The Moonlight tour of Changdeokgung Palace

There are five main palaces in Korea. I had been to the biggest and majestic Gwanghwamun palace which is a must-see for all tourists because of all the history involved. But for the prettiness, I must say the Changdeokgung takes the cake! I was lucky to get into the Moonlight tour of the palace coordinated by the Korea Tourism organization on the full moon nights. The palace is beautiful in the daytime but the night time view just took my breath away!

General public are not allowed for this tour. There is a form to be submitted and then 100 people are allowed to participate in it.The weather was so pleasant and it was a perfect night to visit the palace. 

The program started out at 7:30pm, Korean precision timing, with the registration for the English or Chinese language tour guides. We were all given headphones to listen to the guide. Then, we were treated to the Royal changing of Guards at the palace gate. 

Changing of guards at the Changdeokgung palace

We were given a pretty LED light to carry through the palace, just in case. Then came the pretty sights! 

The traditional Changdeokgung palace surrounded by the hi-tech buildings of Seoul

Changdeokgung palace at night

The place stones for the officials. 

The Throne room for the King. Check out the beautiful electric Chandeliers!

The pretty pretty palace at night!

The night time view around the walls of the palace.

We then reached the secret garden, which houses the beautiful lotus pond. The night time view of the pond was like a dream come true.

The lotus pond in the secret garden. Note the reflections. 

While we were feasting our eyes on the lotus pond, there was also an audio treat performed by a local artist in a nearby gallery. 

The love nest for the king 

After a visual treat, we were then ushered into a open air auditorium in the palace where we were given ice cold omeja tea and some traditional Korean snacks, while we got to see the Korean artists performed. I especially loved the short presentation of the Korean version of Romeo and Juliet.

Pansori about the Korean love birds

I really had a beautiful time at my favorite palace in Seoul. And the tour also was so well arranged that I hardly noticed that it was around 10:30pm when we were out of the palace gates. We did finish a quick questionnaire and even received a free gift on top of our treat! This was indeed a romantic and even informative tour of the beautiful palace.