Quick answer: Spending Chuseok in Seoul does not ruin your trip. The holiday runs Thursday, September 24 to Saturday, September 26, with Chuseok Day itself on Friday, September 25. Millions of Koreans leave the city for their hometowns, so central Seoul gets quieter, not busier. Subways and buses run on a holiday timetable, most convenience stores remain open, including many 24-hour locations, and several free Chuseok festivals are already confirmed. But department stores close for two days and many chain restaurants shut on Chuseok Day itself, so September 25 needs a plan. The one thing to handle today is booking: Gyeongbokgung Palace night viewing covers the whole holiday and Chuseok dates are already selling out.
If you want the full picture of closures, KTX booking and intercity travel, read our main guide first: Chuseok 2026 in Korea: What Travelers Need to Know. This guide is the other half — what is actually open, and what to do with three days in Seoul.
What Chuseok in Seoul actually looks like
Chuseok is a family holiday, and families travel to hometowns outside Seoul. The result surprises most first-time visitors: Seoul empties out. Streets that are usually shoulder-to-shoulder become walkable. Palace grounds are calmer. Cafes have seats.
What changes is the mix of what is open, and it is more than most guides admit. Small independent restaurants close for the holiday, sometimes for two or three days. Neighbourhood shops and clinics close. Department stores close too — Shinsegae’s Gangnam branch and The Hyundai Seoul both list September 24 and 25 as closed. Even chain restaurants are not a safe bet: the Lotteria branch we checked shows September 25 as a holiday closure. Many convenience stores remain open, including 24-hour branches, and the subway and buses run on a holiday timetable.
So the plan is simple: stay in Seoul if you can, book anything ticketed in advance, and check every specific place before you walk to it. September 25 is the day that catches people out.
What closes
More than the usual advice suggests. On September 25 in particular:
- Department stores close, and often for more than one day. Shinsegae Gangnam and The Hyundai Seoul both list September 24 and 25. Which days a branch closes varies, so check the specific store rather than assuming.
- Chains are not safe either. The Lotteria branch we checked lists September 25 as a holiday closure, and branches of the same coffee chain posted three different Chuseok schedules. These are franchises, so the closure is decided branch by branch.
- Small independent restaurants, neighbourhood shops, clinics and pharmacies close. September 25 is the worst day, and some stay shut for the whole holiday.
- Still running: many convenience stores, the subway and buses on a holiday timetable, palaces and museums, and the free Chuseok festivals listed further down.
Even in Myeongdong and Hongdae, where more places stay open than in residential areas, a lot still closes — and several that do open start in the late afternoon rather than at their usual time. Our main Chuseok guide covers closures, intercity transport and KTX booking in full. This page assumes you have read it and are staying in Seoul.
Where to eat on Chuseok Day
This is the practical worry that catches most visitors, because September 25 is the day when the small places you bookmarked are most likely to have a handwritten note on the door. Four options that reliably work:
- Convenience stores. They are the most reliable fallback for visitors. Many branches stay open late or operate 24 hours, and you can usually find hot food, instant noodles and simple meals. Still, opening hours can vary by branch, so check the specific store if you are relying on one.
- Cafes, checked individually. Chains and independents both serve food as well as coffee, and plenty stay open on September 25 — but which ones is a branch-by-branch question. Look up two or three near you the night before rather than picking one on the walk over.
- Your hotel. If it has a restaurant or serves breakfast, that is the easiest solve for September 25. Ask at the desk the day before.
- Tourist districts, checked individually. Myeongdong, Hongdae and Insadong keep more places open than residential neighbourhoods, but plenty still close and some open only in the late afternoon. Travelling two or three subway stops is worth it — walking in blind is not.
- Not department stores. This is the trap. Food halls are the usual advice for Korean public holidays, but the stores themselves close for Chuseok, and often for more than one day — the two Seoul branches we checked are both shut on September 24 and 25.
If you want to eat something specifically tied to the holiday, look for songpyeon (송편) — small half-moon rice cakes made with the new harvest. Supermarkets, department store food halls and traditional markets sell them in the run-up to Chuseok, and they are the one food Koreans most associate with the holiday.
Two things travellers get wrong here. The first is trusting a brand name. Korean cafe and restaurant chains are mostly franchises, and each branch owner sets their own holiday closure — so one branch of a chain can close for three days while another a few stops away stays open. For Chuseok 2026 we found branches of the same coffee chain posting completely different notices: one closed on September 25 only, one closed the 25th through the 27th, and another showed no holiday closure. Starbucks Korea publishes a holiday notice each year that tells customers to look up their specific store.
So cafe-hopping still works during Chuseok, but “it is a Starbucks, it will be open” is not a plan. Independent cafes close more often than chains, yet neither group is predictable enough to walk to without checking.
The second is treating all three days the same. September 25 is the hard day; September 24 and 26 are far easier. Plan one dependable meal option for Chuseok Day, and leave anything that depends on a specific restaurant for the day before or the day after.
How to check whether a place is actually open
Do not guess, and do not trust a general “everything closes” claim. NAVER Map labels holiday closures directly, in English. Open a restaurant or cafe listing and look at the opening-hours line: if the business is closing for the holiday, it may show a red note reading something like “Closed for holiday · 09/25 Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving)” underneath the normal hours.
That single line answers the question faster than any general guide can, and it is specific to the place you actually want to visit. Google Maps does not always show Korean holiday closures as clearly or consistently. NAVER Map often does, and it does it in English. If you have not set the app up yet, our NAVER Map guide covers switching it to English and reading Korean listings.
Two habits worth forming before Chuseok Day: check the listing the night before rather than on the way, and have a second option in the same neighbourhood.
Free Chuseok events confirmed for 2026
These are from the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s official September 2026 event calendar, published on August 28, 2026. All are free. The first three are Chuseok programmes and run on the holiday itself; the last two run through late September, so confirm their holiday hours before making a trip for them.
| Event | Dates | Hours | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Namsangol Chuseok Festival (Namsan Dalbit Madang) | Sep 25–27 | 10:00–20:00 | Namsangol Hanok Village |
| Seoul Baekje Museum Chuseok Festival | Sep 26 | 10:00–17:00 | Seoul Baekje Museum |
| Seoul Urban Life Museum Chuseok events | Sep 26 | 13:00–17:00 | Seoul Urban Life Museum |
| Seoul Outdoor Library | Sep 4–Nov 1, Fri–Sun | 16:00–22:00 | Seoul Plaza, Gwanghwamun Square, Cheonggyecheon |
| Seoul Museum of Craft Art (special exhibition) | From Sep 22 | 10:00–18:00, closed Mon | Seoul Museum of Craft Art |
The Namsangol festival is the one to prioritise. It runs across Chuseok Day itself and the two days after, it is free, and it is the easiest place in central Seoul to see traditional games, food and performances without booking anything. Hours and programmes can change, so check the Namsangol Hanok Village site before you go.
The full calendar, including events outside the holiday window, is on the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s September 2026 events page.
Gyeongbokgung night viewing: book this now
This is the single thing worth acting on today rather than after you land.
The Korea Heritage Service is running Gyeongbokgung Palace night viewing from September 2 to October 2, 2026 — which covers the entire Chuseok holiday.
- Hours: 19:00–21:30, last entry 20:30
- Closed: Mondays and Tuesdays
- Admission: KRW 3,000
- Booking: online, opened August 26
Chuseok Day falls on a Friday this year, so night viewing runs on the holiday itself. That is exactly why booking matters: Korean media reported in early September that weekend and Chuseok-period tickets were already selling out. If you wait until you arrive, availability may be very limited.
If the dates you want are gone, daytime admission is the fallback, and Changdeokgung, Deoksugung and Changgyeonggung are all nearby. Palaces normally stay open through Chuseok, but confirm the day you are going rather than assuming. Check current schedules on the Korea Heritage Service royal palaces site.
Note also that not everything inside Gyeongbokgung runs during the holiday. The Korea Heritage Service lists the Gyeonghoeru and Hyangwonjeong special viewing as suspended for the Chuseok period (September 24–27), and the Jibokjae reading room as closed over the holiday. Night viewing is not on that exclusion list, and September 25 is a Friday rather than one of the Monday or Tuesday closures, so it runs — but “the palace is open” does not mean every programme inside it is.
One more note on palaces: in past years the four main palaces and Jongmyo have been opened free of charge over the Chuseok holiday. At the time of writing, the 2026 announcement had not been published. Check the Korea Heritage Service site closer to the date rather than assuming free entry.
A three-day plan for September 24–26
Thursday, September 24 — the day before
Many places still operate, though the city starts emptying as people travel. Use this day for anything that depends on small businesses being open: a specific restaurant, a market, or a neighbourhood you wanted to wander. Bukchon Hanok Village and Insadong work well. This is also the day to buy songpyeon, the half-moon rice cakes eaten for Chuseok — far more shops are open now than on the 25th. Note that some department stores are already closed on this day. Top up your transport card while shops are quiet — see our T-money card guide if you have not set one up yet.
Friday, September 25 — Chuseok Day
The quietest day in central Seoul and the day with the most closures. Build it around things that are confirmed open:
- Morning: a palace or museum
- Afternoon: Namsangol Hanok Village for the Chuseok festival (free, 10:00–20:00)
- Evening: Gyeongbokgung night viewing if you booked it, or the Seoul Outdoor Library at Gwanghwamun Square
- Meals: check specific places on NAVER Map the night before. Convenience stores and your hotel are the most dependable fallbacks — department stores are closed, and chains vary by branch
Saturday, September 26 — things reopen
The busiest day for free Chuseok programming. Both the Seoul Baekje Museum festival and the Seoul Urban Life Museum events run on this day, and Namsangol continues. Many small restaurants reopen. Department stores may be open again depending on the branch — Shinsegae Gangnam and The Hyundai Seoul both list only the 24th and 25th as closed. Returning traffic also builds up on intercity routes, so if your trip does not require leaving Seoul, staying in the city can be much easier.
What not to do
- Avoid unnecessary intercity travel unless your train or bus tickets are already secured. Trains, buses and highways are the genuinely difficult part of this holiday — see the main guide for the details.
- Do not turn up at a specific small restaurant on September 25 without checking. Call, or check its NAVER listing — our NAVER Map guide shows how to read Korean opening hours.
- Do not assume free palace entry. It has happened in past years, but the 2026 announcement was not out at the time of writing.
FAQ
What places are open in Seoul during Chuseok?
Many convenience stores remain open, the subway and buses run on a holiday timetable, and palaces, museums and the confirmed free Chuseok events listed above give visitors plenty to do. Department stores close for the holiday — the two Seoul branches we checked are shut on both September 24 and 25 — and many chain restaurants close on the 25th, so those are not the safe options people assume. Small independent restaurants, neighbourhood shops, clinics and pharmacies also commonly close.
I accidentally booked my trip during Chuseok. Should I change it?
Probably not, if you are staying in Seoul. It is one of the most common questions on Korea travel forums, and many travellers report that the city trip itself is manageable — often quieter than usual. Consider changing only the parts of your itinerary that depend on intercity travel if you have not secured transport.
Where can I eat if the restaurants near me are closed?
Convenience stores are the first fallback, especially 24-hour branches. Your hotel is the next easiest answer if it serves food. Tourist districts such as Myeongdong, Hongdae and Insadong keep more places open than residential neighbourhoods, so travelling two or three subway stops helps, but check each place on NAVER Map first because many still close and some open only in the late afternoon. Do not count on department store food halls: the branches we checked are closed on both September 24 and 25.
Are cafes open during Chuseok?
It depends on the branch, not the brand. Korean cafe chains are franchises and each owner decides their own holiday hours, so one branch may close for three days while another stays open throughout. Independent cafes close more often, but there is no rule you can rely on. Check the specific branch on NAVER Map — it may show a red “Closed for holiday” note with the date when a business is shutting for Chuseok.
Do I need to stock up on food before the holiday?
Not three days’ worth. Many convenience stores remain open during Chuseok, including plenty of 24-hour branches. One backup meal for September 25 is sensible; September 24 and 26 are much easier days to eat normally.
Is Gyeongbokgung night viewing available during Chuseok 2026?
Yes. The Korea Heritage Service is running night viewing from September 2 to October 2, 2026, which covers the holiday, and Chuseok Day falls on a Friday so it is not one of the Monday or Tuesday closures. Tickets are KRW 3,000 and Chuseok dates were already selling out in early September.
What free events are there in Seoul during Chuseok 2026?
The Namsangol Chuseok Festival (September 25–27), the Seoul Baekje Museum Chuseok Festival and the Seoul Urban Life Museum events (both September 26), and the Seoul Outdoor Library on Friday to Sunday evenings. All are free to enter.
Where can I try songpyeon in Seoul?
Supermarkets, bakeries and traditional markets sell songpyeon in the days leading up to Chuseok. Buy it before September 25 rather than relying on finding it on the day — far more shops are open beforehand.
Do I need to book anything in advance?
Only ticketed events. Gyeongbokgung night viewing is the main one. The free festivals above do not require booking.
Does the Seoul subway run normally during Chuseok?
It runs, but on the holiday timetable rather than the weekday one. Seoul’s subway uses separate weekday, Saturday and holiday schedules, so trains may be less frequent than on a normal Friday. Allow extra time on September 25 and check your route in the app rather than assuming weekday intervals.
Is it a bad idea to travel to Busan or Jeju during Chuseok?
It can be difficult, especially if you have not booked transport in advance. Trains can sell out well ahead and highway traffic becomes much heavier. Our main Chuseok guide covers KTX booking, the reservation schedule and what to do if you have already committed to an intercity trip.
The short version
Stay in Seoul if your itinerary allows it. Book Gyeongbokgung night viewing now if you want it. Put Namsangol Hanok Village on September 25 and the museum festivals on September 26. Keep September 25 free of any plan that depends on a specific small business being open. Avoid unnecessary intercity travel unless your tickets are already secured.
For closures, KTX booking and the wider picture of travelling in Korea over the holiday, read Chuseok 2026 in Korea: What Travelers Need to Know.
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