The Secret Garden booking page gives you three boxes: Select Date, Select Hour and Select Admission Type. The hour you pick there isn't a loose arrival window. It's the only time the garden gate will let you in, and it sits on top of a regular palace ticket. Get those two things straight and Changdeokgung (창덕궁) gets a lot easier.
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Two tickets, one fixed time
Changdeokgung is split into the palace building area and the rear garden, Huwon (후원), which the palace's English pages call the Secret Garden. The palace's English admission page lists the garden at ₩5,000 for adults 19 and over, plus the ₩3,000 general admission. So one adult pays ₩8,000 in total, and a garden ticket alone won't get you through the front gate.
The free-entry rules are where people get tripped up. Wearing hanbok, being 18 or under, or being 65 or older gets you into the building area for free. The garden still costs ₩2,500 for ages 7 to 18 and ₩5,000 for seniors, and hanbok doesn't change the garden price at all.
The Royal Palace Pass is the other trap. It costs ₩6,000 and covers Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung and Jongmyo Shrine, but both the English and Korean official pages leave the Secret Garden out. Some travel guides still describe a combo ticket that includes it. Use the pass as your Changdeokgung general admission, then book the garden on its own.
Getting a slot
Each entry time has 100 places: 50 sold online and 50 sold at the ticket office on the day. Online booking opens at 10:00 Korea time, six days before your visit, and closes the day before. Count it out and a Saturday visit opens at 10:00 on the Sunday before. If you're still at home in another time zone, convert that 10:00 before you go to bed.
English entry times are 10:30, 11:30, 14:30 and 15:30 from March to November. From December to February the 15:30 slot disappears. Japanese (13:30) and Chinese (12:30) slots run only on certain days, and Korean slots start on the hour.
The two Admission Type boxes ask how many Korean and how many foreign visitors are in your group, and that number matters. Foreign-language slots are meant for non-Korean visitors, Korean companions are capped at two, and staff may ask for ID. Going with three Korean friends? A Korean-language hour is the cleaner pick.
On the English reservation site, payment works with Visa, Mastercard and JCB cards issued outside Korea, and an unpaid booking expires after 24 hours. Pay as soon as you grab the slot.
Day-of tickets go on sale when the ticket office opens at 09:00, first come, first served, and they're only good for that day. The Korean fee page warns that in April–May and October–November both the online and on-site tickets sell out very fast. In those months, treat the online window as the plan and the 09:00 line as the backup.
At the gate
You get in at the time on your ticket, and late arrival means no entry and no refund. The garden entrance is about a 15-minute walk from the main gate, and on-site garden tickets have to be bought at least 15 minutes before the entry time. For an 11:30 slot, be at the palace by 11:00. Anguk Station (안국역, Line 3) Exit 3 is about five minutes away on foot.
Open the real mobile ticket, not a screenshot. A screenshot or a printed confirmation won't work at the gate. The mobile ticket switches on 30 minutes before your entry time, or you can have a paper ticket issued at the ticket office or machine.
The word "tour" is a little misleading. The entry time is fixed, but the guide is optional: you can follow the heritage interpreter or walk on your own with the free e-book or audio guide. From September to November the course takes about 90 minutes, from Hamyangmun Gate past Buyongji Pond and out through Donhwamun Gate. The palace is closed on Mondays, and the garden's last admission is 16:00 through October and 15:30 in November.
If your dates are set, put an alarm on your phone for 10:00 Korea time six days before your visit and book the English slot that leaves you an hour of slack afterward.
Sources checked October 23, 2026
- Royal Palaces and Tombs Center, Admission Information (Changdeokgung)
- Changdeokgung Palace Management Office, Secret Garden ticket reservation and visitor information
- Royal Palaces and Tombs Center, 관람요금 (admission fees and Royal Palace Pass)
- Royal Palaces and Tombs Center, 관람시간 (opening hours and Secret Garden entry times)
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