Step Into a Palace Courtyard on New Year's Morning
Seoul in early February is cold enough that your breath hangs in the air, and the courtyards of Gyeongbokgung are quieter than you would expect for a national holiday. That quiet is the point. During the Seollal holiday, four grand palaces — Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Deoksugung and Changgyeonggung — open their gates free of charge, along with Jongmyo Shrine and all 40 royal tombs of the Joseon dynasty. Winter light on the painted eaves makes the hanbok rental shops outside the palace walls worth the stop: the crowds thin, and you can photograph the grounds without waiting for a clear frame. The day after the holiday period, the four palaces, Jongmyo and the royal tombs close, so plan your palace visit inside the holiday window itself.
Collect a New Year Painting at Gyeongbokgung
At Gyeongbokgung Palace during the Seollal period, the Sehwa giveaway puts traditional New Year paintings in visitors' hands. The paintings are distributed first-come, first-served, so arrive early in the day and treat it as your first stop before the palace circuit. In the same days, Unhyeongung Royal Residence runs its own Seollal celebration: tteokguk (rice-cake soup) is shared, gugak performances fill the residence, and mask-making workshops give you something to carry home. Across town at Namsangol Hanok Village, the Seollal festival layers hands-on traditional programmes onto performances — in 2026 the theme ran to the Year of the Horse, with a horse bringing good fortune. Exact 2027 dates for these programmes are not yet published; they cluster around Lunar New Year's Day, which falls on February 6, 2027, so build your itinerary around that date and check listings closer to the holiday.
Folk Games, Museums and a Warm Indoor Afternoon
If the cold bites, the National Museum of Korea and the MMCA branches — MMCA Seoul, MMCA Deoksugung, MMCA Gwacheon and MMCA Cheongju — are open as usual through most of the holiday period, with free admission at most national museums. Note that they close on Seollal Day itself. For folk games, the pattern set in Busan gives you a sense of what Korean cities stage over the holiday: at Taejongdae Park, visitors play yunnori, jegichagi and tuho, and Busan Museum runs horse-themed New Year card making alongside outdoor folk games. Expect Seoul's hanok villages and cultural venues to offer similar traditional hands-on activities; confirm the specific programme once 2027 schedules are posted.
Eat Tteokguk, and Know What Stays Open
Tteokguk is the dish of the holiday — the bowl of rice-cake soup that marks the eating of a year of age in Korean custom, and you can taste it at the Unhyeongung celebration alongside the performances. Beyond that, plan around the holiday's rhythm: many department stores, malls and restaurants close on Seollal Day or for part of the holiday period, while convenience stores and shops near tourist areas often stay open. Verify hours in advance rather than assuming, and keep a convenience-store breakfast in your back pocket for the morning the neighbourhood bakery is shuttered.
Get There, and Get Out of Town
Intercity train and bus tickets sell out fast during Seollal. Check booking opening dates well ahead, and hold car rental as a backup if you want a day trip — the free royal tombs scattered outside the city make a natural winter excursion, and they are open free during the holiday. If you are staying in Seoul, base yourself near a palace district so the free-admission sights are a walk rather than a commute, and keep the day after the holiday in mind: that is when the palaces, Jongmyo and the tombs go dark.
Seollal 2027 lands on February 6, and the city's programme will fill in around it in the weeks before. Start with the palaces and the free-admission list, book your transport the moment tickets open, and let the holiday's slower pace — the shared soup, the first-come paintings, the folk games in the cold — set the rhythm of your visit.