By Harry Nara · Last updated
Seoul gives you four easy months a year, and they come in two pairs: April and May, then September and October. Everything else belongs to one extreme or the other, a winter with January nights at -6°C and a summer that drops 54% of the year’s rain into July and August. Of the four, pick October. It has the fewest wet days of the mild months at five, highs near 20°C, and in its last ten days the leaves reach the palaces and the ginkgo avenues. Spring matches it on temperature and adds the cherry blossom and the lantern parade, but spring is also the dust season, when a clear week can turn hazy overnight. So book spring for its events and autumn for its weather. And if price matters most, the cold months are the cheapest of the year and mostly under a blue sky, as long as you keep clear of Christmas week and the Lunar New Year.
Seoul Month by Month
| Month | Temperature | Rainy Days | Crowds | Budget / Day | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | -6–2°C | 3 days | Low | ₩75,000–120,000 | Winter Sales, Spa & Street Food |
| February | -3–5°C | 3 days | Low | ₩75,000–125,000 | Seollal Festivals, Food Lovers & Heritage |
| March | 2–11°C | 5 days | Medium | ₩80,000–135,000 | Walkers, Heritage & Marathon Runners |
| April Best | 8–18°C | 7 days | Very High | ₩90,000–150,000 | Cherry Blossom, Photographers & Walkers |
| May Best | 14–24°C | 7 days | High | ₩90,000–150,000 | Lantern Festival, Families & Heritage |
| June | 19–28°C | 8 days | Medium | ₩80,000–140,000 | Hikers, Food Lovers & Long Evenings |
| July | 22–29°C | 13 days | Medium | ₩80,000–140,000 | Food Lovers, Museums & Rainy-Day Culture |
| August | 23–30°C | 12 days | High | ₩80,000–140,000 | Nightlife, Food Lovers & Night Owls |
| September Best | 18–26°C | 7 days | Medium | ₩85,000–145,000 | Heritage, Art Lovers & Walkers |
| October Best | 11–20°C | 5 days | High | ₩90,000–150,000 | Autumn Foliage, Festivals & Hikers |
| November | 4–12°C | 6 days | Medium | ₩80,000–135,000 | Autumn Foliage, Food Lovers & Culture Seekers |
| December | -3–4°C | 4 days | Medium | ₩80,000–140,000 | Festive Lights, Street Food & Nightlife |
How to Choose Your Month
October. Five wet days, highs around 20°C and humidity down from its summer peak of 76% make it the one month when a full day on foot is comfortable from breakfast to dark. The haze of summer has gone, so the long views from Namsan and the city wall come back. It is high season from the first weekend to the last, and priced accordingly.
The first half of April, give or take a week. The peak moves from year to year between the end of March and the middle of April, so leave a night or two of slack either side. April is among the dearest months for rooms, and the peak weekends at Yeouido and Seokchon Lake are the most crowded days of the Seoul year; a weekday before nine is a different experience.
May, and in 2027 the Saturday evening of 8 May, when the lantern parade for Buddha’s Birthday runs through Jongno. Highs reach 24°C by the end of the month. Avoid the first week if you can, when Korea’s Children’s Day overlaps the long holidays in China and Japan.
The first three weeks of June. At 28°C with about eight wet days, this is the last stretch before the monsoon, and the light lasts long enough for the riverside parks along the Han to fill after work. The front reaches the city around 25 June in an average year, so the later you go, the bigger the gamble.
Winter, once the New Year week is over, and either side of Seollal. The daily budget beyond the room bottoms out around ₩75,000, the least of any season. What you pay instead is the cold, and it is real: the coldest nights of any city we cover. What makes it bearable is how dry it is, with rain or snow on three days a month.
Stay in Seoul rather than travelling on. For three days much of the city goes home to family, the roads and trains out sell out, and the centre goes quiet. That makes the holiday good for the palaces and poor for a trip that continues to Busan or Gyeongju. In 2027 Seollal runs 6 to 9 February and Chuseok 14 to 16 September.
Worst Time to Visit Seoul
July, for the four weeks the monsoon front sits over the city.
Thirteen wet days and 414 mm of rain, which is 29% of the year’s total in a single month, with highs of 29°C and the most humid air of the year. The downpours are heavy rather than constant, but they come with little warning, and they take away the mountain trails and the palace gardens, which are two of the best things Seoul has.
The counterweight is the last week. The front usually lifts around 26 July, and the days after it are hot and bright, with the riverside pools open, just before the Korean school holidays lift prices into August. If July is fixed, give the first three weeks to museums, markets and food and keep the outdoor plans for the end.
Seoul Season by Season
Spring
Spring arrives in a rush. The average high climbs from 11°C to 24°C in two months, so a trip in the first week of April and one at the end of May need different suitcases.
Its two set pieces fall a month apart. The cherry blossom peaks somewhere between the end of March and the middle of April, and the lantern parade for Buddha’s Birthday takes the streets of Jongno on a Saturday evening in May. Between them, the pavement tents reopen and the mountain trails fill at weekends.
What spring has and autumn does not is dust. Fine particles build over the winter, and from March the wind off the deserts of northern China and Mongolia can add yellow dust on top, turning a blue sky beige in a morning. Most days are fine. Plan so that a bad one costs you a museum day rather than your only day in the mountains.
Summer
The first three weeks of June are the last easy weather before the rains: highs of 28°C, about eight wet days in the month, and evenings long enough to stay outside until late.
Then the monsoon front, jangma, settles over the city, on 25 June in an average year, and stays for about a month. Between them, July and August bring 54% of the year’s rain, the humidity climbs to about three parts in four, and nights hold above 22°C.
Most of what the city does best happens under a roof: the markets, the food, the museums and the nights out. Keep the mountains and the palace gardens for the dry spells. In 2027 the first week of August adds World Youth Day to the busiest fortnight of the Korean summer holidays.
Autumn
The summer humidity drains out through September, and by October the city has its best weather of the year: highs of 20°C, five wet days, and the ridgelines around it visible from end to end.
The leaves turn from the summits down. The higher ridges colour first, from about the middle of October; the palace gardens and the ginkgo avenues follow at the end of the month; and the lower slopes of Namsan hold on into early November.
Two dates move the price. Chuseok follows the lunar calendar and lands anywhere from early September to early October, on 14 to 16 September in 2027. The fireworks festival over the Han, usually on a Saturday early in October, draws one of the largest crowds of the year to Yeouido. The second half of November is the quiet coda, 12°C by day and priced like winter.
Winter
No city on this site gets colder. Three months average below freezing at night, and the bottom of the year is a mean January low of -6°C.
It is also the season with the fewest wet days, three or four a month, and most mornings are bright. Dress for the wind rather than the thermometer.
Rooms are at their cheapest, with two exceptions: the run from Christmas to New Year’s Eve, when the bell at Bosingak is struck at midnight, and Seollal.
Events Worth Planning Around
The dated reasons to pick one month over another. Each has its own page with where to watch, what it costs and how to get there.
- Seollal (Lunar New Year) in SeoulSaturday 6 February to Tuesday 9 February 2027Korea’s Lunar New Year, four days when much of Seoul goes home and the centre stays open
- Seoul MarathonSunday 21 March 2027A spring race that starts at the old palace gate, and Korea’s only Platinum Label marathon
- Lotus Lantern Festival (Yeondeunghoe)Saturday 8 May to Sunday 9 May 2027A night parade of lanterns through the old centre for Buddha’s Birthday, on UNESCO’s heritage list
- World Youth Day SeoulTuesday 3 August to Sunday 8 August 2027A Catholic youth gathering led by the Pope, held in Seoul once, with half a million expected
- Chuseok in SeoulTuesday 14 September to Thursday 16 September 2027Korea’s harvest festival, three days of family rites under the full moon of the eighth lunar month
Seasonal Guides
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Frequently Asked Questions
When is the best time to visit Seoul?
October, if you are choosing freely. It has five wet days against seven in each of the other mild months, highs around 20°C, and the leaves arriving in the city in its last ten days. The catch is price: October is high season from its first weekend to its last. If October is full or dear, late April and May come closest, trading a little more rain and the odd dusty day for the blossom and the lanterns.
When is cherry blossom season in Seoul?
The peak falls between the last days of March and the middle of April, and it shifts by a week or more from one year to the next, so give a blossom trip some slack. The yellow of forsythia and cornelian cherry comes first, then the cherry. The famous sites are the avenue behind the National Assembly on Yeouido, usually closed to cars for its festival, and the ring of trees around Seokchon Lake, and on peak weekends both are packed. Go on a weekday before nine, or cycle the south bank of the Han from Yeouido towards Banpo instead.
How bad is the air in Seoul, and when?
It depends on the season far more than the day. Fine dust builds through the winter, when heating and still air hold it over the city, and peaks in March and April, when wind off the deserts of northern China and Mongolia can bring yellow dust on top. The summer rain washes the air, and the cleanest months run from late summer into autumn. On a bad day the sky turns beige and many people outdoors wear masks. AirKorea, the government service, publishes readings hourly: check it in the morning and move a long hike to a clearer day.
How cold is Seoul in winter?
Colder than anywhere else we cover. January nights average -6°C, and a north-westerly wind can make a morning feel far colder than that. It is a dry cold, though, under mostly bright skies. Pack a down coat, a hat and gloves, and shoes with grip for the steep lanes of Bukchon. Indoors, heated floors make up for all of it.
How do Chuseok and Seollal affect a trip to Seoul?
For three days each, they turn the city inside out. Both follow the lunar calendar, so the dates move: in 2027 Seollal runs from 6 to 9 February, including a substitute holiday, and Chuseok from 14 to 16 September. Much of Seoul travels to family, so trains and express buses out sell out weeks ahead and the expressways jam on the first day, while traffic inside the city all but disappears. Many family-run restaurants close; the palaces and the chain restaurants stay open. Seollal has a second twist, because it is also Chinese New Year: residents leave as visitors from China and elsewhere in the region arrive, so the neighbourhoods go quiet while Myeongdong and the palaces get busier. If the trip stays in Seoul, either holiday makes for calm days in most of the city. If it continues to Busan or Gyeongju, move it.
What is the cheapest time to visit Seoul?
January from the second week, and February outside Seollal. Rooms are at their lowest of the year, and spending outside the room starts at about ₩75,000 a day, against ₩90,000 in April or October. The cold is the reason, and the dry, clear weather makes it easier to live with than it sounds. The second half of November is the other bargain: after the foliage and before the Christmas lights, at winter prices with the last of the autumn weather.
What is the worst time to visit Seoul?
July, for the four weeks the monsoon front sits over the city. Thirteen wet days and 414 mm of rain, which is 29% of the year’s total in a single month, with highs of 29°C and the most humid air of the year. The downpours are heavy rather than constant, but they come with little warning, and they take away the mountain trails and the palace gardens, which are two of the best things Seoul has.
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