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Good days to visit Korea in 2027,
starting with the weekends

Dates · September 2026 · 7 min read

When are the good days to visit Korea in 2027?

A son eomneun nal (손 없는 날, "a day with no spirit about") is a day whose lunar date ends in 9 or 0. There are sixty-odd of them in a year, and most land midweek. Pulling out the ones that fall on a weekend turns the list into something you can plan a trip around.

The reasoning behind date-picking is set out in how to choose a good day to travel. This piece deals only with the fixed dates of one particular year.

When does 2027 actually become the year of Jeongmi?

Jeongmi (정미, 丁未), the year of the Goat, begins on 4 February 2027 at ipchun (입춘), the start of spring. In saju the year does not turn on 1 January; it turns on the solar term.

So a trip departing between 1 January and 3 February 2027 is still read as Byeongo (병오), the year of the Horse. Through that window the samsal direction sits north and the daejanggun direction east; from 4 February the samsal direction moves west while daejanggun stays east. If you are visiting in January or early February, you are working with two different sets of yearly rules.

The directions for the year are laid out in samsalbang and daejanggunbang for 2027, and the bearing from your own city is in which way Seoul is from your city, with measured azimuths.

Which days are son-eomneun-nal in 2027?

Because the rule is a lunar one, the dates land somewhere different on the ordinary calendar every month. Here is the whole of 2027, converted to calendar dates with the weekday attached.

Five to seven a month. August has the most at seven; February, May, September and October have the fewest at five.

Which of them fall on a weekend?

Below is the same list with only Saturdays and Sundays kept. The last column notes the weekday son-eomneun-nal sitting immediately next to them, which is what you want if you fly out on a Friday evening or take the Monday off.

Counted on their own, the Friday son-eomneun-nal are 5 February, 26 March, 16 April, 14 May, 4 June, 23 July, 20 August, 10 September, 8 October, 26 November and 17 December — eleven of them. That is the list to use for a short trip that starts on a Friday night flight.

The two strongest windows in the year are 26-27 March and 26-27 November: a Friday and a Saturday back to back, landing in mid-spring and late autumn respectively.

How do the solar terms help you read the season?

Solar terms are nearly fixed against the ordinary calendar and move only a day or two from year to year, which makes them a reliable ruler for the seasons. Here are the ones from 2027 that matter to a traveller.

Blossom and foliage move around from year to year, so don't pin a date to them. Take the solar term as the centre and treat the fortnight either side as your window. Cheongmyeong on 5 April is followed by the weekend of 25-26 April; sanggang on 23 October is followed by 6-7 November. For winter, dongji on 22 December sits just before the 26-27 December pair.

If you want the seasons matched to the palaces, picking a day for hanbok at the palaces is organised that way.

Do you actually need a son-eomneun-nal to travel?

No. Son-eomneun-nal was a criterion for moving house, opening a business and holding a wedding — occasions where you change position and start something new. It was never designed for travel, and there is no need to bend a trip around it.

Travellers still use it for two practical reasons.

• It is easy to argue for. When several people are settling on a date, "this one is a son-eomneun-nal" is a criterion everyone can accept.
• It fits a heavy move. A long stay, or anything closer to relocating than holidaying, sits squarely in its original purpose.

The reverse never holds: no son-eomneun-nal is not a reason to postpone. Going on the day you can go comes first.

You don't stay home for want of a good day. You go because you can.

So how do you settle a date for 2027?

Five steps, in order.

• Cut down to the months you could goLeave and airfares usually narrow it to two or three.
• Check the weekend tableIf a weekend son-eomneun-nal falls in one of those months, that is your first candidate.
• Add the FridayA Friday son-eomneun-nal next to it buys you an extra day.
• Read the season off the solar termsWhich stretch you land in decides what you pack and what you plan.
• Check the direction lastSee which way Seoul sits from your city, and whether it meets the year's directions.

To pick the hour within the day as well, see how to pick your departure time. 5htrip takes a window of dates and narrows it to the ones that fit, using a verified Manseryeok engine.