Changdeokgung & the Secret Garden

If Gyeongbokgung is the palace of ceremony, Changdeokgung is the palace of life. Built in 1405 as a secondary residence, it became the favorite of many Joseon rulers and served as their main seat for some two and a half centuries after the war of the 1590s destroyed the main palace. Its architects did something unusual: rather than impose a rigid grid, they let the buildings follow the folds of the hills, so halls and gates sit at angles among the trees, and that harmony with nature is why UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site in 1997. Enter through Donhwamun, the oldest surviving palace gate in Seoul, cross the stone Geumcheongyo bridge, and you reach Injeongjeon, the throne hall, its interior updated with electric lights and curtains in the last years of the monarchy — a rare glimpse of a court meeting the modern world. Nakseonjae, the plain unpainted residence of the last royal family members, is one of the most moving corners of any Seoul palace. But the real reason to come is behind the halls. The Huwon, the rear garden often called the Secret Garden, covers a large wooded valley where kings read, wrote poetry, held archery contests and fished. Paths wind past Buyongji, a square lotus pond with a pavilion standing on two stone pillars in the water; the two-story Juhamnu library above it; the Aeryeonji pond; and, deep in the woods, Ongnyucheon, a stream where kings floated wine cups and composed verses. Visits to the garden are by guided tour only, in groups capped at a hundred per session, and it is one of the loveliest walks in Asia.

Planning the Secret Garden is the key. Tours run in Korean at regular intervals, and in English several times a day — typically late morning, early afternoon and mid-afternoon, with an extra afternoon slot from March to November; Japanese and Chinese tours run on set days. Each session takes up to a hundred people per language, half sold online through the palace's integrated reservation service and half released at the ticket office on the day. The Huwon ticket is separate from, and in addition to, the palace ticket, and Korean visitors cannot join foreign-language tours unless accompanying foreign guests. Online slots for autumn-foliage weeks and spring weekends go quickly, so reserve as soon as your dates are firm; otherwise arrive at opening and queue for same-day places. The tour lasts about an hour and a half and climbs gentle hills on earth paths, so wear comfortable shoes.

The palace itself can be visited independently, and it is typically quieter than Gyeongbokgung. It is closed on Mondays (when a Monday is a public holiday the closure moves to the next working day), which neatly complements Gyeongbokgung's Tuesday closing. Combined entry tickets have long been offered for the four palaces plus Jongmyo Shrine, valid for several months, and hanbok wearers enter the palace grounds free, though the Secret Garden tour is still charged. In late 2026 a free-admission period for the palaces explicitly excluded the Huwon tours. The best seasons are mid-spring, when azaleas and cherry blossoms light the hills, and late October to mid-November, when maples turn the Buyongji pond scarlet and gold.

Changdeokgung connects through a gate to Changgyeonggung, the neighboring palace with a Victorian-style glass greenhouse, and the Jongmyo Shrine, the UNESCO-listed royal ancestral shrine, lies just south across a footbridge. Bukchon Hanok Village rises immediately to the west, and Ikseon-dong's renovated hanok cafes and Insadong's tea houses are both a short walk away, so a morning in the garden flows easily into an afternoon among the old neighborhoods.