Seoul: The Royal Palaces

There is a combo ticket for the 4 major royal palaces in Seoul (plus a royal shrine). We bought 2 combo tickets and enjoyed visiting the 4 palaces (and one shrine) on several days spread out over the course of our week Seoul. In hindsight, maybe visiting just one of the palaces, Gyeongbok OR Changdeok, would have been sufficient. It's not that we developed palace fatigue; there's just soooo much to do in Seoul we could have been doing other neat things. Oh well, we'll have to come back. Not a problem.

Our first stop was Gyeongbok Palace. Right away we noticed that many visitors where wearing hanbok, the traditional Korean dress which can be rented by the hour/day from shops nearby.


And here is a photo my father took in 1954.


And my comparison photo from 2019.


Gyeongbok Palace has a daily Changing of the Guard reenactment. Very cool.






Gyeongbok's famous Hyangwonjeong Pavilion and Bridge is under renovation. Here is Dad's pic from 1954.


And my through-the-construction-fence photo from 2019.


Another day we visited Changdeok Palace and Changgyeong Palace which are next to each other in the eastern part of the old city. This is Dad's photo from 1954.


My photo from 2019.


1954


2019


Dad's photo of the so-called Secret Garden.


My photo from 2019.


Deoksu Palace, near City Hall, also has a daily Changing of the Guard reenactment.




1954


2019


A pavilion with a bell in 1954.


The same pavilion with NO bell in 2019. Visitor Information says it was move to Gyeongbok Palace last year. Hmmmmm.


Finally, a couple of shots from Jongmyo Shrine, where Confucian rites are performing for the deceased kings and queens of the Joseon Dynasty.