89 attractions in South Jeolla, including Juknokwon Bamboo Garden, Jindo Island and Cheoneunsa Temple (Gurye).
Gardens & parks
담양군
Right next to the centre of Damyang, a whole hillside is covered in bamboo. Juknokwon is a bamboo garden that Damyang County planted across Seonginsan and opened in May 2003, with walking paths winding between stems so tall and straight th…
Coast & islands
진도군
A few times a year, at low tide, the sea parts and a 2.8 km path appears between two islands. Jindo, Korea's third-largest island, is known for this "Miracle Sea Road", for Admiral Yi Sun-sin's Battle of Myeongnyang and for the Jindo dog.…
Churches & monasteries
구례군
Sitting on the road up to Nogodan in Jirisan, Cheoneunsa is counted with Hwaeomsa and Ssanggyesa among the three great temples of Jirisan. Its name means "the spring that hid", and stories of a spring, a serpent and a fire-proof signboard…
Mountains & peaks
담양군
Rising over Damyangho Lake north of Damyang, Chuwolsan is only a little over 700 m high, but its sheer rock walls and dense pine forest make it feel far wilder than its height suggests. People come for Boriam, a small hermitage perched on…
Coast & islands
여수시
At the eastern tip of Dolsando Island in Yeosu, at the edge of a seaside wood in Pyeongsa-ri, stands a small white lighthouse. Its name, Keunggeut, means "the far end", and that is exactly where it is. With no car park and hardly any signs…
Coast & islands
무안군
Tommeori Beach lies on the Yellow Sea coast in Piseo-ri, Mangun-myeon, Muan, just south of Muan International Airport. The tidal range here is large: at low tide an endless sweep of sand and mudflat appears, and behind the beach a pine for…
Gardens & parks
해남군
Every June, hydrangeas roll along the ridges above Bongdong village in Hyeonsan-myeon, Haenam, at the 4est Arboretum. Its hydrangea garden, said to be the largest in Korea, holds about 8,000 shrubs of more than 400 varieties, and the Ttang…
Churches & monasteries
해남군
Down in Haenam, at the southern tip of the Korean peninsula, a long forest path follows a valley of Duryunsan to a spacious temple ringed by peaks. Daeheungsa is where the robe and bowl of Seosan Daesa, the monk who led warrior monks in th…
Viewpoints
해남군
This is where the Korean mainland runs out of land: Ttangkkeut, literally "the end of the land", also known as Tomal. A monument marks the southernmost point, an observatory crowns the hill above the village, and on clear days you are said…
Churches & monasteries
해남군
With the jagged white rock ridge of Dalmasan behind it, a wooden hall whose paint has almost entirely faded looks out over the West Sea. Mihwangsa in Haenam is the southernmost temple on the Korean mainland, loved for the view of sunset ov…
Nature
해남군
In the middle of the forecourt of Haenam County Office stands a black pine that rises on a single thick trunk and spreads its branches in every direction. Its name, Suseongsong (守城松), means "the pine that defended the fortress". Tradition…
Churches & monasteries
여수시
Climb the steps and the path suddenly disappears between giant boulders. Squeeze through the gap and you come out among halls clinging to the cliff, with the South Sea spread out below. Hyangiram, whose name means "hermitage facing the sun…
Nature
화순군
Around Gaecheonsa, a small temple in Chunyang-myeon, Hwasun, an evergreen forest of Japanese torreya (bija, sometimes called nutmeg yew) covers the hillsides. Torreya grows only a little each year, yet here it has spread across the slopes…
Historic sites & memorials
화순군
On both sides of Bogeomjae, the pass between Hyosan-ri (Dogok-myeon) and Daesin-ri (Chunyang-myeon) in Hwasun, 596 dolmens lie scattered over about 5 km of valley. What sets Hwasun apart is that the quarries where the capstones were split…
Churches & monasteries
화순군
In a quiet valley in Iyang-myeon, Hwasun, this thousand-year-old temple is known for an unusual main hall shaped like a three-storey wooden pagoda and for the stupa of Master Cheolgam, a National Treasure. The stupa, one of the finest of t…
Churches & monasteries
화순군
Unjusa lies in a valley on the west side of Cheontaesan in Hwasun. You do not come here for a grand main hall; you come to walk the valley floor and the ridges on either side, seeking out the stone Buddhas and stone pagodas scattered among…
Coast & islands
신안군
Heuksando is an island far out in the Yellow Sea, south-west of Mokpo. Its name means "black mountain island", because from a distance its forested hills look so dark they appear black. The island covers about 19.7 km² and is almost entire…