If you are planning a trip to Korea this September, there is one week you need to know about. Chuseok falls on Friday, 25 September 2026, and the holiday runs from Thursday 24 through Sunday 27.
Chuseok is Korea's harvest festival, often described in English as Korean Thanksgiving. For visitors it matters less as a cultural event and more as a logistics problem: millions of people travel to their hometowns at the same time, trains sell out weeks ahead, and a lot of ordinary businesses simply close.
There is also one detail almost every English-language page gets wrong this year, and it is worth getting right before you book anything: there is no substitute holiday in 2026. Monday 28 September is a normal working day.
This post is about Chuseok specifically — the dates, what it does to your travel plans, and what you will actually see. If you want the whole 2026 holiday calendar instead, I have a separate guide to that.
The exact dates
Korean public holidays are set by a presidential decree, the Regulation on Public Holidays for Government Offices. Article 2, item 9 defines the Chuseok holiday as three days: the day before Chuseok, Chuseok itself, and the day after — the 14th, 15th and 16th days of the eighth lunar month.
Mapped onto the 2026 calendar, that gives you this.
| Date | Day | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 24 September | Thursday | Public holiday (day before Chuseok) |
| 25 September | Friday | Chuseok Day |
| 26 September | Saturday | Public holiday (day after Chuseok) |
| 27 September | Sunday | Public holiday (Sunday) |
| 28 September | Monday | Normal working day |
So the practical holiday block is Thursday 24 to Sunday 27 September — four days. Offices reopen on Monday the 28th.
Why there is no substitute holiday this year
Short answer: Korea's substitute-holiday rule treats Chuseok differently from most holidays. For Chuseok, a substitute day is granted only when one of the three holiday dates falls on a Sunday. In 2026 they fall on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, so no substitute day is added.
That is why Monday 28 September is a working day. If you see a page promising a five-day Chuseok break in 2026, it is applying the rule that covers Children's Day and Christmas, not the one that covers Chuseok.
The clause-by-clause breakdown, plus every other 2026 holiday and which ones do get substitute days, is in my full guide to Korea's 2026 public holidays.
The practical upshot for a visitor: banks, immigration offices and government services reopen on Monday 28 September. That is your first chance to handle anything official after the break.
What actually closes — and what it means for your day
Chuseok is not like Christmas in most Western countries, where nearly everything shuts for a day. It is more uneven than that, and the pattern is easy to predict once you know it: chains and big operators stay open, family-run places close because the family is travelling.
That single rule will get you through the week. The restaurant you bookmarked from a food blog is exactly the kind of place most likely to be shut.
Expect these to be closed on 24-26 September:
- Banks and post offices. All of them, on all public holiday dates.
- Government offices, including immigration offices and district offices.
- Most clinics and pharmacies. This is the one that catches travellers out.
- Many small restaurants, especially outside the main tourist districts.
- Traditional markets, partially — many stalls close on Chuseok Day itself.
What stays open
Plenty, and more than most visitors expect:
- Subways, buses and trains run throughout, usually on a holiday timetable.
- Convenience stores — the 24-hour ones stay 24-hour.
- Department stores and large shopping malls, though hours can be shortened. Check the specific branch.
- Emergency rooms at major hospitals.
- Airports, hotels and tourist attractions in Seoul and Busan.
- Cafés and chain restaurants in busy areas — Myeongdong, Hongdae and Gangnam stay lively.
In short: if you stay in central Seoul, you will barely notice a shortage of food or transport. If you head to a small town, plan ahead.
Getting around: the two peak days
The traffic pattern during Chuseok is very predictable. Everyone leaves the cities at the start and comes back at the end.
Outbound congestion peaks on Wednesday evening and Thursday, as people head to their hometowns. Return traffic peaks on Sunday. Chuseok Day itself is usually the calmest day to move around, because most people are already where they are going.
If you are travelling between Korean cities during this window, aim for Friday the 25th. If your itinerary is flexible, moving on Monday the 28th is easier still.
Train tickets: you may already be too late
KTX tickets for the Chuseok period are not sold the normal way. KORAIL runs a dedicated advance booking round, and the seats are largely gone once it closes.
For 2026, KORAIL's notice set out this schedule:
| Stage | Dates |
|---|---|
| Priority booking (disabled, elderly, pregnant, veterans) | 3-4 September |
| General public booking | 7-11 September, by route |
| Payment window | 12-15 September |
| Remaining seats on general sale | from 11 September, 15:00 |
Two things to know. Booking requires a KORAIL membership account — there is no station-counter booking during this round. And unsold or unpaid seats are released from 11 September at 15:00, which is a real second chance if you missed the first window.
I covered the full route-by-route schedule, the payment rules and the refund penalties in a separate post: Chuseok 2026 train ticket booking.
If trains are sold out, express buses are the usual fallback. They also fill up, but they release seats later and more gradually.
Banks, cash and money
Banks close for the full holiday block. ATMs keep working, but a few practical notes:
- Withdrawal fees are often higher outside business hours, and holidays count as outside hours.
- Currency exchange counters in tourist areas mostly stay open; bank branches do not.
- Card payment works normally everywhere — Korea is close to cashless.
- Carry some cash anyway if you plan to visit traditional markets or small towns.
If you get sick during Chuseok
This is the part worth reading properly, because most clinics and neighbourhood pharmacies close for several days at once.
Emergency rooms at major hospitals operate normally. For anything less urgent, Korea runs a public emergency medical portal (E-Gen) that lists which clinics and pharmacies are open during holidays, and local governments publish holiday duty rosters. The emergency number is 119, and it handles ambulances as well as fire.
Practical advice: if you take regular medication, fill your prescription before the 24th. That is genuinely the whole tip.
Palaces, museums and free admission
In past years the Korean government has opened the royal palaces free of charge during Chuseok, and expressway tolls have been waived for the holiday period. Both are announced separately each year, usually a few weeks in advance.
As of early September 2026, neither has been announced yet. I am not going to state them as fact when they have not been confirmed — check the official palace and expressway announcements closer to the date, and I will update this post once they are published.
What you can count on: the palaces themselves are open through the holiday, and Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung are usually busier than normal because local families visit too.
What Chuseok actually is
Chuseok falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, which is the full moon closest to the autumn equinox. It is a harvest festival, and the traditional core of it is ancestral rites.
Families gather at the eldest relative's home, prepare food, and hold a memorial rite for ancestors called charye. Many also visit family graves to tidy them, a practice called seongmyo. The signature food is songpyeon, small half-moon rice cakes steamed over pine needles.
Modern Chuseok is looser than that description suggests. Plenty of younger Koreans treat it as a long weekend and travel abroad. But the traffic pattern shows the tradition is still very much alive.
Where to actually go during Chuseok
The awkward truth about Chuseok for a visitor is that the city empties of locals but fills with families at a handful of specific places. Knowing which is which saves you a lot of walking.
Busier than usual: the royal palaces, Namsan and N Seoul Tower, large shopping malls, and cinemas. Korean families with a four-day weekend go to exactly these places.
Quieter than usual: office districts like Yeouido and Gwanghwamun on the weekdays, university areas, and residential neighbourhoods. If you like photographing a city without crowds, this is a rare window.
Unpredictable: traditional markets. Gwangjang and Tongin are usually partly open, but individual stalls close at will. Go with a backup plan rather than a specific stall in mind.
Etiquette, if you are invited
It is not common for a short-term visitor to be invited to a family Chuseok, but it happens — through a host family, a language exchange, or a Korean partner. A few things worth knowing.
- Bring a gift. Fruit, a boxed food set, or something from your own country all work. Gift sets are sold everywhere in the run-up precisely for this.
- You are not expected to join the ancestral rite. Watching quietly is normal and welcome. Nobody will ask you to bow.
- Expect to be fed continuously. Refusing food outright reads as cold; taking a small amount of everything is the safe move.
- Expect personal questions. Age, marital status and job come up quickly. It is curiosity, not judgement.
What you will notice as a visitor
- Empty streets in residential Seoul, crowded tourist districts. The city genuinely empties out.
- Hanbok everywhere around the palaces, worn by locals and visitors alike.
- Gift sets stacked in every shop in the two weeks beforehand — spam, cooking oil, fruit, ginseng. Corporate gifting season.
- Folk village events. Namsangol Hanok Village and the Korean Folk Village usually run holiday programmes.
Should you avoid travelling to Korea during Chuseok?
No, but adjust your expectations.
Good reasons to come: Seoul is unusually quiet in the residential districts, the weather in late September is about as good as Korea gets, and you will see cultural events you cannot see at other times.
Reasons to be careful: intercity travel is difficult, some restaurants you researched will be shut, and accommodation outside Seoul can be tight because domestic travellers book it.
If your trip is Seoul-based, Chuseok barely affects you. If you were planning to tour several cities by train, shift those legs outside 24-27 September.
A short planning checklist
- Fix your intercity travel dates outside 24-27 September if you can.
- If you must travel during it, check for released seats from 11 September, 15:00.
- Refill any prescriptions before the 24th.
- Do bank and immigration errands before the 24th, or on Monday the 28th.
- Check opening hours for specific restaurants rather than assuming.
- Book accommodation outside Seoul early.
Frequently asked questions
When is Chuseok in Korea in 2026?
Friday, 25 September 2026. The holiday period runs Thursday 24 to Sunday 27 September.
Is Monday 28 September a holiday?
No. Chuseok only gets a substitute holiday when it falls on a Sunday, which it does not in 2026.
How long is the Chuseok holiday in 2026?
Four days, Thursday to Sunday.
Will the subway run?
Yes, on a holiday timetable. Buses and trains run too.
Are shops open on Chuseok Day?
Convenience stores and most large stores, yes. Many small and family-run businesses, no.
Can I still get a KTX ticket?
Possibly. Remaining seats go on general sale from 11 September at 15:00, and cancellations appear throughout.
Do I need to book restaurants?
In tourist areas, no. Outside them, check whether they are open at all.
The short version
- Chuseok 2026 is Friday, 25 September.
- The holiday runs Thursday 24 to Sunday 27 September.
- Monday 28 September is a working day — no substitute holiday this year.
- Banks, government offices and most clinics close. Transport, convenience stores and big retail stay open.
- Travel out on the 25th if you can, and avoid the 24th and 27th.
Sources checked on 1 September 2026: the Regulation on Public Holidays for Government Offices (Presidential Decree No. 36290, amended 30 April 2026, in force 11 May 2026), Articles 2 and 3; and KORAIL's official Chuseok 2026 ticket booking notice. Dates cross-checked against the calendar. Toll waivers and free palace admission had not been announced at the time of writing.
