During the May holidays last year, my travel buddy and I decided to go on a soul-searching trip to Seoul.  It was a relaxing trip compared to our previous whirlwind tours.  Seoul is a beautiful place with four distinct seasons.  When we went there, it was spring and the weather was cool with vibrant colors surrounding us.  A day is enough to visit several tourist spots and what I’ll be writing are what we visited in one day.

Changdeokgung Palace

Changdeokgung Palace was built as a secondary palace in 1405, under King Taejong’s reign.  During the Japanese invasion of 1592, the palace was totally destroyed.  It was restored in 1610 and served as a main palace for 258 years.  It was inscribed on the Unesco World Cultural Heritage list in 1997.

Except for Thursdays during April through November, guided tours are only allowed while visiting this place.  The Palace is closed on Mondays.  Guided tours last for one hour and twenty minutes with specific time schedule for the languages it supports (Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean).  English schedule is 1130am, 130pm, 330pm only.  Chinese schedule is 1100am and 300pm.  If you miss the tour, then join the other tours but just admire the beauty of the place.

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