Chuseok 2026 in Korea: Dates, Closures and Trains for Travellers

When is Chuseok in 2026?

Chuseok is Friday 25 September 2026, and the public holiday runs from Thursday 24 to Saturday 26 September. The dates come from the 2026 calendar published by the Korea AeroSpace Administration, which issues Korea's official calendar each year.

No substitute holiday applies, because none of the three holiday days falls on a Sunday. Monday 28 September is a normal working day.

With Sunday added, offices on a five-day week close for four days, from 24 to 27 September. That four-day block is the stretch to plan around.

What closes during Chuseok?

Small, independent businesses are the uncertain part, and the rules differ shop by shop. Seoul's official tourism site has said it cannot give precise closing information because closings vary by business, and that markets such as Namdaemun and Gwangjang stay open while some of their stores close.

One national museum closing is fixed. The National Museum of Korea is shut on Chuseok day, Friday 25 September, and open on the other holiday days. Its permanent exhibition is free, and the museum's published hours run from 9:30am to 5:30pm, or to 9pm on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

For a meal plan, the safe assumption is that a specific small restaurant you found online may be closed from 24 to 26 September. Keep a second option nearby rather than crossing the city for one address.

Are the palaces open and free?

Deoksugung is. Its management office has announced free entry from Thursday 24 to Sunday 27 September, with palace talks in English at 11:50am and 2:50pm that you join on the spot. The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art's Deoksugung branch, inside the palace grounds, is also free on the same four days.

For Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung and Jongmyo, the palace authority had not posted a Chuseok 2026 notice as of 13 September. The authority announced free Chuseok entry to the palaces, Jongmyo and the royal tombs in 2024, but this guide does not assume the same for 2026 until a notice appears. Check the notice board on the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center website in the days before you go.

If you plan to rent hanbok anyway, the palace rules on free entry in hanbok are covered in the rental guide.

Related guideHanbok Rental Near Gyeongbokgung: Free Entry and the RulesHanbok gets you into Seoul's main palaces free if it has a wrap collar and a top with a skirt or trousers. Where to rent, what is included, and Bukchon's 5pm rule.

Can you still get train tickets for Chuseok week?

Only seats that are left. Korail treated trains running from 23 to 27 September as holiday trains and sold them first in a pre-sale from 8 to 11 September, between 7am and 1pm, on the KORAIL+ app and a dedicated holiday page. The pre-sale was open only to Korail's integrated rail members, with a limit of 12 tickets per person.

Pre-sale bookings had to be paid between midnight on 12 September and midnight on 15 September, and a booking that is not paid is not confirmed. Remaining seats have been on sale since 3pm on 11 September.

For a visitor, that means two things. Seats on popular KTX routes that week are scarce, and a trip that needs a train is easier if the train runs on 22 September or earlier, or on 28 September or later. Our pick is to stay put in one city through the holiday and move on either side of it.

Related guideHow to Book the KTX: Tickets, Fares and the 2026 ChangesKTX tickets open at 7am a month before travel. Since 1 September 2026 the KTX and SRT are one network and fares are 10% lower: Seoul to Busan is 54,400 won.

If you are fixing the dates now, book the Seoul base for the holiday first and the train leg outside 23 to 27 September second.

How does Chuseok affect getting around Seoul?

Seoul adds late services at the end of the holiday. On 26 and 27 September, the subway runs later so that last trains reach their final stations at 1am, on the Seoul Metro sections of lines 1 to 8, Line 9, the Ui-Sinseol Line and the Sillim Line. City bus last runs are also retimed to pass stops at five railway stations, Seoul, Cheongnyangni, Yeongdeungpo, Yongsan and Suseo, and three bus terminals, Seoul Express, Dong Seoul and Nambu, at 1am.

Long-distance buses are added too. The city is running 751 more express and intercity bus departures a day from Seoul between 23 and 27 September. Night N buses run normally over the holiday.

If you land at Incheon that week, the route options into the city are in the Incheon Airport to Seoul guide.

What should you do if you arrive during Chuseok week?

Plan the four days as a Seoul stay rather than a moving trip. Put Deoksugung on any day from 24 to 27 September, keep the National Museum of Korea off 25 September, and leave a train to Gyeongju or Busan until 28 September.

Sort out payment before the holiday starts, so a closed shop is an inconvenience rather than a problem. How to pay in Korea covers which cards and apps work.

For help in English, the Korea Tourism Organization's 1330 Korea Travel Helpline answers 24 hours a day, at 1330 inside Korea or +82-2-1330 from a foreign number. In Seoul, 51 emergency medical centres and 23 hospitals with emergency rooms stay open 24 hours over the holiday, and the city's 120 Dasan call centre takes calls around the clock.

Related guideKorea in 7 Days: Seoul, Gyeongju and Busan by KTXA first week in South Korea: four days in Seoul, a night in Gyeongju and a last day on the Busan coast, linked by the KTX, with opening hours and fares checked.

For the rest of the trip, from arrival cards to where each city fits on the route, start at the South Korea travel guide.