By Harry Nara · Last updated
- Seollal, Lunar New Year’s DaySunday 7 February 2027
- Substitute holiday, because Seollal falls on a SundayTuesday 9 February 2027
- Where
- Gyeongbokgung and the royal palaces
- Tickets
- Free
- Time of year
- January or February
- Dates
- Move each year with the lunar calendar
Gazetted in the Korea AeroSpace Administration’s 2027 calendar: four days from Saturday 6 to Tuesday 9 February, the Tuesday added as a substitute holiday because New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday. China’s New Year is a day earlier this time, on Saturday 6 February, because the new moon falls just before midnight in Beijing and just after it in Seoul. The Korea Heritage Service announces free palace entry a few days before each holiday; this card will carry the 2027 details once it does.
Seollal is the Korean Lunar New Year, a three-day public holiday stretched to four this time by a substitute day. Much of Seoul travels to family, so the residential neighbourhoods go quiet and the roads out of the city jam, while the centre stays busy with visitors, many of them in town for Chinese New Year. For a visitor the practical news is good: over recent holidays the government has opened the four main palaces, Jongmyo and the royal tombs free of charge, with no closing days. The catch is the day after, when every one of them has shut.
What Seollal actually is
Seollal is a family holiday before it is a public one. People travel to the home of the eldest relative, hold a memorial rite for their ancestors, and eat tteokguk, a clear soup of sliced rice cake that marks a year of age. Children bow to their elders and are given money in an envelope. Little of this happens in public, which is why the city goes quiet rather than loud.
What a visitor sees is the public edge of it: palace courtyards full of families in hanbok, New Year games laid on at the folk museum and the hanok village, and a centre that stays crowded because much of East Asia is on holiday at the same time.
Sehwa, the New Year paintings handed out at Gyeongbokgung in recent years, come from the Joseon court, where the king gave officials paintings of guardian figures and lucky animals to keep misfortune away through the year. The prints given out now picture the new year’s zodiac animal.
Where to watch Seollal
- The palaces, while they are free. Over the last Seollal, Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Deoksugung and Changgyeonggung, with Jongmyo and the royal tombs, opened free with no closing days, and Jongmyo, normally seen on a timed visit, could be walked at your own pace. The Secret Garden at Changdeokgung was left out.
- Heungnyemun square inside Gyeongbokgung, for sehwa. Last Seollal the Heritage Service handed out printed New Year paintings there twice a day for three days, a few thousand copies in all, first come first served. Be there before the morning round.
- The National Folk Museum and Namsangol Hanok Village, for the games. Both usually lay on yutnori, kite-flying and the other New Year games, and visitors are welcome to join in.
- Myeongdong and Insadong, if you want company. The shopping streets residents have left behind are where the region’s New Year visitors go, and they are the busiest places in the city over the holiday.
Tickets and what it costs
You need nothing booked for the holiday itself. The Korea Heritage Service has announced free palace entry a few days before each recent holiday, and the only exception has been the Secret Garden at Changdeokgung, which keeps its own reservation system.
Official information and booking: www.kasa.go.kr/prog/plcyBrf/brief/kor/sub01_01_04/view.do?plcyBrfNo=431
Getting there
The subway runs throughout, on its holiday timetable, and the centre is easy to reach. Gyeongbokgung station on Line 3 opens into the palace grounds and Gwanghwamun on Line 5 is at the main gate.
Leaving Seoul is the hard part. Trains and express buses out of the city sell out weeks ahead, and the expressways jam on the first day of the holiday and again on the last. If your trip continues to Busan or Gyeongju, travel on either side of it rather than inside it.
Mistakes worth avoiding
Saving the palaces for the day after
After each recent free opening, every palace, Jongmyo and the royal tombs closed on the following day to make up for having no closing days. Put the palaces inside the holiday.
Assuming it matches Chinese New Year
The two usually share a date, but not always, and this time Korea’s New Year’s Day is a day later. Plan on the Korean dates on the card above.
Counting on a small restaurant
Family-run places shut for some or all of the four days, most of all on New Year’s Day. Chains and hotel restaurants are the dependable choice, and the day before is the one to shop for snacks, since the markets are busy with families buying for the rite.
Dressing for a city day
The holiday falls in the coldest weeks of the year, with nights below freezing, and the palace courtyards are open stone and gravel with nothing to break the wind.
Other Seoul events
Frequently asked questions
When is Seollal?
On the first day of the lunar year, which lands between late January and mid-February. The holiday also covers the day before and the day after, plus a substitute day when one of the three falls on a Sunday or another holiday. The current dates are on the card above.
Is Seoul closed over Seollal?
No, but it changes shape. Residents leave and many small restaurants close, while the palaces, hotels and the central shopping streets stay open and busy with visitors.
Are the palaces free over Seollal?
They have been over recent holidays. The government opened the four main palaces, Jongmyo and the royal tombs free, with no closing days, and then closed them all the next day. It announces the arrangement a few days before each holiday.
What is sehwa?
A New Year painting meant to ward off misfortune, once given by the Joseon king to his officials. At the last Seollal the Korea Heritage Service printed one for the year’s zodiac animal and handed copies out free at Gyeongbokgung, twice a day, until they ran out.
What do people eat at Seollal?
Tteokguk, a clear broth of sliced rice cake, on the morning of New Year’s Day; eating it is said to add a year to your age. Many restaurants serve it through the winter if you miss the day.
Is Seollal a good time to visit Seoul?
For a stay inside the city, yes: the centre is calm, the palaces have been free, and rooms are priced like the rest of winter outside the busiest nights. For a trip around Korea it is the worst week of the winter to be moving.
Sources
- Korea AeroSpace Administration, calendar of public holidays
- Korea.kr policy briefing, free palace entry over Seollal
- Korea Heritage Service, royal palaces admission
Dates on this page are checked against the organiser’s own listing and confirmed through 2027. Written and maintained by Harry Nara.