Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Churches & monasteries
안동시
Bongjeongsa sits on the slopes of Cheondeungsan in Andong, North Gyeongsang, and is home to Geungnakjeon, regarded as the oldest wooden building in Korea. Both Geungnakjeon and the main hall, Daeungjeon, are National Treasures, and in 2018…
Historic sites & memorials
김해시
Bongha Village in Jinyeong-eup, Gimhae, is where Roh Moo-hyun, Korea's 16th president, was born, where he returned to live after leaving office, and where he died on 23 May 2009. It is an ordinary farming village known for sweet persimmons…
Mountains & peaks
봉화군
Twelve rock peaks rise like a folding screen above the upper Nakdonggang River at Cheongnyangsan, long nicknamed "the little Diamond Mountains". At 870 m it is not high, but every peak is ringed with cliffs, so the scenery changes constant…
Historic sites & memorials
부산
At first glance the 40-Step Stairway in Jungang-dong, Jung-gu, is just a flight of stone steps between buildings, but for people in Busan it is a symbol of the Korean War years. During the war, refugees built shacks around here and toiled…
Other
부산
Narrow lanes hung with clothes and bags branch off endlessly under the awnings, and at every corner a food stall has set out low stools. Gukje Market kept Busan's people fed and clothed through liberation and the Korean War, and today it i…
Coast & islands
부산
Spread across the very end of the Nakdong River estuary, Dadaepo Beach is Busan's classic place to watch the sun set over the sea. Fine sand carried down by the river forms a beach 900 m long and 100 m wide, and the water is so shallow tha…
Historic sites & memorials
부산
On a grassy rise by the sea on the east side of Yeongdo Island, layer upon layer of shells discarded by Neolithic people over thousands of years lie under the turf. It looks like an ordinary lawn, yet this is one of the oldest and largest…
Coast & islands
부산
At the southernmost tip of the Nakdong River estuary, where it meets the open sea, a small pine-covered peninsula forms Morundae. It was an island until the 16th century, when sand carried down by the river linked it to Dadaepo. The name m…
Churches & monasteries
부산
Beomeosa sits on the eastern slopes of Geumjeongsan in Cheongnyong-dong, Geumjeong-gu, Busan. It is the head temple of the 14th District of the Jogye Order and, with Haeinsa in Hapcheon and Tongdosa in Yangsan, is counted among the three g…
Old towns & squares
부산
Narrow lanes wind between faded stacks of books piled to the ceiling at Bosu-dong Book Street, the oldest second-hand book alley in Korea. It began as a street stall where a refugee couple sold used books laid out on cardboard boxes during…
Churches & monasteries
부산
On the slopes of Baegyangsan, above the houses of Choeup-dong in northern Busan, rows of brightly painted halls climb the hillside. This is Samgwangsa, a large city temple with a hall that holds around 10,000 people and a 30 m stone pagoda…
Coast & islands
부산
About 3 km west of Jagalchi Market, a sandy beach curves around a bay lined with hotels and apartment towers. Songdo Beach opened in 1913 as Korea's first beach resort and celebrated its centenary in 2013. These days more people come for t…
Coast & islands
부산
Follow the trail through the dense pine forest and, where the trees end, grey cliffs drop away tens of metres beneath your feet with waves breaking white at the bottom. Taejongdae, a low hilly headland under 200 m high at the south-eastern…
Coast & islands
부산
If you had to pick one image of Busan's coastline, it would be these rocky islets. Oryukdo is a line of small islands about 600 m off the tip of Seungdumal point in Yongho-dong, Nam District. The view is one of the city's emblems, and from…
Gardens & parks
부산
Ride the escalators up from one side of the Gwangbok-ro shopping street and you suddenly come out on a tree-shaded plaza on top of a hill. Yongdusan Park covers a small hill in the middle of Busan's old town. Its name, "dragon's head mount…
Other
부산
Jagalchi Market stretches along the waterfront of Busan's South Port, between Nampo-dong and Chungmu-dong in Jung-gu. Selling live and fresh fish, shellfish and dried seafood, it is counted among Korea's largest seafood markets and has bec…
Old towns & squares
부산
Cross the square in front of Busan Station to the far side of the main road and you step into lanes hung with red lanterns and Chinese signboards. This is Busan Chinatown, also called Shanghai Street, where Chinese residents began to settl…
Historic sites & memorials
부산
In April 1592, Japanese forces landed at Busan and the Imjin War began. Busanjin Fortress and Dongnae Fortress were the first to be attacked, and many commanders, officials and ordinary people died defending them. Chungnyeolsa, in Allak-do…
Museums
부산
On a hillside in Daeyeon-dong, right next to the UN Memorial Cemetery, Busan Museum tells the story of the city from the Old Stone Age to the democracy movement under one roof. Busan has chapters no other Korean city shares, from the Joseo…
Gardens & parks
부산
A short walk from the busy Seomyeon district, a wide green space opens up between the high-rise blocks. For decades, Busan Citizens Park was land that ordinary people could not enter. It passed from racecourse to Japanese army training gro…
Fortresses
부산
Among the apartment blocks and markets of Beomil-dong in Busan's Dong District, one small hill has been left as woodland. Busanjinseong was a Joseon naval fortress, closely tied to the first battle of the Japanese invasion of 1592. The wal…
Churches & monasteries
부안군
At the foot of the inland Byeonsan mountains on the Byeonsan Peninsula, Naesosa is remembered for its approach as much as for the temple itself. A shaded avenue of some 700 fir trees leads from the first gate to the Gate of the Four Heaven…
Nature
부안군
On a seaside hill behind the village of Mohang, at the southern tip of the Byeonsan Peninsula, about 50 Chinese holly trees grow together in a loose grove. This is the northernmost point where the warmth-loving species grows wild, which is…
Historic sites & memorials
부안군
Suseongdang is a small tile-roofed shrine on the cliffs of Jeokbyeokgang at the western tip of the Byeonsan Peninsula. It honours Gaeyang Halmi, the sea goddess who rules the West Sea, and her eight daughters, and every year at the first f…