I had a chance to act like a Korean princess, wearing a hanbok, in Gyeongbok Palace recently. This was something I was dreaming to do and I finally did it~
Where to Rent a Hanbok
There are many Hanbok rental stores near Gyeongbokgung with similar pricings. The hanbok I wore was from Hanbokplus (한복더하기). To get to the shop, exit at exit 2 of Gyeongbokgung station and continue walking straight until you see a Paris Baguette and Ediya Coffee on your left. In between these 2 places, you will see a stairway leading to the rental store on level 2 of the building. There are 2 banners in front of the entrance too.
There were so many hanbok options it took me around 30 or more minutes to figure out which one I wanted to wear. I decided to wear something bright and initially, I chose a white top and pink bottom but I was glad I swapped the white for a baby blue colour. The contrast made the photos look nicer so when choosing, make sure the top and bottom has a good contrast 🙂 This is what I eventually wore:
It cost me 20000 KRW because I chose the “nicer”, special hanbok and I get to wear it for 4 hours. If you choose a general hanbok, it is 15000 KRW for 4 hours. If you need more than 4 hours, you’ll need to pay additional 5000 KRW per hour. If you want to rent it for the whole day, it will cost 30000 KRW.
It was also nice that they gave free hair braiding service with free hair accessories, shoes and bag for the ladies. They also provide free bag for the males.Make up is not included so that your face doesn’t look to plain in the photos 🙂
Photos
All the photos I took in Gyeongbokgung was taken by my photographer friend, Rufus. The photos turned out awesome~
Tip: The best time to take photos in the palace is during the autumn foliage period (like when I went) and during the spring cherry blossom period. During the autumn foliage, you will get to take photos with the beautiful yellow and red trees in the background like the above photo.
Make sure to go on a weekday to avoid the crowd and have as little people as possible in your background. We went on Monday and the place was quite quiet. Maybe because it was a rather cold day too. Don’t forget to wear a coat too if you are walking around with the hanbok especially in Gyeongbokgung, it was really windy and cold! I was freezing on that day and I only took my coat out for photos 😉
If you’re interested to have your photos taken by Rufus, he’s available for photoshoot sessions! You can contact him through his blog or let me know and I will connect you guys to him 🙂
hello! can i check if they provided a locker for you to put your stuff?
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Yes they have lockers for you to lock your stuff 🙂
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hello! I would like to ask did you make a reservation beforehand or are walk-ins ok?
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Hi Qi Wei! You can just walk in, no reservations required 🙂
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Hi. Im travelling with my mom and shed really want to experience wearing hanbok. Would you be able to advise the nearest place in gyeonbokgung to rent? I dont want her to walk too far/long since shes quite old. Not that old though. 🙂
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Hi. The place that I mentioned in this post is near to gyeongbokgung. You can rent from there 🙂
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