“Palaces In My Hand” is a new mobile app that serves as an integrated information source and tour guide for the four major palaces — Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Deoksugung and Changgyeonggung — and the Jongmyo Shrine. Through the app, users can download guides at each heritage site and get basic information about opening hours, fees and events.
Planning a visit to Seoul’s royal palaces has been made a lot easier thanks to “Palaces In My Hand,” a new mobile app that serves as a guide to explore Seoul’s famous heritage sites.
The new mobile app provides a direct link to the mobile app tour guides at Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Deoksugung and Changgyeonggung palaces, as well as at the Jongmyo Shrine. It’s no longer necessary to search for each app individually.
“Palaces In My Hand” downloads automatically in Korean, English, simplified Chinese or Japanese, depending on the language settings of the mobile device. In the app, users can browse features of the tour guide apps at each heritage site, for example “Gyeongbokgung In My Hand,” and they can download it when needed. The service also provides basic information about the heritage sites, such as opening hours, entrance fees, schedules for guided tours and transportation. The Special Events tab outlines various concerts, workshops, festivals or other ceremonies held at the heritage sites throughout the year.
Should you take a spontaneous trip to one of the heritage sites without having the app handy, you need not worry, as there’s free Wi-Fi available at the entrances to the four palaces and the Jongmyo Shrine, and inside major buildings within the heritage sites. You can easily download the mobile app before starting your tour.
If you download the app between Feb. 17 and March 2, you stand the chance to win a free entrance to the four palaces and the Jongmyo Shrine. The Cultural Heritage Administration will be drawing 50 names from a pool of users who download the app during that 15 day period to celebrate the launch of the “Palaces In My Hand.” Announcements will be made after March 2.
A pamphlet for ‘Palaces In My Hand’ can be found at the entrance to the four palaces and the Jongmyo Shrine. It explains the points at which visitors can connect to the free Wi-Fi and tour the site using the tour guide app.
By Lee Hana
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Cultural Heritage Administration
hlee10@korea.kr
