Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Old towns & squares
서울특별시
Gwanghwamun Square stretches south along Sejong-daero from Gwanghwamun, the main gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace, and is Seoul's best-known public square. It occupies the site of Yukjo-geori, the "Street of Six Ministries" lined with governme…
Fortresses
서울특별시
A short walk along Toegye-ro from Dongdaemun History & Culture Park brings you to a small gate with a single-storey pavilion standing beside the busy road. Gwanghuimun is the southeastern gate of the Seoul City Wall that enclosed Hanyang,…
Churches & monasteries
괴산군
At the end of a deep valley on the flanks of Chilbosan in Chilseong-myeon, Goesan, lies Gagyeonsa. The mountains close around it like the petals of a lotus, so even the drive in feels secluded, and inside the grounds you will find a Treasu…
Nature
괴산군
North of Songnisan National Park, in Cheongcheon-myeon, Goesan, Hwayang Gugok is a valley where clear water runs over broad white rock. Nine scenic bends follow one another upstream, each with its own name, and spotting the characters carv…
Coast & islands
강화군
Gyodongdo lies northwest of Ganghwado Island, just 2.6 km from North Korean territory in Hwanghae Province. Daeryong Market, built by refugees from the Korean War in the image of the market they had left behind, the walls of Gyodong Eupseo…
Fortresses
강화군
On Gyodongdo, northwest of Ganghwa, Gyodong Eupseong once enclosed the headquarters of the Samdo Sugun Tongeoyeong, the naval command for the three provinces of Gyeonggi, Hwanghae and Chungcheong. Today only a small walled site 430 m round…
Nature
제주시
In Jeju, a forest that has grown over a jumble of cooled lava rocks, with trees and vines tangled together, is called a gotjawal. Gyorae Natural Recreation Forest was built right in the middle of one and is described as Korea's first recre…
Mountains & peaks
단양군
When the rocky peak rising from Chungju Lake is reflected in the water, it is said to look like a turtle's shell, hence the name Gudam (龜潭), "the turtle in the water". Gudambong is one of the Eight Scenic Views of Danyang, and you can admi…
Churches & monasteries
구례군
Saseongam is a hermitage built into a sheer rock face near the top of Osan, across the Seomjin River south of Gurye town. The red-pillared hall clinging to the cliff and the view from its terrace over the Seomjin River, the Gurye plain and…
Landmarks
구례군
Unjoru is a late-Joseon yangban house in Omi village, Toji-myeon, Gurye, at the foot of Jirisan. The whole house takes its name from its main men's quarters, Unjoru, meaning "the house where one lives hidden like a bird in the clouds". Its…
Churches & monasteries
구례군
Hwaeomsa is a major Buddhist temple on the southern slopes of Jirisan in Gurye, South Jeolla. It is said to have been founded in 544 and is the head temple of the 19th district of the Jogye Order. In the middle of the grounds stands Gakhwa…
Old towns & squares
포항시
In the lanes behind Guryongpo Port in Pohang, two-storey wooden houses built by Japanese fishing settlers in the 1920s and 1930s still stand in a row. With their lattice windows, white plaster walls and tiled roofs, they are a lived-in rec…
Coast & islands
포항시
Just south of the Homigot peninsula, right next to the fishing town of Guryongpo, lies a crescent of white sand. At 400 m it is a small beach, but it is known for clear East Sea water and sunrises, and it fits neatly into a day out with th…
Historic sites & memorials
구리시
Donggureung in Guri, Gyeonggi Province, is the largest group of royal tombs of the Joseon dynasty. The name means "nine tombs east of the capital": nine tombs, including Geonwolleung of King Taejo, the founder of Joseon, hold 17 kings and…
Historic sites & memorials
구미시
In Haepyeong-myeon, Gumi, low hills east of the Nakdong River are dotted with 205 burial mounds of every size, rising between the pines. These are the Naksan-ri Ancient Tombs, a national Historic Site where generations of Gaya and Silla pe…
Churches & monasteries
구미시
Halfway up Naengsan in Haepyeong-myeon, Gumi, Dorisa is said to have been founded by Ado, the Goguryeo monk who first brought Buddhism to Silla. Its small grounds hold a lot of stories: the legend behind its name, a stone pagoda that looks…
Historic sites & memorials
구미시
On 14 November 1917, a boy was born in a small thatched farmhouse in Sangmo-dong, Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province. He was Park Chung-hee, who would serve as South Korea's president from 1963 to 1979. He lived here while attending primary s…
Fortresses
거제시
Behind the village of Gujora on Geoje's east coast lies Gujora Fortress, built by the Joseon navy to keep out Japanese raiders, and from the village the Saetbaram Trail leads up to it through a bamboo grove. After a bamboo tunnel so dense…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
In Suyu-dong in Seoul's Gangbuk district, with the peaks of Bukhansan rising behind it, lie the victims of the April Revolution of 1960. This national cemetery honours the students and citizens who took to the streets against the rigged el…
Historic sites & memorials
광주
The May 18th National Cemetery is the resting place of those who died in, or took part in, the May 18 Democratic Uprising in Gwangju in 1980. On a gentle hillside in Unjeong-dong, Buk-gu, the graves lead up to a memorial tower, a hall of p…
Museums
경주시
If you want to understand Silla before visiting Gyeongju's tombs and temple sites, start here. Gyeongju National Museum holds the largest collection of artefacts from Silla (57 BC–AD 935), a kingdom that lasted almost a thousand years with…
Museums
서울특별시
If a walk through Gyeongbokgung leaves you wondering what the kings actually used, the answer is in the building next door. The National Palace Museum of Korea gathers the treasures of the Joseon royal court and the Korean Empire. It stand…
Museums
공주시
This is where the treasures of the Tomb of King Muryeong ended up after workers digging a drainage channel stumbled on it in 1971. It is the only royal tomb of the Three Kingdoms period whose occupant is known for certain, and the museum s…
Museums
과천시
Next to Seoul Grand Park in Gwacheon stands a large national science museum. When it opened in 2008, its 19,127 m² of exhibition space was reported to be three times that of the National Science Museum in Daejeon, and between the dinosaur…