Interpretation Services Offered Tours depart in front of the Information Center at Heungnyemun Gate (흥례문). Duration: 1hr - 1hr, 30min Tour Schedule: English: 11:00, 13:30, 15:30 Japanese: 10:00, 12:30, 14:30 Chinese: 10:30, 13:00, 15:00
If you are planning to visit only one palace in Korea, I recommend going to the Gyeongbokgung Palace due to the close proximity of other historical sites/attractions nearby. The Gyeongbokgung palace is also a popular filming location for a lot of Korean dramas such as Jumong, Dong Yi and Queen In Hyun's Man.
How to get there:
By subway: Gyeongbokgung Palace Station (Seoul Subway Line 3), Exit 5.
Opening hours: 09:00-18:00
*Closed on Monday
Entrance fee: 3000 won (Adult)
Courtesy of Korea Tourism Organization
As mentioned earlier, several other attractions are pretty near by the Gyeongbokgung palace. You might want to go around in this order (walking distance):
1) Gyeongbokgung palace (exiting from Gwanghwamun)
2) National Folk Museum
3) Samcheongdong (Chill and have a cup of coffee)
4) Bukchon Hanok Village
Of course there are other awesome museums along the way such as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) and Seoul Children's Museum (서울상상나라) so it's really up to you to you to choose.
# Within the Gyeongbokgung Palace
This place is pretty big. On the top of the map, you can see "Cheong Wa Dae (청와대)" which is the residential area of the Korea's president. Around Bukchon area, you will see a lot of police patrolling not only to safeguard the president but the various embassies in the zone as well.
Korean drum - which is used during cultural ceremonies to co-ordinate movements of guards.
More exploring.
You might get a chance to see young princesses in Hanbok walking around too.
Geunjeongjeon Hall
Within the main palace, there are also several other smaller palaces, halls and pavilions to be seen. For instance the Geunjeongjeon Hall (Throne Hall), located in Gyeongbokgung. The hall was used to hold important state functions such as court officials' audiences with the king and receptions for foreign envoys in the past. I was able to visualize guards standing in neat rows on the left and right and the resonance of the voices to greet the emperor!
Looking inside the hall. Unfortunately, a lot of the areas are sealed off so you couldn't enter them. (This quick shot was taken from the outside as I try to squeeze through the crowd)
Gwanghwamun (광화문)
Near the entrance of the Gwanghwamun, there were parades going on, re-enacting the traditional Korean royal court cultural ceremony. I was immersing myself in the surrounding: colours, smell, sound and the people. I would definitely recommend you to check out the historical sites and know more about Korean culture and heritage!
One of the guards, at the entrance of Gwanghwamun.
# Exploring Samcheong-dong
Really lovely structures - When traditional houses meets modernity.
Sipping on my strawberry smoothie (5000 won) while walking
The Bukchon area is huge and you might take up to an entire day to explore!
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