Half a day in hanbok

1. 9:30
   Pick up your hanbok

   At a shop near Gyeongbokgung Station. Book the slot ahead so you're dressed by 9:50. Where to rent

2. 10:00
   Changing of the guard

   In the square inside Gwanghwamun, about 20 minutes. Times and where to stand

3. 10:30
   Gyeongbokgung, free

   Walk in past the ticket gate in your hanbok. Throne hall, the long corridors, and the pond pavilion at the back. Give it about 90 minutes. Free-entry rules

4. 12:00
   Bukchon

   Out the east side and up into the hanok lanes. The red zone is open to tourists from 10:00, so you're well inside the hours. Visiting rules

5. 13:10
   Return the hanbok

   Back at the shop by 13:30 on a four-hour slot. Bukchon to Gyeongbokgung Station is a 15 to 20 minute walk, so leave by 13:10.

6. 13:45
   Lunch

   Samgyetang at Tosokchon or the coin lunchbox at Tongin Market, both in Seochon, west of the palace. Where to eat

If you only have two hours

Drop Bukchon. Rent at 9:30, watch the guards at 10:00, spend an hour in Gyeongbokgung and be back at the shop by 11:30. Two hours is tight once you add the queue at the shop, so a three- or four-hour slot is worth the extra few thousand won.

If it's a Tuesday

Gyeongbokgung is closed, and so is the guard ceremony. Rent near Anguk Station instead and do Changdeokgung, which closes on Mondays, then Bukchon next door. The free-entry rule works the same there.

Afternoon version

Swap the order: lunch first, rent at 13:30, catch the 14:00 ceremony, palace until about 16:00, Bukchon before the red zone closes at 17:00. In winter the palace closes earlier, around 17:00 with last entry an hour before, so start sooner.