한국어

Places

Korea's national museums, palaces and parks

These are the institutions the Korean state runs itself: museums, art museums, palaces and royal tombs, national parks, arboretums, ecology centres and science museums. Permanent exhibitions at the museums are free and the parks charge nothing to enter; palaces and gardens cost a few thousand won. Each guide below gives the hours, the closing day, what it actually costs, how to get there from the airport, and how much English you will find when you arrive.

National parks · Mountains, coastlines and islands to walk and climb

Hours, closing days and admission, side by side · 11 events on

Korea's national parks charge no entrance fee, but each trail has posted opening hours and shelters, campsites and ranger-led programmes must be booked in advance. Twenty-four of the twenty-five parks are run by the Korea National Park Service; Hallasan is managed by Jeju Province.

Arboretums · Curated plant collections and seed-bank research sites

Hours, closing days and admission, side by side · 1 event on

Korea's national arboretums combine a public garden with a research collection. Several cap daily visitor numbers or require booking ahead, and opening hours shift with the season.

Ecology centres · Indoor biomes and wetlands built for learning

Hours, closing days and admission, side by side · 3 events on

These institutes pair a research mandate with large exhibition halls — climate-zone greenhouses, wetland boardwalks and endangered-species breeding centres. Most charge admission and most reward a half day rather than an hour.

National museums · Permanent collections, free to enter

Hours, closing days and admission, side by side · 14 events on

Permanent exhibitions at Korea's national museums are free. What differs between them is the closing day and the hours: the Seoul institutions open on Mondays and close only on New Year's Day and the main holidays, while most regional branches close every Monday.

Art museums · Modern and contemporary art across several buildings

Hours, closing days and admission, side by side · 2 events on

MMCA runs four separate buildings — Seoul, Deoksugung, Gwacheon and Cheongju — under one ticket system, and admission is often free for specific halls or on set evenings.

Palaces · Joseon-era palaces, shrines and royal tombs

Hours, closing days and admission, side by side · 6 events on

The five Seoul palaces, Jongmyo Shrine and the royal tombs share one managing authority and one ticket system, including a combined pass. Entry is free for visitors wearing hanbok, and some sites admit only on guided tours.

Science museums · Hands-on exhibits and planetariums

Hours, closing days and admission, side by side

The national science museums keep free permanent halls and charge separately for planetariums, special exhibitions and hands-on labs, which usually need same-day tickets or advance booking.

Maritime museums · Ships, ports and marine life

Hours, closing days and admission, side by side

Korea's maritime institutions sit on the coast in Busan, Incheon and Mokpo, and mix shipwreck archaeology with aquarium-style displays of marine life.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to pay to get into Korea's national museums?

No. Permanent exhibitions at every national museum are free, including the National Museum of Korea in Seoul and its thirteen regional branches, and no ticket is issued — you walk in. Special exhibitions in the temporary halls are ticketed separately, usually a few thousand won. National parks charge no entrance fee either, though parking costs money.

What does 'national' mean here, and how is it different from a city museum?

A national institution is set up by a central government ministry, or run by a public agency under one — culture, heritage, environment, forestry, oceans or science. City, provincial and district museums are run by local government and are not in this directory. The distinction matters in practice because national sites share ministry-wide rules on free admission days, closing days and booking.

Which day of the week is everything closed?

Monday, mostly — but not everywhere, and the exceptions are the ones worth knowing. The National Museum of Korea, the National Folk Museum, the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History and the National Palace Museum all open on Mondays. Among the palaces, Gyeongbokgung and Jongmyo close on Tuesdays instead while the others close on Mondays. Almost everything closes on 1 January and on the day of Seollal and Chuseok.

Can I book online without a Korean phone number?

Sometimes, and it is the single most common thing that goes wrong. Several national booking systems verify identity against a Korean mobile number, which a short-term visitor will not have. Where that is the case we say so on the institution's page, and say whether there is a walk-in quota or an English-language counter instead. Palace night openings, Changdeokgung's Secret Garden and national park shelters are the ones that fill up first.

How much English will I actually find inside?

More than you would expect at the large Seoul institutions and much less at regional ones. Every page here has a section saying what is signed in English, which audio guides exist and in which languages, and whether the guided tours are Korean-only. We check that separately from the Korean pages, because it is the question a Korean-speaking visitor never has to ask.

Is Hallasan in the national park list?

It is a national park, but it is the only one of the twenty-five managed directly by Jeju Province rather than by the Korea National Park Service, so its booking system and trail rules are separate. The other twenty-four share one reservation site.