Jogyesa
조계사The head temple of the Jogye Order, right in central Seoul. Easy-to-join day programmes.
Seoul, subway Anguk · Maps ↗
The guide › Themes › Temple Stay
Themes · A night apart
Sleeping in a temple템플스테이
A night in a working monastery, on the monks' timetable: up before dawn, meals in silence, tea with a monk. Neither a demanding spiritual retreat nor a tourist attraction — a pause, and often the strongest memory of the trip.
Updated 7 October 2026
What it is
The Temple Stay programme was launched in 2002 by the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism to open monasteries to visitors. More than a hundred temples take part, some thirty of them hosting in English.
No belief is required, and nobody will try to convert you. You are only expected to follow the community's timetable and rules for twenty-four hours.
The three formats
The experience stay체험형
One night with a guided programme: ceremonies, meditation, prostrations, a monastic meal, a conversation with a monk. This is the one to choose for a first time.
The rest stay휴식형
One night or more with no set programme apart from meals and ceremonies. You walk, read, do nothing. For those seeking quiet more than discovery.
The day programme당일형
Two to three hours: a tour, a tea ceremony, making a lantern or prayer beads. A good solution in Seoul when time is short.
A typical day
3 pm
Arrival
You are given loose clothing and the rules are explained: how to greet, how to sit, where you may go.
5 pm
Dinner
Vegetarian, without garlic or onion. You take only what you can finish: leaving nothing in your bowl is part of the practice.
6.30 pm
Evening ceremony
The monks strike the drum, the wooden fish, the gong and the great bell, then chant the sutras in the main hall.
7.30 pm
Meditation or craft
Seated meditation, 108 prostrations, or threading a string of 108 beads.
9 pm
Lights out
You sleep on a mattress on the heated floor, men and women in separate buildings.
4.30 am
Dawn ceremony
The most striking moment: the temple in darkness, the cold, the chanting.
6 am
Breakfast, then a walk
Often a forest walk to a hermitage.
9 am
Tea with a monk
An open question-and-answer session, through an interpreter or in English. Departure late morning.
Where to go
Bongeunsa
봉은사In Gangnam, beneath the towers. Overnight stays and short programmes in English.
Seoul, subway Bongeunsa · Maps ↗
Geumsunsa
금선사Inside Bukhansan National Park: mountain and silence forty minutes from the centre.
Seoul, bus from Gyeongbokgung · Maps ↗
Golgulsa
골굴사Near Gyeongju, the temple of sunmudo, a Buddhist martial art. Training sessions open to visitors.
Bus from Gyeongju · Maps ↗
Haeinsa
해인사One of the country's three great temples, keeper of the 80,000 woodblocks of the Tripitaka Koreana.
Bus from Daegu · Maps ↗
Woljeongsa
월정사In the fir forests of Odaesan, with a superb path along the river.
Bus from Jinbu or Gangneung · Maps ↗
Beomeosa
범어사Busan's great temple, on the slopes of Geumjeongsan.
Busan, subway Beomeosa · Maps ↗
Baekyangsa
백양사In the south-west, famous for its monastic cooking. In great demand: book months ahead.
Bus from Gwangju or Jeongeup · Maps ↗
Booking and preparing
Where to book
On the official site, in English, paying with a foreign card. Each temple details its programme and dates there.
The price
About ₩50,000 to ₩100,000 per person for one night, accommodation and meals included. Day programmes cost ₩20,000 to ₩40,000.
When to book
Two to four weeks ahead in normal times; much earlier in spring, autumn and around Buddha's Birthday.
What to bring
Socks (you live shoeless), warm clothes for dawn, toiletries, a towel. The outer clothing is provided.
The rules
Couples
Men and women sleep separately in most temples. Families are sometimes housed together: ask when booking.
Silence
People speak softly everywhere, and not at all during meals and ceremonies.
No alcohol, tobacco or meat
Anywhere in the grounds, including anything you might have brought.
Your phone
Tolerated in your room, put away elsewhere. Photos are forbidden during ceremonies.
Prostrations
Nobody forces you. But 108 prostrations are perfectly doable, and leave memorable aches.
With children
Possible, ideally from seven or eight, at temples that offer a family programme.