Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Fortresses
광주
East of central Gwangju, in the woods on a northern spur of Mudeungsan, lies an old mountain fortress with a circuit of about 3.5 km. The Mujin Old Fortress Site was in use from late Unified Silla into the Goryeo period and carries Mujin,…
Coast & islands
보령시
A few times a month, when the tide drops especially low, the sea off Muchangpo parts and a path about 1.5 km long appears all the way to the uninhabited islet of Seokdaedo. Muchangpo was also the first beach on Korea's west coast to open t…
Historic sites & memorials
안동시
In Mukgye-ri, in Gilan-myeon well to the southeast of Andong, a Confucian academy and a clan head house survive side by side in one village. Mukgye Seowon honours Kim Gye-haeng (pen name Bobaekdang), famed for his integrity as an official,…
Coast & islands
동해시
Mukho Port in Donghae grew rich on coal and squid. On the steep hill behind the harbour, the lanes where fishermen once lived, known as Nongol-damgil, are now covered in murals, and from Mukho Lighthouse at the top you can take in the whol…
Nature
문경시
Beside a mountain road leading into the Hwasan-ri valley in Nongam-myeon, Mungyeong, a pine rises from a single root in six trunks and spreads like a huge umbrella. The Hwasan-ri Bansong Pine is a Natural Monument thought to be about 200 y…
National parks
문경시
Its name is usually explained as "the pass even birds find hard to cross". Mungyeong Saejae was the fastest route between the southeastern Yeongnam region and the Joseon capital, Hanyang (Seoul). With three gates, the sites of old inns and…
Coast & islands
서귀포시
Scattered off Seogwipo, the four islands of Munseom, Seopseom, Beomseom and Saeseom complete the city's coastal view. Munseom and Beomseom are volcanic islands protected in their entirety as a Natural Monument, while Seopseom is home to a…
Gardens & parks
오산시
Mulhyanggi Arboretum is a Gyeonggi provincial garden just a five-minute walk from Osan University Station on Seoul Subway Line 1. As the name ("scent of water") suggests, it specialises in water-loving plants, with paths winding between po…
Museums
고창군
In Seonun-ri, a small village below Soyosan in Buan-myeon, Gochang, the Midang Seo Jeong-ju Poetry Museum honours the poet Seo Jeong-ju (pen name Midang, 1915–2000). Housed in a former village school, it displays the poet's manuscripts, fi…
Gardens & parks
공주시
Mireuseom is a long river island in the Geumgang River at Singwan-dong, Gongju, turned into flower beds and walking paths. In autumn it is covered in cosmos, pink muhly, kochia and pearl millet, and across the water you see Gongsanseong, t…
Coast & islands
통영시
South of central Tongyeong, linked to the mainland by two bridges and an undersea tunnel, Mireukdo holds half of what most visitors come to Tongyeong for. From Mireuksan (461 m) at its centre the islands of the Hallyeo Waterway spread out…
Mountains & peaks
고성군
Misiryeong is an 826 m pass over the Baekdudaegan ridge between Inje and Sokcho in Gangwon Province. Climb the twisting old road from the Sokcho side and Seoraksan's Ulsanbawi Rock stands right in front of you like a folding screen, while…
Gardens & parks
부산
In Millak-dong, Suyeong-gu, where Gwangalli Beach ends to the east, Millak Waterfront Park is a 543 m seafront park right on the water. Sit on its stepped plaza and Gwangandaegyo Bridge fills the view ahead, with the towers of Haeundae's M…
Viewpoints
세종특별자치시
In the middle of Sejong, on a hill 98 m above sea level, stands this 42 m observation tower. From its glass-walled viewing level you can take in the Government Complex Sejong, Sejong City Hall and the new city spreading out around them. It…
Nature
밀양시
This is a valley where ice forms between the rocks in the middle of summer. Eoreumgol ("ice valley"), on the northern slopes of Cheonhwangsan (also called Jaeyaksan) in Sannae-myeon, Miryang, starts growing ice in its rock crevices in Marc…
Historic sites & memorials
밀양시
Spreading its wings on a cliff above a bend of the Miryang River, Yeongnamnu is counted with Chokseongnu in Jinju and Bubyeongnu in Pyongyang as one of Korea's three great pavilions. It belonged to the government guesthouse where distingui…
Historic sites & memorials
밀양시
At the edge of the fields of Bubuk-myeon in Miryang, you pass beneath a two-storey gate pavilion, the Dokseoru, into a Confucian academy dedicated to Kim Jong-jik (1431–1492), the great teacher of Joseon's scholar-officials. Founded in 156…
Coast & islands
서귀포시
Stand on the harbour wall at Daepyeong Port in Andeok-myeon, Seogwipo, and a sheer cliff about 100 m high closes off the view to the west like a folding screen. This is Baksugijeong. Route 9 of the Jeju Olle Trail starts right here at the…
Mountains & peaks
평창군
Rising to 1,458 m in Daegwallyeong-myeon, Pyeongchang, Balwangsan is the twelfth-highest mountain in South Korea. It first became known as a winter mountain thanks to the Yongpyong ski resort on its northern slopes, but today a tourist cab…
Churches & monasteries
인제군
Baekdamsa sits at the mouth of the deep valleys of Inner Seorak, inside Seoraksan National Park. It is where the independence activist and poet Manhae Han Yong-un stayed and wrote his poetry collection The Silence of Love, and it is famous…
Coast & islands
옹진군
Baengnyeongdo is South Korea's northernmost island in the Yellow Sea, so close to the North that on clear days you can see Cape Changsan in Hwanghae Province. Getting there takes about four hours by ferry from Incheon, but the reward is a…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
Halfway up the western slope of Namsan, on the path from Hoehyeon-dong, Baekbeom Square is a lawn-covered plaza with a statue of the independence leader Kim Koo (1876–1949), known by his pen name Baekbeom. Next to the square a restored sec…
Lakes
의왕시
Ringed by the ridges of Cheonggyesan, Baegunsan and Moraksan, Baegunhosu Lake in Uiwang was created as an irrigation reservoir in 1953. Its job of watering the rice fields of Pyeongchon ended when the Pyeongchon new town was built in the 1…
Museums
부여군
In Gyuam-myeon, on the west bank of the Baengma River at Buyeo, red-pillared palaces with bright painted eaves spread across a wide site. Baekje Cultural Land is Korea's largest historical theme park, a full-scale re-creation of the palace…