The Week Seoul Empties Out
There’s a particular kind of quiet that settles over Seoul during Chuseok. Not peaceful exactly — more like the city is holding its breath. The subway cars that usually pack you in shoulder-to-shoulder suddenly have empty seats. Half the restaurants in your neighborhood have their shutters down. And somewhere on the expressway between Seoul and Busan, three million cars are crawling at walking speed toward someone’s grandmother’s house.
Chuseok falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month — September 15 to 17 in 2026 — and it’s less a festival than a national obligation. Think Thanksgiving, but with ancestral rites, rice cakes steamed over pine needles, and the kind of family dynamics that Korean dramas are built on. For travelers, it’s genuinely strange and genuinely worth it, but you need to know what you’re walking into.
Songpyeon and the Kitchen That Never Sleeps
The night before Chuseok, Korean families sit around the kitchen table making songpyeon — small half-moon rice cakes filled with sesame, chestnut, or red bean paste. The tradition says that whoever shapes the prettiest one will marry well, which means there’s usually a competitive aunt involved.
The cakes get steamed on a bed of pine needles, and the smell is hard to describe — sort of sweet and resinous, like a forest after rain got mixed up with a bakery. If you’re staying at a hanok guesthouse or doing a temple stay, there’s a decent chance you’ll get to try making them yourself.
The rest of the Chuseok table is no joke either. Jeon (savory pancakes — the zucchini ones are everywhere), japchae (glass noodles that every Korean grandmother insists she makes the best version of), and then the serious spread for charye, the morning ancestral ceremony. That last one involves rows of carefully arranged food and fruit, specific placement rules that vary by region, and at least one family member who gets corrected on where to put the pears.
What Actually Happens on the Day
Chuseok morning starts with charye — the family gathers before a table of food set out for ancestors, performs a series of bows, and the eldest male leads the ceremony. It’s solemn and structured, and as a visitor you probably won’t see this unless you’re invited into someone’s home. Which does happen, but not the kind of thing you can plan for.
After the rites, families eat together, play traditional games (yutnori, a board game involving throwing sticks, gets surprisingly heated), and visit ancestral graves to trim the grass and pay respects. The grave-visiting, called seongmyo, is why highways jam up days in advance — people are heading to family burial sites all over the country.
For travelers, the action is at folk villages and palaces. The Korean Folk Village in Yongin runs a full program: ganggangsullae (women’s circle dance — traditionally done under the full harvest moon), ssireum (Korean wrestling, which looks gentle until someone gets flipped), and various percussion performances. Namsangol Hanok Village in central Seoul does similar events, and it’s easier to get to.
Hanbok, Free Palaces, and the Tourist Advantage
Here’s the odd thing about Chuseok as a tourist: while Korean families are busy with obligations, the major palaces and cultural sites are often free to enter and significantly less crowded than usual. Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Deoksugung — all tend to open their gates for free during the holiday period.
Renting a hanbok (traditional clothing) amplifies this. Several rental shops around Gyeongbokgung will set you up for around 15,000-20,000 won for a few hours, and wearing one gets you free palace entry even on non-Chuseok days. During the holiday itself, you’ll see Korean families in hanbok too, so you won’t feel like you’re wearing a costume — you’re just participating.
That said, the rental shops near the palaces vary wildly in quality. Some of the cheaper ones give you hanbok that photographs well but feels like wearing a polyester bag. Ask to see the fabric before committing, or check reviews. The Instagram-famous shops charge more but the difference is noticeable.
The Transport Problem (Read This Part)
Chuseok migration is serious. We’re talking about the country’s entire population trying to move simultaneously. KTX bullet train tickets sell out weeks in advance. Express buses fill up. Highways that normally take three hours become eight-hour ordeals.
Practical survival notes:
- Book KTX tickets the moment they go on sale — usually about a month before the holiday. Set a reminder. They sell out within hours for popular routes.
- Don’t try to rent a car. Unless you enjoy sitting on the Gyeongbu Expressway watching the estimated arrival time climb higher every refresh.
- Seoul itself is actually pleasant. The crowds leave the city, so if you’re happy staying in Seoul, you’ll have an unusually peaceful experience.
- Flights into Korea around Chuseok are pricier. Book early if you’re flying in from abroad.
For booking trains and local transport, Trip.com handles KTX reservations for non-Korean speakers, which saves the headache of navigating Korail’s website (it’s gotten better, but still not great in English).
Where to Be, and What’s Actually Open
Small neighborhood restaurants and shops close. Chains and tourist-area restaurants mostly stay open. Here’s where makes sense as a base:
Seoul — The obvious choice. Insadong, Bukchon, and the palace areas run special programs. Myeongdong stays open because Myeongdong always stays open. The Han River parks are good for the full moon on Chuseok night.
Gyeongju — The ancient Silla capital has a different Chuseok energy. Bulguksa Temple holds special ceremonies, and the whole city feels like it was designed for this kind of holiday. Smaller, quieter, more atmospheric.
Jeonju — Famous for its hanok village and bibimbap, Jeonju runs folk events during Chuseok and the traditional architecture makes everything feel more festive. The Jeonju Hanok Village stays lively.
For cultural experiences, temple stays, and guided tours during the holiday period, KLOOK and KKday both list Chuseok-specific activities. Worth checking what’s available a few weeks before — the better ones fill up.
The Full Moon Thing
Chuseok night is a full moon — the harvest moon, technically — and Koreans traditionally spend the evening looking at it. In Seoul, the spots along the Han River get busy with families, and Namsan Tower (N Seoul Tower) is predictably packed but the view is genuinely good.
If you want something less crowded, the neighborhoods on the north side of Bukhansan have decent moon-viewing spots. Or honestly, just find a rooftop bar. Seoul has enough of them.
I’d suggest arriving a day or two before the 15th. The pre-Chuseok atmosphere — markets stocking up on gift sets, families buying songpyeon ingredients, the particular chaos of Seoul Station as the exodus begins — is its own kind of experience. By the 15th itself, the city is quiet enough that you can hear birds in Jongno.
