Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Other
광주
Malbau Market in Usan-dong, Buk-gu, is the main traditional market of northern Gwangju. It is open every day, but market days fall on dates ending in 2, 4, 7 and 9 – twelve a month – and on those days shoppers come in from Damyang, Jangseo…
Coast & islands
동해시
About 3 km north of Mukho Port in Donghae, a wide strip of sand runs along the coast behind a belt of pine trees. Mangsang's water is shallow and clear, which makes it popular with families, and it is counted among the signature beaches of…
Other
서울특별시
A short walk from Exit 2 of Mangwon Station on Seoul Subway Line 6, a 250 m market lane runs dead straight between low-rise apartment blocks. Mangwon Market is where the residents of Mangwon-dong in Mapo-gu do their daily shopping, but che…
Nature
서울특별시
Right beside the Yangjae interchange on the Gyeongbu Expressway, at the southern gateway to Seoul, a dense forest fills the ground between the roads. Created ahead of the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Maeheon Citizen's Fore…
Historic sites & memorials
담양군
On a low rise at the foot of Jebongsan in Damyang, a small pavilion open on all sides looks out over the fields. This is Myeonangjeong, built by the mid-Joseon official Song Sun after he left office. Scholars such as Yi Hwang (Toegye) visi…
Towns & cities
서울특별시
Myeong-dong is the busy district between Chungmu-ro, Eulji-ro and Namdaemun-ro in Jung District, Seoul. Cosmetics shops, fashion stores and big department stores are packed together here, making it one of the first shopping streets foreign…
Churches & monasteries
서울특별시
Myeongdong Cathedral stands on the hill above Myeong-dong as the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul. It was Korea's first parish with a resident priest and the first church in the country built in the Gothic style. Climb the st…
Mountains & peaks
영북면
In autumn the high basin on this mountain turns silver. Myeongseongsan (about 922 m), on the border between Pocheon in Gyeonggi-do and Cheorwon in Gangwon-do, holds a field of silver grass (Korean pampas grass) covering some 16.5 hectares,…
Historic sites & memorials
여주시
This is the house where Empress Myeongseong, queen of King Gojong of Joseon, was born in 1851 and lived until she was eight; she was assassinated by Japanese agents in 1895. The inner quarters built in 1687 still stand, and the restored ou…
Coast & islands
대정읍
At the southwestern tip of Jeju, from a harbour packed with fishing boats, you can see Gapado and Marado across the water. Moseulpo Port is the fishing hub of southwest Jeju and the departure point for boats to Korea's southernmost islands…
Mountains & peaks
완주군
Where Jeonju, Gimje and Wanju meet, Moaksan rises to 793 m. Standing alone at the eastern edge of the vast Gimje plain, its summit looks out over the whole Honam lowland. True to its name, "Mother Mountain", it shelters a wide family of te…
Museums
여주시
Near the Namhangang River in Gangcheon-myeon, Yeoju, the Mok-A Museum is a private museum where a master Buddhist woodcarver shows the relics he collected over a lifetime, together with his own work. Its founder Park Chan-su was recognised…
Coast & islands
목포시
Gatbawi stands on the shore of eastern Mokpo where the Yeongsan River meets the sea. The two rocks look like people wearing conical bamboo hats (gat), which gave them their name. A walkway laid over the water lets you see them up close, an…
Mountains & peaks
목포시
Rising right behind Mokpo's old town, Yudalsan is only 228 m high, but its rocky peaks stand like a folding screen, and it has long been called the "Gaegolsan of Honam", after the winter name of the Diamond Mountains. It is one of the Eigh…
Viewpoints
목포시
This cable car sets off from North Port in downtown Mokpo, crosses the rocky crest of Yudalsan Mountain, then swings out over the sea to Gohado Island. Over its 3.23 km you pass the city, a granite mountain, and the islands of the southwes…
Museums
목포시
The Mokpo Modern History Museum occupies two early 20th-century buildings in the former Japanese settlement at the foot of Yudalsan. Building 1 is the old Japanese Consulate in Mokpo and Building 2 the former Mokpo branch of the Oriental D…
Museums
목포시
In Mokpo's Gatbawi Culture Town, the Mokpo Natural History Museum is a city-run museum that covers everything from dinosaur fossils to insects, sea life and local history on a single ticket. Its most precious exhibit is a carnivorous dinos…
Coast & islands
태안군
Twice a day this beach changes shape: at high tide it is a shallow sandy bathing beach, and at low tide a broad mudflat where people dig for clams and catch crabs. Stretching about 3 km along the west coast of Nam-myeon on the Taean Penins…
Churches & monasteries
광주
In the middle of the office towers of Gwangju's Sangmu district, at the foot of the low hill Yeouisan, Mugaksa is a temple right inside the city. It was founded in 1971 for soldiers of the Sangmudae military base, and after the army left a…
Mountains & peaks
광주
This rounded mountain can be seen from almost anywhere in Gwangju. Near the top stand Seoseokdae and Ipseokdae, rows of stone columns like folding screens; their individual columns are the largest of their kind recorded in South Korea. Mud…
Mountains & peaks
울산
Rising on the border of Ulsan's Buk and Dong districts, Muryongsan (452 m) has long been regarded as Ulsan's guardian mountain. It is not high, but the summit takes in the East Sea, the city and its vast industrial complex, and at night it…
Theme parks
동해시
On the slopes of Dutasan in Donghae, a limestone quarry that was worked for more than 50 years has become a park with two emerald lakes and a lavender garden. At Mureung Byeolyucheonji you look down from towering cut limestone walls onto b…
Coast & islands
여수시
In the middle of Dolsando in Yeosu, at the narrow neck where the island pinches in, Museulmok Beach is covered with large pebbles for about 700 m. Small islands line the horizon, which makes it a well-known sunrise spot, and tradition hold…
Coast & islands
인천광역시
Just over half an hour by car from Incheon International Airport and one bridge away lies Muuido. With the wide tidal flats of Hanagae Beach, a coastal boardwalk along the sea cliffs and a footbridge to Somuuido, it is a favourite half-day…