Visiting Palaces in Seoul

One of the attractions of staying Seoul on holidays is to visit royal palaces. There are five palaces in the metropolitan area. In addition, there is also one in Suwan. If you have three days you could visit all of them but I will do not recommend that because you would be bored and you will get no particular impression on the last two. You will also get confused and end up wondering which ones you have already been yesterday, which ones remain, which ones are closed on Monday or Tuesday. As you may know, I have worked out perfectly beforehand, laying out schedules for each day and possible Plan B for altering plans. However, on the second day, I went to the palace which I had been on the first day. Using a different subway station and altering a visiting place, I did not recognized till I got to the gate. The names are also problematic for those do not know Korean. Anyway, I can tell you which ones you should visit if you go to Korea.
The palaces were constructed between the 14th and 15th centuries. Most of them were severely damanged or lost during the Japanese invation in the end of the 16th century. Although most of them were reconstructed or renovated during the Joseon Dinasty, many buildings of the palaces were destroyed again by the Japanese in the early 20th century. Therefore, there are vast space of empty yards inside the sites in spite of having long passages and surrounded walls. To sum up, if you do not check the time and join the tour, you will not be benefited to appreciate it at a full extent. Official guides at these palaces are knowledgeable and experts and you may get interesting stories about the palaces.

Gyeongbokgung / 景福宮（キョンボックン）
This is the palace that I recommend the most in Seoul. It costs just 3,000 won ( 2 euro +) including free entrance to the National Museum (currently closed for renovation) and the National Folk Museum which have a large collection of items related to the life of Korean people in each era such as household items, models of houses and costimes). And do not forget to attend a free guided tour in English (Chinese or Japanese). One of good aspects of touring Korea is that the Tourism and Cultural Ministry place a great emphasis on inviting foreign tourists to participate cultural events and guided tours at free of cost. There is no prior application such as we were required at the Imperial Palace in Kyoto when Nuno was there. (Thanks to the Imperial Ministry, it was the only places where we did not have to pay in Japan.) In Japan entrance fees for similar places are twice or three times higher than ones in Korea.)