Deoksugung Palace {Travel Tuesday}

Happy Tuesday Y'all! 

Today I wanted to share Deoksugung Palace with you guys. Matt and I visited this palace during our Valentine's weekend get-away. Since Valentine's was two months ago, I thought I would finish sharing that trip before I get into my Busan trip. 

There are three great palaces of Seoul: Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung and Deoksugung Palace. 

{I think there are five palaces in Seoul, but these three are the 'greats'.} 

So far, Matt and I have visited 2 of the 3 great palaces of Seoul… Changdeokgung- we are coming for ya. 

Deoksugung Palace 

This palace is a lot smaller than Gyeonbukgung, but I think it's still worth going and checking out. This was built in the 1400s and was used after all the other palaces were burned down in 1592 during the Imjin wars. There is also a museum on the palace grounds. We didn't check that out, but we will probably come back and do so. 

We actually timed our visit just right were able to see the changing of the guard ceremony. We were able to see the ceremony at the Gyeonbukgung, but they were done a little differently and this time we got better pictures. 

The palace was not as crowded as Gyeongbukgung, so it was nice to walk through without a huge amount of people. 

I love the pictures below because you can really see that this palace is smack dab in the middle of downtown Seoul. I love the mix of modern and historical buildings. 

You can see city hall in the picture above. And Seoul Tower peaking through in the picture below. 

One of my favorite parts about these palaces is the detail. Everywhere you look there is such detail. I am really curious of process. Like did they hand paint everything? Stencil? Did they paint then assemble? Assemble then paint? What did they do? 

If you are in the Seoul area, and you have some time- I would recommend this palace. I think it would look the most beautiful in the Spring or Fall, but we went in the Winter and it was great. 

Here is a video clip of the ceremony: 

So what do you think- bucket list worthy or not? 

Basic Information: 

Hours: 9:00-9:00 

Cost: 1,000 Won (Youth 500 Won) 

Changing of the Guard Ceremony: 11:00, 2:00, 3:30 (Closed on Mondays) 

Location: By City Hall 

{For more information click here} 

{Linking up for Travel Tuesday}