Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Fortresses
서울특별시
The Seoul City Wall (Hanyangdoseong) encircled Hanyang, the capital of the Joseon dynasty, running for about 18.6 km along the ridges of Baegak (Bugaksan), Naksan, Namsan (Mongmyeoksan) and Inwangsan. It served as the capital's wall for 51…
Nature
연천군
The Hantan River rises in Pyeonggang in North Korea and flows 136 km through Cheorwon, Pocheon and Yeoncheon before joining the Imjin River. As it cut down through a plateau of hardened lava, it carved canyons tens of metres deep lined wit…
Coast & islands
제주시
Hamdeok Beach in Hamdeok-ri, Jocheon-eup, is one of the Jeju beaches people mention first when they talk about sea colour. It lies only about 20 km east of Jeju International Airport, yet the mix of white sand, clear turquoise water and a…
Historic sites & memorials
함안군
In the middle of Gaya-eup, Haman, round burial mounds rise one after another along a low ridge running north to south. The Marisan Tumuli are the tombs of the ruling class of Ara Gaya, a Gaya state centred on what is now Haman, with large…
Historic sites & memorials
함양군
Namgyeseowon sits on a low hill beside the Namgyecheon Stream in Sudong-myeon, Hamyang. Founded in 1552, it was the second seowon (Confucian academy) in Korea after Sosuseowon in Yeongju, and its layout, with study halls at the front and t…
Nature
함양군
In front of Mokhyeon village in Hamyang, beside a small stream, stands a pine that splits into several trunks right from the base and spreads out like a huge round umbrella. Because its limbs once divided nine ways, it is called Gusong (九松…
Nature
함양군
Hamyang Sangnim is a forest said to have been planted along a riverbank by the scholar Choe Chi-won, while he was governor of Hamyang in late Silla, to protect the town from floods. It is considered the oldest man-made forest in Korea and…
Churches & monasteries
당진시
On a low hill south of Hapdeok-eup in Dangjin, South Chungcheong, a pair of red-brick twin bell towers looks out over the rice fields. This is Hapdeok Catholic Church, which began as the first parish in the Chungcheong region; the present…
Historic sites & memorials
합천군
On low hills above a bend in the Hwanggang River in Ssangchaek-myeon, Hapcheon, 18 large burial mounds 20–30 m across line the ridge. The Okjeon Tumuli are thought to hold the rulers of Dara, one of the small Gaya states. Swords decorated…
Historic sites & memorials
합천군
Hambyeongnu is a two-storey pavilion on a cliff above the Hwanggang River in Hapcheon town, South Gyeongsang. First built in 1321 under the Goryeo dynasty, it is known for being set so close to the edge that rain from its eaves drops strai…
Mountains & peaks
합천군
Rising on the border of Hapcheon and Sancheong counties in South Gyeongsang, Hwangmaesan was for a long time hard to find even in hiking guides. It became known after being designated a county park in 1983, and today it stands with Gayasan…
Museums
사천시
Next to Sacheon airfield, the KAI Aerospace Museum was built by Korea Aerospace Industries, the company that makes Korea's own aircraft. Its outdoor park lines up 26 real aircraft, including rarities such as a Korean War-era B-29 bomber an…
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
부산
Haedong Yonggungsa is a Buddhist temple set on the seaside rocks of Sirang-ri in Gijang, on the eastern edge of Busan. Known as the temple closest to the sea, it draws crowds who come to see halls and stone lanterns strung along rocks batt…
Churches & monasteries
서산시
Beside the Haemi Stream in Seosan, the Haemi International Sanctuary stands where more than 1,000 Catholics, brought from across Chungcheong Province during the late-Joseon persecutions, were executed and buried alive. It lies just over a…
Coast & islands
부산
From Mipo at the eastern end of Haeundae Beach to Songjeong Beach, 4.8 km of the old Donghae Nambu Line, where trains once ran right along the shore, has become a seaside promenade. The path follows the old track through a tunnel under Dal…
Coast & islands
부산
Where the sand of Haeundae Beach ends, a small hill thick with pines and camellias juts out into the sea. Dongbaekseom was once an island, but soil and sand carried down by the neighbouring Chuncheoncheon stream gradually joined it to the…
Coast & islands
부산
Haeundae Beach is an urban beach spanning Jung-dong and U-dong in Haeundae District, Busan. Its sand stretches for about 1.5 km and covers some 120,000 m², making it the best-known beach in Korea. Figures for its width vary from 30 to 90 m…
Churches & monasteries
합천군
Haeinsa sits halfway up Gayasan in Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang Province, and is famous for the Tripitaka Koreana, the Buddhist canon carved on wooden blocks in the Goryeo period, and for Janggyeong Panjeon, the halls built to store them. It…
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…
Museums
서울특별시
This public museum in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, honours Heo Jun, the Joseon court physician who wrote the Donguibogam. It stands in Gayang-dong, where Heo Jun is believed to have been born and raised, and a herb garden reached from its roof grows…