3 Days in Seoul Without Wasting One

Is three days enough?

Yes, for a first visit, with one condition: give each day one part of the city and stay in it. Seoul's old centre, the palaces, the markets and Namsan all sit north of the river within a few subway stops of each other. The day you lose is the one spent crossing town to tick off something that was never on your way.

So this is a shape rather than a timetable. Day one is the palaces. Day two is the markets and the east side. Day three is Namsan and leaving. Which day goes first depends on what is closed, and that is the part most itineraries skip.

길Plan around the closing days

Seoul's palaces do not share a day off, and neither do its markets. Put these next to your travel dates before you decide anything else.

In practice: never put the palace day on a Tuesday, because Gyeongbokgung is shut, and avoid Monday too, because Changdeokgung is. Never put the market day on a Sunday, because both big markets close. A Saturday-to-Monday trip, for example, works as markets Saturday, palaces Sunday and Namsan Monday. Swap the order until nothing lands on its day off.

쉼Day one: the palaces

Be at Gyeongbokgung when it opens at 09:00. In October it closes at 18:00 with last entry at 17:00. From November to February it closes at 17:00 with last entry at 16:00. Adult admission is ₩3,000. Gwanghwamun Station on Line 5, Exit 2, is 471 metres away; Gyeongbokgung Station on Line 3, Exit 5, is 492 metres.

The changing of the royal guard runs at 10:00 and 14:00 and takes about 20 minutes. There is also a public guard training session at 09:35 and 13:35. Go in early, walk the palace, and come back out to the gate for 10:00.

Then walk east to Changdeokgung, the one to choose if you only have energy for two. It is 389 metres from Anguk Station Exit 3. In September and October it opens 09:00 to 18:00, last entry 17:00. From November to January it closes at 17:30, last entry 16:30. Admission is ₩3,000.

Its rear garden, Huwon, is the reason to come, and it is guided only. The tour costs ₩5,000 on top of the palace ticket. Each session takes up to 100 people: 50 booked online, 50 sold on the day. Korean-language tours leave every hour from 10:00 to 16:00 from March to October and 10:00 to 15:00 from November to February.

If the day runs late, end at Deoksugung. It sells tickets until 20:00 and you can stay until 21:00, for ₩1,000. Changgyeonggung keeps the same evening hours. Both are closed on Mondays.

Walk through Bukchon, do not stop in it. Bukchon-ro 11-gil, the photo street, is a residential Red Zone: tourists are allowed only from 10:00 to 17:00, and visitors outside those hours can be fined ₩100,000. Look, keep moving, and spend the time in the palace garden instead.

Day two: markets and the east side

Start at Gwangjang Market, 62 metres from Jongno 5-ga Station Exit 8. The market runs 09:00 to 18:00 and is closed on Sundays. The food alley is open 09:00 to 23:00 every day, so if Sunday is your only free day you still get lunch, just not the fabric and vintage halls.

Then walk the stream east to Dongdaemun Design Plaza. Seoul Facilities Corporation's Cheonggyecheon walking course, Cheonggye Hwallyeok-gil, runs from Majeon Bridge to DDP. DDP is open 10:00 to 20:00 and closed on 1 January and on Seollal and Chuseok day. Opening hours vary by space inside. It is 37 metres from Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station Exit 1.

Spend the afternoon in Seongsu, on a weekday if you can. Its main street closes to cars every Saturday and Sunday from 14:00 to 18:00 until 29 November, which tells you when the crowd peaks. The exits and confirmed hours are in Seongsu in a Day.

잠Day three: Namsan, then leave

Leave your bag first. Seoul Metro's staffed luggage room, Ttota Luggage, is on B1 at Seoul Station toward Exit 1, open 09:00 to 22:00 every day. If you need a locker before 09:00, Seoul Metro's Ttota Lockers in stations run 05:00 to 24:00.

Namdaemun Market is 17 metres from Hoehyeon Station Exit 5. Shop hours vary and the market is closed on Sundays.

For Namsan, take the bus or the cable car, and skip the paid deck. Buses 01A and 01B run from Chungmuro Station Exit 2 up to the tower from 06:30 to 23:00. They are cash-free, so tap a transit card. The cable car runs 10:00 to 23:00 every day, ₩15,000 return or ₩12,000 one way. The observatory inside the tower is ₩29,000 for an adult. On a three-day trip, that is better spent on dinner.

Seoul Station's city airport terminal still checks you in, which means you can drop your bag in the city and ride out light. It takes only same-day international flights from Incheon, only for passengers holding an express ticket, and only for the airlines it lists: on T1, Jeju Air, T'way and Eastar, with some routes excluded; on T2, Korean Air, Asiana, Jin Air, Air Busan and Air Seoul. Check in at least 3 hours before departure for T1 and 3 hours 20 minutes for T2. If you are arriving rather than leaving, read Arriving in Seoul at 5am.

온Getting around for three days

A subway ride is ₩1,550 on a transit card for the first 10 km. A single-journey ticket is ₩1,650 plus a ₩500 deposit you get back. Before 06:30 the base fare is 20% cheaper on a card.

The city's short-term Climate Card pass is ₩10,000 for three days. At ₩1,550 a ride, it pays for itself on the seventh ride. It also covers Seoul-licensed city and village buses, including night buses. It does not cover the Shinbundang Line, GTX, airport buses, Ttareungyi bikes or the Han River Bus.

Three rules catch people out. The pass starts on the day you charge it and cannot be charged in advance. It runs from the first train that day to the last train on its final day. And at Incheon Airport you can get off with it but not on: the city's scope reads Seoul subway plus alighting at Incheon Airport T1 and T2. The physical card costs ₩3,000 on top. A foreign Visa or Mastercard works at the new ticket machines on Lines 1 to 8 for the short-term pass. Everything else about paying is in why your card keeps getting declined.

What to skip

• Gangnam, COEX and Lotte World Tower as a sightseeing day. They are across the river from everything above. On a three-day first visit they cost a day you do not have.
• The paid observatory on Namsan. ₩29,000 for a view you get most of from the cable car.
• Lingering in Bukchon-ro 11-gil. People live there, and outside 10:00 to 17:00 you can be fined.
• Gyeongbokgung on a Tuesday, Changdeokgung on a Monday, the markets on a Sunday. Obvious, and still the most common way a day gets wasted.
• More than two palaces in one day. Choose Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung. Add Deoksugung only as an evening.

Where you sleep decides how much of this is walking. The neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood case is in Where to Stay in Seoul.

What we couldn't confirm