Changdeokgung Moonlight Tour
slowpace_korea
3 days ago
Since the event is being held again in 2026, here's my impressions from last year, so you know what to expect if you're interested in it or if you've already booked it.
How do you know this event is for you?
✔ You like historical K-dramas
✔ You like Korean tradition
✔ You want a more authentic palace experience, not just a simple walk
✔ You want to feel the royal palace atmosphere at night
Let's begin!
This was one of the best programs of the Korean Royal Culture Festival in 2025.
At the start, all participants were given a traditional lantern, with the surroundings growing darker and darker as the tour proceeded.
I must say this little detail made the experience totally different from all the other events I tried before. Holding this lantern as I was walking past the quiet and dignified palace buildings made me feel a part of the scenery, not just a passive visitor.
As it's called the "Moonlight Tour", we were told to look for several "moons" along the way and we stoped by each one to hear the guide's story about it. The guide was fluent and her English pronunciation was so good! It was easy to follow along and so much fun to learn so many details that I would've probably missed otherwise.
Can you spot any "moon" in the pictures I took at Nakseonjae Hall ?
Then, we climbed some beautiful stone stairs (which, as far as I remember, cannot be accessed on a normal basis), and reached the Sangnyangjeong Pavilion, in search for another moon, but also to listen to a beautiful traditional music performance.
The most breathtaking part of the tour was meeting the king and the queen, as well as their palace attendants at the Secret Garden. Participants were free to take pictures with them and the warm-lit surroundings were just magical.
I would really recommend wearing hanbok for this experience, to really immmerse yourself in the historical K-drama atmosphere!
Another spectacular view was the illuminated Aeryeonjeong Pavilion.
It was a quiet, fairy-tale like stop just before "the last moon" and a beautiful traditional performance.
The traditional performance consisted of live dance and music. It was full of grace, colour and Korean traditional essence, from the very beginning to the very end.
Oh! And I shouldn't forget to mention that a traditional drink and snacks were provided to enjoy during the performance. They were actually very good, much better than what I had expected.
The participants also received a symbolic gift at the end, a colourful tray to remind them of the experience. It portrays the short instrumental performance at Sangnyangjeong Pavilion.
Overall impression:
Amazing, holistic, immersive experience!
The calm night atmosphere lit up by traditional lanterns, K-drama-like characters to take pictures with, live performances in an authentic setting, traditional snacks and drinks, and even the sounds of the palace (or the sounds of Korea in general!) at night.
If you're lucky, you might hear the distant call of the Eurasian scops owl, which makes any Korean natural night scenery feel profoundly, traditionally Korean, almost transporting you back to a Korea of myths and legends we can only dream of nowadays.
So overall, there was a bit of everything to bring the traditional, royal culture to life and make this experience truly memorable!
Things that could be improved:
As for most events in Korea, I feel there's a high reliance on disposable items. For example, the drinks on this occasion were served in disposable cups (plastic for the cold drinks), which were too big for the amount of liquid in them anyways. And I get it, it's not easy to find a more sustainable alternative when you have so many participants and so many other things to consider (like storage, cleaning, collection ater use etc.) Still, I hope a better alternative will be implemented soon, to honour the natural beauty of Changdeokgung Palace.
Things to "prepare" for:
1. Everyone will be taking pictures and videos but not everyone will be mindful of not getting other people's faces into their shots. I'd recommend using a mask if you don't want to appear in a stranger's pictures. At the same time, there isn't too much time for everyone to take the best shots at each location. The tour includes quite a few stops and therefore, lingering too much in one place is impossible, unfortunately.
2. For the last performance, the seats were divided into 3 blocks. I was in the first group that arrived at the venue (there were two more to come soon after) and we had to occupy only one block. In other words, if you can arrive among the first in your group at the venue, you can occupy the front rows of only one block. Otherwise, you must sit on the following rows of the same block, since the front rows of the other blocks are reserved for the groups to come.
3. Wear comfortable shoes. Since it'll be dark and the path is not always that smooth, wearing comfortable shoes could really save you from unwanted accidents!
All in all, it was an excellent event, so I booked it again this year! I can't wait to relive all that again! I hope you enjoy it as much and make unforgettable memories.
