This guide covers what Christmas and New Year actually look like in Seoul: what is open on 25 December, where the best lights and displays are, the Bosingak bell-ringing on New Year’s Eve, sunrise trips on 1 January, how Seollal differs from the calendar New Year, the weather, and how to plan a December trip. Event details are based on the most recent editions (winter 2025–26), checked in September 2026. Dates for the coming season are usually announced in November, so check before you travel.
Christmas and New Year in Seoul at a glance
| Date | What happens | What is open |
|---|---|---|
| Late November–January | Department store facades and light displays switch on | Everything |
| Mid-December–early January | Seoul Winter Festa: Gwanghwamun Square, Cheonggyecheon lanterns, Seoul Plaza, DDP | Everything |
| 24 December | The big date night. Restaurants and hotels booked out | Everything; very busy in the evening |
| 25 December | Public holiday. Church services; couples and friends out | Shops, malls, restaurants, most attractions. Banks and offices closed |
| 31 December | Bosingak bell-ringing at midnight; countdown events | Everything; road closures around Jongno |
| 1 January | Public holiday. Sunrise viewing, tteokguk | Most shops and restaurants; some museums closed |
| Seollal (6–9 February 2027) | Lunar New Year: family gatherings, ancestral rites, travel home | Many small restaurants and shops closed; palaces and big malls usually open |
December weather
Cold and usually dry. Expect daytime highs of around 3–5°C and night-time lows well below freezing, with January colder still. Snow is possible but not reliable, and the wind chill along the river and on Namsan makes it feel far colder than the thermometer says. Our Seoul in winter guide covers what to wear and what is worth doing in the cold.
What Christmas means in Korea
Around three in ten South Koreans identify as Christian, and Christmas has been a national public holiday since the late 1940s. For churchgoers it is a religious festival, with services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. For most of the country, though, it has become something else.
- It is a couples’ holiday. Christmas Eve in particular is for dates: dinner, a hotel stay, gifts, the light displays. Being single on Christmas is a running joke.
- It is not a family day. Families gather at Seollal and Chuseok. On 25 December, people are more likely to go out with friends.
- Christmas cake is essential. Bakeries such as Paris Baguette and Tous les Jours sell elaborate strawberry and cream cakes, and hotel bakeries sell expensive designer versions. Pre-ordering is normal.
- There is no big Christmas dinner. People eat out — often something special like steak, pasta or fried chicken — rather than cooking a traditional meal at home.
- The shops stay open. This is a day for going out, and the malls and department stores are packed.
For visitors, the practical upshot is simple: Christmas is a great time to be in Seoul if you want lights, atmosphere and a busy city, and a poor time if you want a quiet family Christmas. Book restaurants for 24 December well in advance.
What is open on Christmas Day
More than you might expect.
- Open: department stores, malls, most shops, restaurants, cafés, bars, cinemas, theme parks, the subway and buses (on a holiday timetable), convenience stores, most palaces (Gyeongbokgung is closed on Tuesdays as usual, not on holidays), N Seoul Tower, Lotte World and Seoul Sky.
- Closed: banks, post offices, government offices and most businesses. Some small independent restaurants take the day off.
- Busy: everything that is open. Malls, Myeongdong, Lotte World and anywhere with lights will be crowded from early afternoon.
In 2026, Christmas Day falls on a Friday, making it a three-day weekend for most Koreans, so expect particularly heavy crowds from Christmas Eve through Sunday.
Where to see the Christmas lights
Shinsegae Department Store, Myeongdong
The best-known Christmas sight in the city. Every winter, the main branch of Shinsegae, at the edge of Myeongdong opposite the Bank of Korea, turns its entire façade into an enormous animated 3D media display. The 2025–26 edition ran from early November to the end of January, nightly from 17:00 to midnight. It draws huge crowds; the best view is from across the road near the Bank of Korea Money Museum. Nearest stations: Hoehyeon (Line 4) or Myeongdong (Line 4).
Lotte Department Store and Myeongdong
A short walk away, Lotte’s flagship store and the streets around Myeongdong are decorated too, and the shopping district itself — neon, street-food carts, crowds — is at its most festive in December. Our Myeongdong guide covers what to eat and buy while you are there.
Gwanghwamun Square
During the Seoul Winter Festa, Gwanghwamun Square becomes a Christmas village. In 2025, it had a 15-metre Christmas tree, market stalls, a Rudolph-themed merry-go-round and light installations, with the palace gate lit up behind. It is free, central and particularly good for families.
Cheonggyecheon and the Seoul Lantern Festival
The Seoul Lantern Festival fills the sunken stream of Cheonggyecheon with illuminated lantern sculptures, from Cheonggye Plaza downstream. The 2025–26 festival featured around 500 lantern pieces and ran from mid-December to mid-January. Walking the stream in the evening is free and one of the loveliest winter walks in Seoul. Go on a weekday to avoid the worst crowds.
Seoul Plaza and the ice rink
Seoul Plaza, in front of City Hall, hosts a large Christmas tree and, in most winters, an outdoor public ice rink that has traditionally cost very little to use, with skate hire included. It is one of the cheapest and most cheerful winter activities in the city. Check the season’s dates and sessions before you go, as they vary from year to year.
Department stores and malls
Seoul’s department stores compete fiercely on Christmas decorations, and several have built elaborate walk-through Christmas villages or immersive displays in recent years.
- The Hyundai Seoul in Yeouido has become known for its indoor Christmas installations, which have been popular enough to require online reservations or timed queues in some years.
- Lotte World Tower and Lotte World Mall in Jamsil typically host a Christmas market and a giant tree in the plaza outside.
- COEX and Starfield Library decorate the library’s atrium for the season.
Myeongdong Cathedral
The red-brick Gothic cathedral at the top of Myeongdong is the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul and the centre of the city’s religious Christmas. There is usually a nativity scene and lights in the grounds, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day masses draw large congregations. Visitors are welcome to attend a service; arrive early, dress warmly and be respectful — this is worship, not an attraction.
Theme parks
Lotte World (indoor, in Jamsil) and Everland (outdoor, in Yongin) both run Christmas seasons with parades, decorations and seasonal shows. Lotte World’s indoor setting makes it the better choice in the cold; Everland is more spectacular and much chillier. Both are very busy between Christmas and New Year.
Christmas as a couple
If you are in Seoul as a couple, you are doing Christmas the Korean way. A typical Christmas Eve looks like this:
- Afternoon: a walk through Deoksugung’s stone-wall road or Bukchon, then coffee.
- 17:30: the Shinsegae light show as it gets dark.
- 19:00: dinner — book a set menu at a restaurant with a view, or a hotel buffet, weeks in advance.
- 21:00: the lanterns at Cheonggyecheon, or Namsan and N Seoul Tower for the city lights.
- Late: a cocktail bar, then a strawberry cake back at the hotel.
Hotel prices spike sharply for the night of 24 December, and good rooms sell out. Book early. Our Seoul itinerary for couples has more ideas for romantic days and evenings.
New Year’s Eve in Seoul
The Bosingak bell-ringing ceremony
The defining New Year’s Eve event in Seoul. Bosingak is a bell pavilion on Jongno, in the old centre of the city, where a great bell once marked the opening and closing of the city gates. Every New Year’s Eve, the bell is struck 33 times at midnight by a group that includes the mayor and citizens chosen for their contributions to society, and the ceremony is broadcast live on national television.
- Timing: the most recent ceremony ran from 23:50 on 31 December to 00:20 on 1 January, with performances, a countdown, the bell-ringing itself and celebrations afterwards. In recent years a media façade has been projected onto the pavilion roof in time with the bell.
- Where: Bosingak, beside Jonggak Station (Line 1).
- Crowds: tens of thousands of people pack the streets around the pavilion. You will not get close unless you arrive very early, and you may not see much at all. The atmosphere is the point.
- Getting there and away: roads around Jongno are closed. The city usually extends subway and bus services past midnight on New Year’s Eve, but trains are packed and some stations near the pavilion may be closed or trains may skip them for crowd control. Check announcements on the day.
Is it worth it?
If you like big crowds and want a genuinely Korean New Year’s moment, yes, once. Dress for sub-zero temperatures, eat beforehand, use the toilet before you go, and accept that you will be standing in the cold for an hour or more. If you dislike crowds, watch it on television from a warm bar or a jjimjilbang, which is what many Seoulites do.
Our Jongno guide has more on the neighbourhood around the pavilion.
Other ways to see in the New Year
- Lotte World Tower, Jamsil: the tower has staged countdown events with fireworks from the building in recent years. Check whether it is running before you plan around it.
- Hotel parties and rooftop bars: many upscale hotels hold ticketed countdown parties. Book early.
- Clubs: Gangnam, Itaewon and Hongdae clubs hold New Year’s Eve events, with higher cover charges and long queues.
- Gwanghwamun and the DDP: Seoul Winter Festa events have included countdown programmes at several city-centre locations.
- A quiet night: a Korean BBQ dinner with friends, a noraebang room, and bed before the sunrise alarm.
New Year’s Day: sunrise and tteokguk
Watching the first sunrise
Watching the first sunrise of the year, haedoji, is a Korean New Year tradition. People climb hills and travel to the coast to make a wish as the sun comes up. Sunrise on 1 January in Seoul is around 07:45.
- In Seoul: Namsan and Achasan are popular sunrise spots, with a short pre-dawn hike and crowds of families and friends at the top. Take a head torch and warm layers; it will be well below freezing.
- Along the Han River: several of the riverside parks and bridges have good eastward views and no climbing.
- Jeongdongjin: the classic New Year’s sunrise trip. This small town on the east coast has a railway station on the beach, and special early trains and tours from Seoul run for the New Year sunrise. Tickets sell out weeks in advance, and the town is overwhelmed with visitors. Book early or choose a less famous east coast spot such as Gangneung’s beaches, reached by KTX.
Tteokguk
The New Year dish is tteokguk, a clear beef broth with slices of rice cake, egg and seaweed. Eating it is said to add a year to your age. Many restaurants serve it around the New Year, and it is exactly what you want after a freezing sunrise.
Seollal: the “real” New Year
The calendar New Year is a single public holiday. Seollal, the Lunar New Year, is the major family holiday of the Korean year — and for visitors it is a very different experience.
| 1 January | Seollal (Lunar New Year) | |
|---|---|---|
| Holiday length | One day | Three days, plus substitute days when they fall at weekends |
| 2027 dates | Friday 1 January | Saturday 6 – Tuesday 9 February (including a substitute holiday) |
| Atmosphere | Parties, countdowns, sunrise trips | Family visits, ancestral rites, bows to elders, traditional games |
| Seoul during the holiday | Busy and festive | Unusually quiet as residents travel to hometowns |
| Shops and restaurants | Mostly open | Many small businesses closed, especially on the main day |
| Transport | Normal | Trains and buses out of Seoul sold out; roads jammed |
| Attractions | Mostly open | Palaces and big museums usually open, often with folk events |
For a visitor, Seollal can be a lovely time to be in Seoul — the city is calm, the palaces and the National Folk Museum run traditional games and performances, and some heritage sites have offered free entry during the holiday in recent years. It is a bad time to travel around the country, and a frustrating one if you have your heart set on a particular small restaurant. Our guide to Korean holidays and festivals explains Seollal and Chuseok in more detail.
Planning a December trip
Book early
- Hotels for 24 December and 31 December.
- Restaurants for Christmas Eve.
- Trains for New Year sunrise trips and anything during Seollal.
- Theme park and observation deck tickets for the week between Christmas and New Year.
Pack for proper cold
A long padded coat (the kind half of Seoul wears all winter), thermal base layers, gloves, a hat, and hand warmers, which convenience stores sell cheaply. Indoor heating is strong, so layers you can remove are better than one thick jumper. Our Seoul packing list has a full winter checklist.
Balance indoors and outdoors
The lights are best after dark, which comes early — around 17:15–17:30 in late December. Plan museums, malls and cafés for the afternoon, the light displays for the early evening, and a warm dinner afterwards. A jjimjilbang is the perfect way to thaw out; our jjimjilbang guide explains how they work.
A sample Christmas-to-New-Year week
| Day | Plan |
|---|---|
| 24 December | Palace in the afternoon, Shinsegae light show at dusk, Christmas Eve dinner, Cheonggyecheon lanterns |
| 25 December | Morning mass at Myeongdong Cathedral or a lie-in; Lotte World or COEX; Christmas market at Lotte World Tower |
| 26–27 December | Museums, Insadong, a jjimjilbang; Seoul Plaza ice rink |
| 28–29 December | A day trip — a ski resort, or Suwon’s fortress in the snow |
| 30 December | Shopping in Seongsu or Hongdae; Namsan at sunset |
| 31 December | Rest in the afternoon; Korean BBQ dinner; Bosingak bell-ringing or a warm bar |
| 1 January | Sunrise on Namsan or Achasan, a bowl of tteokguk, a long nap |
For events throughout the year, see our Seoul festivals and events guide.
Frequently asked questions
Is Christmas a big deal in Seoul?
Yes, but not in the way it is in Europe or North America. It is a public holiday with spectacular lights and decorations, but it is mainly a day for couples and friends to go out rather than a family holiday.
What is open in Seoul on Christmas Day?
Department stores, malls, shops, restaurants, cafés, most attractions and public transport are open. Banks, post offices and government offices are closed.
Where are the best Christmas lights in Seoul?
The Shinsegae Department Store media façade in Myeongdong, Gwanghwamun Square during the Seoul Winter Festa, the lantern festival along Cheonggyecheon, and the Christmas displays at The Hyundai Seoul and Lotte World Tower.
What time is the Bosingak bell-ringing?
The bell is struck 33 times at midnight on 31 December. The most recent ceremony ran from 23:50 to 00:20, with performances before and after. Arrive very early if you want to be close.
Is New Year or Seollal the bigger holiday in Korea?
Seollal, the Lunar New Year, is far bigger. It is a multi-day family holiday when many Seoul residents travel to their hometowns. The calendar New Year is a single day off, celebrated with countdowns and sunrise trips.
Does it snow in Seoul at Christmas?
Sometimes, but not reliably. December is cold and mostly dry, with daytime temperatures a few degrees above freezing and nights below. January is colder and more likely to bring snow.
Final thoughts
December is an underrated time to visit Seoul. It is cold, and the days are short, but the city puts on a real show: building-sized light displays, lanterns along the stream, an ice rink in front of City Hall, a cathedral full of candles and, at midnight on New Year’s Eve, a great bronze bell rung for a crowd of tens of thousands. Go with warm clothes, book your Christmas Eve dinner early, and remember that the real family New Year is still to come in February.
Photo Credits
Lantern sculptures on Cheonggyecheon Stream at the Seoul Lantern Festival: Lantern Sculptures at the 2019 Seoul Lantern Festival by Ethan Doyle White, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Bosingak bell pavilion on Jongno: 20240413 Bosingak 01 by Jjw, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Interior of Myeongdong Cathedral: Korea Myeongdong Cathedral 03 by korea.net, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.