Seoul in Winter: Cold, Clear, Cheap and Empty

The views. Cold air is clear air. From December to March the two observatories frequently reach the mountains, and the free terraces below N Seoul Tower give you the same thing for nothing. In April fine dust often flattens the view entirely.

The palaces, empty. Gyeongbokgung at 09:00 in January is a courtyard with almost nobody in it, and snow on the throne-hall roof is worth the numb fingers. Opening hours shorten to 17:00 in winter, so start early.

The markets. Gwangjang and Namdaemun are at their best when it is cold: hot soup at a counter, the hotteok griddles running continuously, and steam everywhere.

The bathhouse. A jjimjilbang at ₩10,000–₩20,000 is the correct winter afternoon, and Koreans treat it exactly that way.

Museum evenings. The national museums run to 21:00 on Wednesdays and Saturdays and cost nothing, which in a season with early darkness is the most useful fact on this page.

Seoul's cold is dry and windy rather than damp, which makes it more tolerable than the number suggests and more punishing when the wind gets up. Days below −10 °C occur most winters.

Ice. The granite on Bukhansan and the stone staircases of the city wall freeze, and both become genuinely hazardous without crampons — which are sold cheaply in any outdoor shop and are worn as a matter of routine by Korean hikers.

Shorter hours. The palaces close at 17:00 from November to February rather than 18:00, so a winter day is shorter at the far end. Deoksugung and Changgyeonggung still run to 21:00.

Indoor heating is fierce. Layers you can remove, because the contrast between a −5 °C street and a 25 °C café is the actual discomfort of a Seoul winter.

Snow falls, but not deeply or often in the city; when it does, the palaces are extraordinary for about a day.

What does not happen: closures. Korea does not shut down for winter, transport runs normally, and no attraction in this guide takes a seasonal break.

A proper coat rather than a fashionable one — down or a heavy wool overcoat, gloves, and something over your ears, which is where the wind gets you. Thermal layers underneath, removable indoors.

Shoes with grip. The pavements are cleared quickly and the mountain paths are not.

Hand warmers are sold in every convenience store for a few hundred won and are worth carrying.

And the one uniquely Korean piece of winter advice: the metro, the buses, the malls, the museums and every café are heated to a level that assumes you are wearing outdoor clothing you can take off. Dressing for the street and then sitting fully clothed in a café for an hour is the mistake visitors make.