Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Historic sites & memorials
전주시
In the heart of Jeonju Hanok Village, beyond a red spiked gate, lies a shrine to the very start of the Joseon dynasty. Gyeonggijeon houses the royal portrait of King Taejo (Yi Seong-gye), who founded Joseon. Jeonju was the ancestral seat o…
Churches & monasteries
전주시
From the entrance to Jeonju Hanok Village, a red-brick bell tower rises above the tiled roofs. Jeondong Cathedral is famous as one of Korea's most beautiful churches, but the ground it stands on carries a heavier story: it was built on the…
Historic sites & memorials
전주시
In Palbok-dong, in the north of Jeonju, a painted pavilion stands on the rocks beside a broad stretch of the Jeonjucheon stream. Chucheondae marks the spot where Yi Gyeong-dong, who served King Seongjong as Vice-Minister of War and Inspect…
Fortresses
전주시
Just west of Jeonju Hanok Village, in the middle of a busy road junction, stands a two-storey gate tower. Jeonju, seat of the Jeolla provincial governor in the Joseon era, was a walled city, and Pungnammun was the south gate of those walls…
Historic sites & memorials
전주시
In the middle of downtown Jeonju, beside the busy Chunggyeong-ro, stands a large tile-roofed building. Jeonju Pungpaejigwan, usually called Jeonju Gaeksa, was the official guesthouse where visiting officials and envoys were received and lo…
Old towns & squares
전주시
More than 700 tile-roofed houses are packed together in the middle of a modern city. Jeonju Hanok Village is the largest cluster of traditional houses still standing in a Korean city centre, and as you wander its lanes you pass the portrai…
Churches & monasteries
전주시
Walk past the busy lanes of Jeonju Hanok Village towards the Jeonjucheon stream and you suddenly reach quiet stone walls and enormous ginkgo trees. Jeonju Hyanggyo was the state-run Confucian school of the Joseon-era town and also a shrine…
Churches & monasteries
서울특별시
On a cliff above the Han River in Hapjeong-dong, Jeoldusan Martyrs' Shrine marks the place where large numbers of Catholics were executed during the persecution of 1866. A riverside walk with views of Yanghwa Bridge, a church holding marty…
Museums
강릉시
In Hourglass Park on the beach at Jeongdongjin, Gangneung, a black steam locomotive stands at the head of a row of brightly painted carriages. The Jeongdongjin Time Museum has filled this train with a single theme, time: carriage by carria…
Historic sites & memorials
정읍시
On a rise inside Gobu-myeon, west of Jeongeup, stands Gobu Hyanggyo, a Joseon-era state school that was also a shrine for rites to Confucius and other sages. All the core buildings of a hyanggyo survive, from the red Hongsalmun gate and th…
Historic sites & memorials
정읍시
Most seowon, Joseon-era Confucian academies, were built in quiet scenic spots away from villages, but Museong Seowon in Chilbo-myeon, Jeongeup, sits right in the middle of a village. It began as a shrine to the late-Silla scholar Choe Chi-…
Coast & islands
화성시
Jebudo is an island the sea swallows its road to twice a day. The 2.3 km causeway linking it to the mainland lies below the high-tide line, so when the tide comes in the road disappears under water for three to four hours at a time. Drivin…
Historic sites & memorials
제주시
In the middle of Jeju's old town, a pavilion with long, low eaves looks out over a square. Gwandeokjeong, built in 1448 as an archery training ground for soldiers, is one of the oldest buildings on Jeju. For almost six centuries the square…
Churches & monasteries
제주시
On the northern slopes of Hallasan, at about 650 m above sea level, Gwaneumsa is the head temple of the 23rd district of the Jogye Order, the temple that oversees Jeju's other Buddhist temples. Past the entrance gate, a sloping path is lin…
Other
제주시
Ten minutes or so by car from Jeju Airport, beside the Sanjicheon stream in old Jeju City, lies Jeju's largest and oldest permanent traditional market. Dongmun Traditional Market packs its covered lanes with silver hairtail and red tilefis…
Caves
제주시
Manjanggul in Gujwa-eup, Jeju City, is a lava tube about 7.4 km long. It was formed by lava flowing from the Geomunoreum volcano, and its passages reach up to 18 m wide and 23 m high, which puts it among the largest lava tubes in the world…
Coast & islands
제주시
Stand on the sand at Hyeopjae Beach and you will see a rounded island rising beyond the emerald water. Biyangdo is a small volcanic island off Hallim in Jeju City, covering about 0.5 km², with around 160 residents. The ferry from Hallim Po…
Coast & islands
서귀포시
Right in front of Sanbangsan, a ridge runs into the sea that locals thought looked like a dragon lowering its head into the water, hence the name Yongmeori, "dragon's head". The cliffs are layers of volcanic ash thrown out by eruptions und…
Nature
제주시
Most of Jeju's oreums rise like hills, but Sangumburi in Gyorae-ri, Jocheon-eup, is a deep crater sunk into almost flat grassland. Walk a little way up the slope and a huge bowl suddenly opens beneath your feet, said to be larger than Baen…
Historic sites & memorials
제주시
In the middle of Jeju City, between roads and hotels, lies a quiet grove of old trees. On the lawn inside are three shallow hollows, and for centuries Jeju people have believed that the island's history began here. Samseonghyeol, the "cave…
Old towns & squares
서귀포시
Black basalt walls wind along the lanes, low thatched roofs crouch behind them, and in the middle of the village stands a zelkova with a trunk five metres round. Seongeup was the seat of Jeongui-hyeon, one of the three districts into which…
Coast & islands
제주시
About 10 minutes by car from Jeju International Airport, this is the closest beach to downtown Jeju City. The symbols of Iho Tewoo Beach are its horse lighthouses, one red and one white, standing at the ends of the breakwaters. At sunset t…
Fortresses
제주시
Right next to Jocheon harbour on Jeju's northeast coast, a red-pillared pavilion sits on top of a curved basalt wall facing the sea. Jocheonjinseong was one of nine coastal forts that guarded Jeju in the Joseon era, and the pavilion on its…
Historic sites & memorials
제주시
On a gentle slope in the hills above Aewol, grassy earthen walls run across the landscape. The Hangpaduri Historic Site of Anti-Mongolian Struggle marks the last stronghold of the Sambyeolcho, the Goryeo army units that refused to accept p…