The Lunar New Year holiday, known as Seol in South Korea, has been extended to six days, from Jan. 25 to 30. Families, friends, and lovers can enjoy various festive events across the country. From traditional folk games to cultural experiences, here is a list of places to visit this Seol holiday.
At the Whale Cultural Village in Ulsan, visitors can try out all five traditional games featured in the popular Netflix series Squid Game Season 2, including spinning top (paengi chigi), flying stone (biseokchigi), flipping tiles (ttakji chigi), hacky sack (jegichagi), and Korean Jacks and Seven stones (gonggi).
Admission is free for visitors dressed in hanbok (traditional Korean clothing). The village will be closed on Lunar New Year’s Day (Jan. 29). To mark the Year of the Blue Snake, visitors born in the Year of the Snake will receive a snake doll as a gift.
For those visiting Jeju Island during the holiday, the Jejumok Gwana (a historical government office) and Jeju Folklore and Natural History Museum in downtown Jeju offer a variety of activities. Jejumok Gwana will host a Folk Play Yard on Jan. 30, where visitors can participate in games like yutnori (a traditional board game), ttakji chigi, and paengi chigi. The Jeju Folklore and Natural History Museum will feature activities like treasure hunts and a hands-on experience making bingtteok, a traditional Jeju Island dish also known as buckwheat roll with radish filling.
Cheongnamdae, a former presidential villa in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, will hold traditional activities such as kite flying, yutnori, and touho (arrow throwing) throughout the holiday.
Namsangol Hanok Village and Unhyeonggung Palace in Seoul will offer numerous traditional Lunar New Year activities for families and children from Jan. 28 to 30. Visitors can try making rice cakes at Namsangol Hanok Village and participate in a jisinbapgi event, a traditional earth-stepping ritual, at Unhyeonggung Palace.
The Seoul Museum of History and Hanseong Baekje Museum will host kid-friendly workshops on Jan. 30, where families can craft stingray kites and lucky pouches.
Seoul’s four major palaces—Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Deoksugung, and Changgyeonggung—will offer free admission throughout the holiday period. Jongmyo Shrine, which usually requires reservations, will be open for free entry on Jan. 25 and Jan. 30. The Seoul Museum of Art and the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts will remain open throughout the holiday.
Nature lovers can visit three national arboretums for free on Jan. 25 and Jan. 30: the Baekdudaegan National Arboretum in Bonghwa, the Sejong National Arboretum in Sejong, and the National Botanic Garden of Korean Native Plants in Pyeongchang. The gardens will be closed on Lunar New Year’s Day. For those seeking a green escape during winter, the Wando Arboretum in South Jeolla Province, home to Korea’s largest and oldest broadleaf evergreen colony, will offer free admission from Jan. 27 to 30.
The Korean Folk Village in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, will offer a 49% discount admission for families spanning three generations.
To ease travel during the holidays, the government will open over 14,000 parking lots at government offices and schools nationwide for free use from Jan. 27 to 30. Locations can be found on platforms such as Naver Map and Kakao Map.
