Seoul Photoshoots

Locations

Where to shoot in Seoul

Gyeongbokgung is the obvious opening — the Gwanghwamun gate, the Geunjeongjeon throne hall, and the pavilion standing out on the pond at Gyeonghoeru. It is also the busiest of the palaces, so it rewards an early start.

Bukchon Hanok Village gives you the tiled rooflines and the narrow lanes falling away towards the city. The view back down over Samcheong-dong is the shot most people travel for.

Changdeokgung is the quieter palace, and its Huwon garden holds the best autumn colour in central Seoul. The garden runs on timed entry, so it has to be planned into the schedule rather than added on the day.

Insadong and Ikseon-dong are for the evening — tea houses, painted signage, and alleys narrow enough to light with whatever is already there.

The Han River parks and the bridges at Banpo open the frame right up after the density of the old city.

Dongdaemun Design Plaza and the towers of Gangnam are the modern counterweight, for anyone who does not want a set of pictures that looks like a postcard.

What to wear

Hanbok gets you into the palaces free

Korea has waived palace admission for visitors properly dressed in hanbok since 2013, and the policy still stands. Rental shops cluster around Gyeongbokgung and Bukchon, and most will hold your own clothes while you shoot.

Eligibility is checked at the gate. Modified or fusion hanbok, and anything cut too short or too open, may not qualify. If free entry matters to the plan, choose a traditional set and check the current standards before the day.

Hanbok also solves a practical problem. It photographs beautifully against grey stone and dark timber, which is most of what the palaces are built from.

Timing

The weeks worth travelling for

Cherry blossom comes through in early April and does not last — usually a week to ten days in the city. Yeouido and the path around Seokchon Lake are the two best-known stretches.

Autumn colour peaks from late October into the first half of November, and it is the strongest season for the palace gardens. Changdeokgung's Huwon is the one to build a date around.

Summer is hot and humid with a real monsoon through July. Winter is cold and bright, and snow sitting on palace roofs is rare enough to be worth having if you happen to catch it.

Whatever the season, the hour after sunrise is the only time the palaces and Bukchon are genuinely quiet.

Before you go

Two access rules worth knowing

Bukchon is a residential neighbourhood rather than an attraction, and Seoul has begun enforcing that. The lane known as Bukchon-ro 11-gil is open to sightseers only between 10:00 and 17:00, with a fine for visiting outside those hours; enforcement started in March 2025. That rules out sunrise and sunset on that particular lane, so a Bukchon shoot has to be planned inside the window or moved to the streets around it. Rules in the area have changed more than once, so it is worth checking the current position close to your date.

The palaces each close one day a week, and the timed-entry gardens sell out in high season. We check both against your date before anything is confirmed.

The rest is ordinary courtesy. People live behind those gates, and the quieter the shoot, the better it goes.

Arranging it

How a Seoul shoot gets booked

Seoul shoots are arranged directly with our team rather than booked online. Tell us your dates, how many of you there are, and the locations you have in mind, and we will confirm what can be arranged and what it will cost.

If your dates are tight, say so in the first message. Palace tickets and the Bukchon window are the two things that most often decide the shape of a Seoul shoot.