Exploring Gyeongbokgung Palace in Hanbok
Roxy
12 hours ago
What is a more classic tourist attraction in Korea than to dress up in hanbok and explore the palaces? I honestly can’t think of any. During my three trips to Korea, I rented a hanbok and went palace exploring twice! Here I will share my experience.
Hanbok rental is available all around the palace - honestly, you can just walk into any, that’s what I did the second time.
As for the first, I wanted to rent hanbok as a part of my Discover Seoul Pass. I didn’t know however, that out of entire place filled with beautiful dresses, the ones I could rent with my pass was a small selection of dresses I really didn’t like. I’d say they looked worse than other hanboks you paid for. Therefore, I just used money to rent it so I could pick a gorgeous look. The rental of dress, bag, umbrella with hair styling costed me around 45,000 won for 4 hours. Also, the workers helped me comfortably with the entire process, so it’s a very simple and the language barrier doesn’t matter!
Just so the photos don’t get too confusing - during my first Korea trip I had a pink hanbok. During the third - a white one :)
The palace I went to was the most popular one, Gyeongbokgung. There is a small entrance fee, but if you’re wearing a hanbok, it’s gonna be free! There are two separate lines for ticket holders and people wearing hanbok - so you can walk right in.
The whole area is absolutely stunning - there is a bunch of people, but it’s no issue taking some nice photos with no one in the background :)
I freely explored it feeling a like a princess. I took a slow walk around the water area which felt magical.
When my back started really hurting (due to my disability, but I guess it’s a problem for many people), I came across a huge tree which was surrounded with benches. Since no one was there, I laid down fully and had most memorable rest of my life. The air was so gentle and the view was stunning. Of course, I took a photo.
There is also a cafe in the palace area where I bought a nice, iced coffee that was necessary as I was covered with hanbok in extremely hot weather. It felt amazing to sit outside and sip on it, enjoying the royal surroundings.
You might think palaces are so overcrowded with tourists, especially the most popular one. But it’s not true. Both times, despite exploring in the most touristy time of the year, I managed to find photo spots with no one around, and have a stroll with no one or very little people around. It can be a dreamy experience - just imagine yourself as a royalty in her palace and have fun with it :)
