Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Waterfalls
서귀포시
Cheonjiyeon Waterfall sits at the end of a wooded gorge close to central Seogwipo, where a 22-metre column of water drops into a deep pool. The name means roughly "the pond where heaven and earth meet", and the sound of the falls fills the…
Museums
의왕시
Next to Uiwang Station on Seoul Subway Line 1, right beside the tracks of the Gyeongbu Line, stands the Korea Railroad Museum. Its outdoor yard is lined with real rolling stock, from the presidential coach used by every president from Syng…
Historic sites & memorials
철원군
On a low rise at the edge of the Cheorwon plain stands a three-storey concrete shell with every window blown out. The Korean Workers' Party Headquarters was built by the North Korean ruling party after liberation, and when the Korean War f…
Churches & monasteries
철원군
Not far from the Demilitarized Zone, in the town of Dongsong in Cheorwon, a small temple shelters an iron Buddha that has sat here for more than a thousand years. Dopiansa's Iron Seated Vairocana Buddha carries an inscription on its back d…
Mountains & peaks
과천시
Spanning Seocho-gu in Seoul and the Gyeonggi cities of Gwacheon, Seongnam and Uiwang, Cheonggyesan is southern Seoul's go-to mountain, with the Shinbundang Line running almost to the trailhead. True to its name ("clear valley mountain"), i…
Gardens & parks
서울특별시
Cheonggyecheon is a stream that runs west to east through the heart of Seoul. For decades it was buried under concrete with an elevated expressway on top; in 2003–2005 the road came down and the stream was brought back to the surface. Toda…
Museums
서울특별시
On the bank of the Cheonggyecheon in Majang-dong, Seongdong District, this branch of the Seoul Museum of History tells the story of the stream: from the Joseon-era "Gaecheon" through shanty towns, a covered road and an elevated highway, to…
Historic sites & memorials
청주시
On the shore of Daecheong Lake, Cheongnamdae served as the presidents' private retreat for twenty years from 1983 before opening to the public in 2003. Its name means the Blue House of the warm south, and spacious gardens, pine-lined avenu…
Historic sites & memorials
청도군
Directly opposite Cheongdo Eupseong walled town stands a Joseon-era icehouse, the oldest surviving stone ice store in South Korea. Its roof has collapsed, leaving only four stone arches, so unlike other icehouses you can look straight down…
Churches & monasteries
청도군
In the hills east of Cheongdo, a path through pine woods ends at a temple with a wide courtyard. In the middle stands a great pine whose branches droop to the ground like an umbrella, and nuns in grey robes pass to and fro beneath it. Unmu…
Gardens & parks
인천광역시
In the heart of Cheongna International City in Incheon, Cheongna Lake Park wraps a large artificial lake in a walking loop of about 4 km. Three islands float in the lake and the path links four themed zones. It is known for its musical fou…
Churches & monasteries
청송군
Daejeonsa sits at the very start of the trails into Juwangsan National Park. From its courtyard you see the huge rock pinnacles of Giam rising behind the temple roofs, one of the most familiar views of Juwangsan. It is easy to treat it as…
Nature
청송군
In Cheongsong, North Gyeongsang, a small reservoir lies hidden in a valley inside Juwangsan National Park. Ancient royal willows grow with their roots under the water at Jusanji, and when dawn mist rises the trees seem to float on the surf…
Fortresses
청주시
Look east from central Cheongju and you can see a band of wall wrapped around the top of Sangdangsan. Sangdangsanseong is a valley-enclosing mountain fortress whose stone walls follow the ridges around an entire basin, and it is the city's…
Nature
청주시
Just over 2 km north-west of Osong KTX Station, in the middle of a small park in the Osong biotech complex, stands a Chinese quince tree around 500 years old. With its gnarled, twisting trunk and mottled bark, it is one of the largest quin…
Old towns & squares
청주시
In a quiet residential corner of Uncheon-dong in Cheongju, small cafés, restaurants and gift shops have opened one after another, creating a new street. Its name combines the "Un" of Uncheon-dong with "lidan-gil", borrowed from Seoul's tre…
Other
청주시
In central Cheongju, next to a junction where six roads meet, is Yukgeori Market – the name simply means "six-way crossroads market". Covered alleys run in a grid, and early each morning farmers from the surrounding countryside lay out veg…
Fortresses
청주시
In the middle of open farmland beside the Mihogang River, just north of Cheongju, a low square rampart of packed earth encloses a grassy field. Its circuit of about 675 m survives almost in its original shape, and with a few pine trees on…
Museums
청주시
In 1377 a Buddhist book printed at a temple in Cheongju quietly changed the history of printing. It was Jikji, the oldest surviving book in the world printed with movable metal type. The Cheongju Early Printing Museum stands right next to…
Historic sites & memorials
청주시
On a small rise in the middle of Cheongju, right next to the Chungbuk Culture Center, stands Cheongju Hyanggyo, a state-run school from the Joseon era. Two kings left their mark here, and it was once counted as the leading hyanggyo of the…
Old towns & squares
광주
On the slope west of the Gwangjucheon stream, Balsan Village, with its tiny houses packed tightly together, was home in the 1970s and 1980s to young women who worked in the city's textile mills. When the factories closed, houses fell empty…
Churches & monasteries
춘천시
On the slopes of Obongsan north of Soyang Lake in Chuncheon, Cheongpyeongsa is known as "the temple on an island" because the classic way to reach it is by boat from the Soyang Dam landing. First built in 973, it still has the Goryeo Seonw…
Lakes
가평군
Cheongpyeong Lake was created when the Cheongpyeong Dam blocked the Bukhangang River, about 50 km from Seoul. Water-sports centres, guesthouses and cafés line its mountain-ringed shores, making it one of the easiest lakeside getaways from…
Viewpoints
제천시
A small six-seat car rattles along a rail through the forest, climbing steadily, and bit by bit Cheongpungho Lake appears between the trees. The Cheongpungho Scenic Monorail runs about 2.9 km from Dogok-ri in Cheongpung-myeon, Jecheon, to…