SEOULDAL Balloon Ride 2026 — KRW 25,000 for 15 Minutes Over the Han River, and the Discount That Ends in September

You've probably scrolled past it: a glowing balloon hanging over the Seoul skyline at night, with someone filming the Han River from inside the basket. It looks like something you'd need a tour package for. It isn't — it's a city-run attraction in a downtown park, it costs KRW 25,000 (about $18) for adults, and you can be up there 15 minutes after you walk in. Here's everything the clips leave out — price, hours, the discount that disappears at the end of September, and how to check whether it's flying today — verified against Seoul's official pages on 20 August 2026.

1. What SEOULDAL actually is (and what it costs)

SEOULDAL (서울달, literally "Seoul Moon") is a tethered helium balloon — not a free-flying hot air balloon. It's anchored to the ground by a cable, rises straight up to 130 m (about 425 ft), hovers, and comes back down. The whole ride is about 15 minutes, with a maximum of 20 passengers per flight under current official guidance.

Importantly for planning: this is not a private tourist operation. It's run by the Seoul Metropolitan Government together with the Seoul Tourism Organization, which is why pricing is flat and public-facility style rather than tour-operator style.

Ticket	Age	Price (Aug 2026)	Approx. USD
Adult	19–64	KRW 25,000	about $18
Youth	13–18	KRW 20,000	about $15
Senior	65+	KRW 20,000	about $15
Child	3–12	KRW 15,000	about $11

USD figures are rough conversions at roughly KRW 1,360 to the dollar and will move with the exchange rate.

For a family of two adults and two children that's KRW 80,000 (about $59) for a 15-minute ride. Worth knowing before you queue — plenty of visitors expect a longer flight because the reels never mention the duration.

From up there you get the Han River, the Yeouido financial district, Nodeul Island and Namsan (with N Seoul Tower) in one sweep. It is genuinely one of the cheapest elevated views in Seoul.

Photo: official Seoul tourism portal VisitSeoul (korean.visitseoul.net), SEOULDAL information page

2. Ignore the "closed Mondays" guides — it now runs 7 days a week

Most English travel blogs and a fair number of Korean ones still say SEOULDAL is closed on Mondays for maintenance. That was true, but since April 2026 it operates year-round, seven days a week. Korean press reporting the city's announcement on 31 March 2026 and the current VisitSeoul Korean page (which lists "Monday–Sunday") agree on this.

One honest caveat: Seoul's own pages contradict each other. As of 20 August 2026, the Seoul Culture Portal program page still says "Tue–Sun, closed Mondays for facility inspection," and a few English-language pages carry the old wording too. The newest announcement and the official tourism portal both say year-round, so that's the version to trust — but if your only free day is a Monday, check on the day (see section 5).

3. Timing it: Friday and Saturday nights now run to 11 PM

If you're here for the night view, this is the part worth planning around. On 28 July 2026 the city and the Seoul Tourism Organization announced that from August through October 2026, closing time on Fridays and Saturdays extends from 10 PM to 11 PM.

• Sunday–Thursday — 12:00 noon to 10 PM, last flight 9:30 PM
• Fridays and Saturdays, Aug–Oct 2026 — open until 11 PM
• Peak-season weekends (April–June, September–November) — opens at 10 AM, up to 12 hours of operation

So if you're in Seoul in autumn, a weekend morning gets you the daytime river view with a 10 AM start, and a Friday or Saturday night gets you the longest window for the lit-up skyline.

What we could not confirm: on the September–October Fridays and Saturdays where "peak-season 10 AM opening" and "extended 11 PM closing" overlap, no official page publishes the combined schedule — nor the last flight time on extended nights. The 11 PM close is confirmed; the opening time on those specific days is not. Check before you go.

Yeouido Park is also where the Seoul International Fireworks Festival takes place, so if your trip lands in autumn, the two pair naturally into one evening in the same neighbourhood.

Photo: official Seoul tourism portal VisitSeoul (korean.visitseoul.net), SEOULDAL information page

4. Booking in English, and the discount that expires in September

Good news for visitors: you no longer have to show up and hope. When SEOULDAL opened in 2024 it was walk-up ticketing only — a detail that's still repeated in older guides. Now you can book ahead:

• In English, from abroad — Klook, KKday and Trip.com among others. As of April 2026 the operator works with 10 online travel agency channels, up from 7.
• In Korea — Naver Place and KakaoTalk reservations (both Korean-language, and both usually need a Korean phone number).
• On site — still possible.

Realistically, if you don't read Korean, the global OTAs are your path. That's also reflected in who rides: foreign visitors made up 43.6% of passengers in the first half of 2026, up from 40.2% in 2025. Of the 108,474 total passengers as of 15 July 2026, 40,726 were foreign visitors.

Discounts — and why almost none of them apply to you

The official discounts are 30% for people with disabilities and national merit recipients, 30% for Seoul multi-child card holders, 20% for groups of 20 or more, and 10% for Climate Card holders. Discounts can't be combined, and everything except the adult fare requires documentary proof at the counter — including the youth, child and senior fares. Bring ID if you're claiming one; without it you'll pay the adult rate.

The one that's actually within reach for a traveller is the Climate Card (기후동행카드) 10% discount — that's the unlimited-ride Seoul transit pass many visitors buy. But there's a deadline: the 30-day Climate Card is being discontinued at the end of September 2026. Prepaid cards can be topped up until 31 August and used until 29 September; postpaid versions work until 30 September. From 1 September it's replaced by a successor pass ("모두의카드"). Whether the SEOULDAL discount carries over to the new card has not been announced — SEOULDAL's own page still names only the Climate Card. If you're counting on that 10%, ride in September. Our full breakdown of the Climate Card shutdown dates has the transit side of this sorted out.

5. Practical notes before you go

① Check whether it's flying today — every time

This is the single most important habit. SEOULDAL is highly sensitive to strong wind and rain, and whether it flies is decided in real time on the day. Before you head over, check one of these:

• Official Instagram: @seouldal_official — the easiest option if you don't speak Korean; a photo of the balloon in the air on the day is a good sign, and translation apps handle the captions.
• Seoul's Dasan Call Center: 02-120 — the city's general helpline, listed as SEOULDAL's official contact point.
• The "SEOULDAL notifier" page.

The official tourism portal also lists an on-site number, 070-4155-4528.

② If it can't fly, there's a ground programme

When weather grounds the balloon, a substitute programme called the "SEOULDAL Ground Tour" (how the balloon works, photo opportunities) is run on the ground. It was introduced alongside the April 2026 move to year-round operation. We could not confirm whether it's provided automatically or requires separate sign-up, or how the price difference is handled — VisitSeoul's page doesn't mention it at all and only says you can wait on site or come back another day.

③ Check your booking channel's refund policy before paying

There is no unified refund policy published on SEOULDAL's official pages, and cancellation terms will differ between walk-up, Korean apps and overseas OTAs. Claims of "100% refund if it can't operate" circulate online but we couldn't verify them against a primary source. Read the cancellation terms on whichever platform you book through — that's the document that will actually govern your ticket.

④ Getting there: take the subway, there's no car park

• Location: Yeouido Park, 68-1 Yeouigongwon-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul
• Line 5, Yeouido Station, Exit 3 — about 568 m (7–8 minutes on foot)
• Line 9, National Assembly Station, Exit 3 — about 559 m
• There is no dedicated parking lot, so a taxi or rental car means paying for nearby public or private parking.

⑤ Boarding restrictions worth knowing in advance

• Wheelchairs and strollers wider than 90 cm cannot board — you'll need to use the storage lockers.
• Pets are not allowed on board at all.
• Under-19s must be accompanied by a guardian, and children 110 cm and under may not see over the basket edge.
• Pregnant visitors and anyone with a fear of heights are advised to consider carefully; visitors with limited mobility need a companion.

⑥ Midsummer can shut it down entirely

As of 20 August 2026, the official portal's pre-booking notices include a line reading "Programme suspended during extended heatwave period: 7.23 – 8.11." The notice carries no year, so we can't date it definitively — but Seoul was under heat advisories from 23 July 2026 and issued its first severe heat emergency alert of the year across the city at 11 AM on 4 August 2026, which matches the window. The practical takeaway: in peak summer, SEOULDAL can be suspended for weeks at a time, so don't build a July or August itinerary around it without checking.

The short version

KRW 25,000 (about $18), 15 minutes, 130 m up, open seven days a week as of 20 August 2026. Friday and Saturday nights run until 11 PM through October, book through Klook or KKday if you want English, and skip the Monday-closure guides — they're two years out of date.

If you only remember one thing: open @seouldal_official before you leave your hotel. A single windy evening is the difference between a skyline photo and an hour on the subway for nothing. Been up in it? Tell us in the comments how long the wait was — and if you got weathered out, what staff offered you on the spot, because that's exactly the part no official page explains.

Sources: Seoul Culture Portal SEOULDAL programme page; VisitSeoul (Seoul Tourism Organization official tourism portal), Korean and English SEOULDAL pages; Seoul Mediahub (28 June 2024 opening article); Seoul city transport notice on the Climate Card discontinuation; Ajunews (31 March 2026, year-round operation); Newspim, Herald Business and Money Today (28 July 2026, extended night hours); Econonews (26 March 2025, discount revisions); Financial News and Water Journal (August 2026 heatwave alerts) — all accessed 20 August 2026. Prices, hours and discount terms are subject to change; confirm on official channels before visiting.