Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Nature
여주시
On the bank of the Namhangang River in central Yeoju, right below the Yeongwollu pavilion, a great granite outcrop meets the water. This is Maam, "Horse Rock". Legend says a yellow horse and a black horse emerged from it, giving Yeoju its…
Churches & monasteries
여주시
Most Korean temples hide deep in the mountains, but Silleuksa in Yeoju leans against a rocky bluff right on the bank of the South Han River. A Goryeo-era brick pagoda overlooking the water, a marble multi-storey pagoda and the stupa of the…
Historic sites & memorials
여주시
In Yeoju lies Yeongneung, the tomb of King Sejong the Great, creator of the Korean alphabet, and his wife Queen Soheon. It was the first Joseon royal tomb where a king and queen were buried together under one mound, and the same grounds al…
Nature parks
가평군
Yeoninsan in Gapyeong is a mountain with a story in its name. It had no name of its own until Gapyeong County held a naming contest, and since 1999 it has been called Yeoninsan, "Lovers' Mountain", meant as a place where love comes true. W…
Historic sites & memorials
연천군
Spread over a wide hill above the Hantan River, the Jeongok-ri site is Korea's best-known Palaeolithic site. The hand axes found here have the same shape as the Acheulean tools of Europe and Africa, and they were the first such finds in Ea…
Fortresses
연천군
Above a basalt cliff on the Imjingang River rises a tall, grass-covered embankment. It looks like a hill, but it is a Three Kingdoms-era wall. Horogoru is a triangular fortress that uses the river and its cliffs as ready-made defences, a r…
Coast & islands
옹진군
Yeonpyeongdo is one of the five northwest islands of South Korea, only about 12 km from the Gangnyeong Peninsula of North Korea's Hwanghae Province. It was once a fishing island where more than 1,500 boats gathered in the croaker season an…
Churches & monasteries
영동군
Walk for about 40 minutes up a valley on Cheontaesan in Yeongdong, North Chungcheong, and you reach Yeongguksa, where a thousand-year-old ginkgo stands guard over the temple courtyard. The tree reaches 31 m, and it is so old that one branc…
Viewpoints
속초시
In Dongmyeong-dong, Sokcho, below the hill crowned by Sokcho Lighthouse, a broad shelf of rock spreads along the shore. This is Yeonggeumjeong, named because the sound of waves striking the rocks was likened to the music of a sacred geomun…
Mountains & peaks
울산
On an autumn afternoon, silver eulalia grass bends in the wind on a high mountain pass while lines of hikers file through it. The Yeongnam Alps are not a single mountain: the name compares a cluster of high peaks spread across Ulju County…
Historic sites & memorials
부산
At first glance Yeongdo Bridge, linking Nampo-dong with Yeongdo island in Busan, looks like any city bridge, but at set times its landward span slowly tilts up into the sky. Opened in 1934, it was Korea's first bridge connecting an island…
Mountains & peaks
영동군
Leave the small town of Hwanggan and follow the river, and a row of sheer, knife-cut peaks suddenly rises from the water's edge. The Chogangcheon river makes a wide bend beneath them, and a tiny pavilion perches on the tip of a riverside r…
Nature
속초시
North of downtown Sokcho, on the south-western shore of the natural lagoon of Yeongnangho Lake, a cluster of huge granite boulders forms a small rocky hill. Locals say it looks like a crouching tiger, hence the name Beombawi ("tiger rock")…
Churches & monasteries
영암군
Dogapsa, on the south-western slopes of Wolchulsan in Yeongam, is said to have been founded by Doseon, Korea's great master of geomancy. Its entrance gate, Haetalmun, was built in 1473 and is a National Treasure, the oldest building in the…
Caves
영월군
Cross the bridge over the Namhangang River and a narrow opening appears at the foot of a limestone cliff. Gossigul Cave in Yeongwol takes its name from the Go family, who are said to have hidden here during the Japanese invasions of 1592–1…
Nature
영월군
In Yeonha-ri, Yeongwol-eup, Yeonhagyegok Valley is a small, naturally formed valley on the slopes of Eungbongsan. Cold water running down from dense forest and plenty of shade have made it a known summer retreat, and despite its modest siz…
Historic sites & memorials
영월군
In the middle of Jungang-ro, the main street of Yeongwol, a two-storey pavilion and an old government hall stand beside a ginkgo tree. Jagyuru is where the boy king Danjong, deposed and exiled to Yeongwol, is said to have eased his grief b…
Historic sites & memorials
영월군
Jangneung in Yeongwol, Gangwon Province, is the tomb of King Danjong, the 6th king of Joseon. It tells the story of a boy king who lost his throne to his uncle and died in exile, and of a local official who buried him at the risk of his ow…
Historic sites & memorials
영월군
Cheongnyeongpo is the riverside spot in Yeongwol where the deposed boy-king Danjong was sent into exile. The Seogang River loops around three sides and a steep cliff closes off the fourth, so although it is attached to the mainland you can…
Viewpoints
영월군
Stand on the lookout in Yeongwol, Gangwon Province, and the wooded hill wrapped by the river really does look like the Korean Peninsula. The Korean Peninsula-shaped landform was carved by the Seogang (Pyeongchang River) as it loops sharply…
Coast & islands
포항시
Yeongildae Beach is a city beach on the north side of Pohang, stretching 1,750 m along Yeongil Bay. Two sights make it different from other east-coast beaches: Yeongildae, a pavilion standing in the sea about 100 m offshore, and the steelw…
Coast & islands
인천광역시
Yeongjongdo is the island that holds Incheon International Airport, yet only a short way from the terminals the Yellow Sea mudflats and sandy beaches begin. It is a good escape if you have a few hours before or after a flight, or for a day…
Historic sites & memorials
영주시
On a riverside cliff west of central Yeongju, where the Seocheon stream bends, four Silla-era Buddhas are carved into the rock: a Buddha triad, with a large central Buddha flanked by two bodhisattvas, and a seated Buddha that only came to…
Churches & monasteries
영주시
Buseoksa was founded on the slopes of Bonghwangsan in 676 by the Silla monk Uisang, and it is home to Muryangsujeon, the best-known example of Goryeo-era wooden architecture in Korea. Instead of levelling the hillside, the builders raised…