How to Buy Seoul City Tour Bus Tickets: Routes & Price

What Is the Seoul City Tour Bus?

The Seoul City Tour Bus is an official hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus, separate from the regular city bus network. It runs fixed circular routes past Seoul's biggest tourist sights, and a single ticket lets you get off, explore, and reboard a later bus for the rest of the day. <cite index="1-1">The Seoul City Tour Bus provides organized shuttle tours to the city's most popular attractions, and for the price of just a single ticket, you can spend all day hopping on and hopping off the bus as it follows a circular route connecting Seoul's top sightseeing destinations.</cite>

It's a good pick for a first day in the city when you don't yet want to navigate transfers, but it is a paid tour product with its own tickets — it does not work with T-money or a regular transit fare. If you're still building out your transit toolkit, see our T-money card guide and how to use the Seoul subway for the cheaper day-to-day option.

Routes and Courses

The operator runs several theme-based routes, and the exact lineup changes seasonally, so always confirm current courses on the official site before booking.

• Downtown & Palace Course (Day, hop-on/hop-off): The most popular route. <cite index="5-3">The route runs Gwanghwamun, Myeongdong, Namsangol Hanok Village, Ambassador Hotel, Shilla Hotel, N Seoul Tower, Grand Hyatt Hotel, Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Daehakro, Changgyeonggung Palace, Changdeokgung Palace, Insadong, Cheongwadae (Blue House), Gyeongbokgung Palace area, and Sejong Center, looping back to Gwanghwamun.</cite> <cite index="5-4">Buses run at roughly 30-minute intervals, with a full loop taking about 1.5 hours.</cite>
• Night Panorama Course: <cite index="5-5">This is a round-trip ride through Seoul near the Han River, with the bus stopping for about 20-30 minutes at N Seoul Tower</cite> for photos. <cite index="1-4">Night courses run without stops</cite> along the rest of the route — it's a scenic ride, not a hop-on hop-off service.
• Combo/seasonal courses: The operator periodically bundles the day course with add-ons such as the Namsan cable car or N Seoul Tower observatory access; these change by season, so check the current lineup online.

Along the way you'll pass some of the city's best-known landmarks — if you want the full story on any of them, see our guides to N Seoul Tower, Jongno and Insadong, and Myeongdong.

Seoul City Tour Bus Price

Fares vary by course and whether you book a standalone ticket or a combo package. Based on current pricing published on the official English booking site:

<cite index="3-6">Adult and child pricing is listed in USD on the official booking site, with discounts automatically applied at checkout for certain combos.</cite> Exact won pricing at the ticket booth can differ slightly from the online rate and changes seasonally, so treat these as a planning range and confirm the final total before you pay. <cite index="7-8">Infants under 48 months typically ride free with a paying guardian, without a separate seat.</cite>

Where to Buy Tickets

You have two main options:

1. Book online in advance at the official sites (en.seoulcitybus.com or seoulcitytourbus.co.kr). <cite index="6-9">If you book online, you'll need to make your reservation and then exchange it for a physical ticket in person</cite> — <cite index="4-9">all participants must exchange their mobile voucher for a physical ticket at the Gwanghwamun Ticket Office at least 30 minutes before departure, since you cannot board with a mobile voucher alone.</cite>
2. Buy in person at the ticket booth. <cite index="8-4">The Gwanghwamun ticket booth is located at 68-2 Taepyeong-ro 1-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, reachable via Subway Line 5, Gwanghwamun Station Exit 6 (about 100m), or Subway Lines 1 or 2, City Hall Station Exit 3 (about 300m).</cite>

For the Night Panorama course specifically, ticketing works differently: <cite index="2-1,2-2">boarding is available only at the ticket office at DDP, not at other stops, and ticket purchases are also only possible at the DDP ticket office, with sales beginning at 17:00 in limited quantity.</cite> <cite index="2-6">Night tours operate non-stop and depart with a minimum of 8 passengers, and once you've boarded, fares are non-refundable</cite>, so don't buy a night ticket unless you're committed to that time slot.

If you'd rather compare this against a multi-day transit pass before deciding, our T-Money vs Korea Tour Card vs Discover Seoul Pass guide breaks down which one actually saves money for your itinerary.

How to Board and Use Your Ticket

• Arrive early. <cite index="7-10">Boarding for the day course starts around 30-40 minutes before departure, and seating is not assigned</cite> — <cite index="8-2">it's first come, first served, so arrive early if you want the best views</cite>, especially upstairs on the open-top deck.
• Audio guides are included. <cite index="4-7">You get individual headphones for audio guides in 12 languages</cite>, though on some routes <cite index="8-3">you'll need your own wired earphones to connect</cite>, so it's worth carrying a pair.
• Bus type isn't guaranteed. <cite index="7-6">Whether you get an open-top, glass-top, or semi-open bus is finalized on the day of use and cannot be guaranteed in advance.</cite>
• Weather and traffic can change things. <cite index="2-5">The route may change, or there may be suspensions or delays without prior notice due to traffic congestion, protests, or weather</cite>, so build in buffer time if you're connecting to a flight or a booked activity afterward.
• Keep your phone charged for navigation between stops. Since you'll be hopping off to explore neighborhoods on foot, it helps to have data ready — see our guide on using Naver Map as a foreigner, and grab a Korea eSIM before you land so you're not hunting for Wi-Fi at every stop.

Is It Worth It vs. the Subway?

The city tour bus makes sense if you want a low-effort overview on day one, don't want to plan transfers, or want the Han River night view without booking a separate cruise. For point-to-point travel between neighborhoods on later days, the subway with a T-money card is almost always cheaper and often faster, especially during rush hour when the bus sits in the same traffic as everyone else.

A practical approach: use the city tour bus for one day to scout the palace/downtown area and N Seoul Tower, then switch to the subway for the rest of your trip. If you're staying centrally, you can book a hotel near Gwanghwamun or Myeongdong so you're within walking distance of the main ticket booth. For structuring the rest of your days, check our 5-Day Seoul Itinerary or 3-Day Seoul Itinerary for First-Timers.

If you want to bundle the bus with other attractions, third-party platforms also sell discounted combo tickets — worth comparing against the official site before you book activities and passes for Seoul.

Quick Booking Checklist

• Decide day course, night course, or a seasonal combo.
• Book online for a small discount, or buy same-day at the Gwanghwamun booth (day course) or DDP booth (night course only).
• Bring ID and your booking confirmation to exchange for a physical ticket if you paid online.
• Arrive 30+ minutes early for a good seat; night tickets go on sale around 17:00 and sell out fast.
• Once boarded, fares are non-refundable — double-check the route and timing before you pay.