Gyeongju Donggung Wolji (Anapji) 2026: KTX Time, Ticket Price, and the Best Time to See It Lit Up

Bottom line: A KTX train from Seoul Station gets you to Gyeongju's Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond (formerly called Anapji) in roughly two hours. Take a morning train, spend the day around nearby Daereungwon and Cheomseongdae Observatory, walk the pond after full darkness falls around 7 p.m., then catch an evening train back — a day trip is doable. Admission is paid, around 3,000 won for adults.

If you didn't know: the Seoul–Singyeongju route has two different KTX fares, and if you just click the first train that pops up in the booking screen instead of comparing, you can pay 4,700 won more each way — 9,400 won round trip. And if you only see the site in daylight, you'll pay the entrance fee but miss the very scene that made this place famous: the palace pavilions lit up at night and mirrored on the pond's surface. Plenty of travelers still read the "Silla-era palace ruins" blurb and walk through at noon.

The official name is Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond, though it was long known as Anapji. Once a detached Silla royal palace and banquet hall, it looks like an unremarkable park by day — a lawn and three reconstructed pavilions. Dusk changes everything. Lights around the pond turn the pavilions and stone retaining wall gold, and once the evening wind dies down, that light reflects cleanly on the still water. The grounds aren't large; one loop around the pond takes about 30 minutes.

Getting from Singyeongju Station to the site means a city bus or taxi. Gyeongju's bus routes and schedules shift by season, so rather than printing a bus number that may be wrong by the time you read this, search "Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond" on Naver Map or Kakao Map on the day you travel. We also couldn't confirm the last KTX back to Seoul from an official source — check that day's timetable on the Korail Talk app in advance, and build your schedule around an evening-8-ish train to stay safe.

Journey stage: During the trip · Verified 2026-10-26 · Source Korea Tourism Organization, Korail train schedule data