Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
National parks
공주시
Gyeryongsan takes its name from its ridgeline, said to resemble a dragon wearing a rooster's crest. It spans Gongju, Gyeryong and Daejeon, and on 31 December 1968 it became Korea's second national park after Jirisan. Rocky ridges, deep val…
Mountains & peaks
충주시
Rising to about 775 m right on the eastern edge of Chungju, Gyemyeongsan looks down on Chungjuho Lake on one side and the city on the other. The main trailhead at Majeumakjae Pass has its own car park, just a short drive from downtown, and…
Mountains & peaks
대전광역시
Gyejoksan in Daejeon's Daedeok District is only a little over 400 m high, but it is famous for a 14.5 km barefoot walking trail laid with red clay along its forest roads. Along the summit ridge runs Gyejoksanseong, a stone fortress from th…
Coast & islands
완도군
Gogeumdo, an island in Wando County, is where Admiral Yi Sun-sin set up his last headquarters. In 1598, the final year of the Japanese invasions of Korea, the Korean and Chinese Ming navies made camp together on Myodangdo at the island's e…
Museums
강진군
Set in Sadang-ri, Daegu-myeon in Gangjin County, this museum stands on the very ground where Goryeo potters fired their celadon. 188 kiln sites have been identified in the area, and the museum holds the results of their excavation along wi…
Historic sites & memorials
고령군
Along the ridge of Jusan, the hill behind Daegaya-eup in Goryeong, rows of round burial mounds rise one after another. The Goryeong Jisan-dong Tumuli are the tombs of the kings and ruling class of Daegaya, one of the states of the Gaya con…
Historic sites & memorials
철원군
Walk down the steps into the gorge and, in the middle of the Hantan River between black basalt cliffs, a single rock crowned with pines stands on its own. Goseokjeong means "pavilion of the lonely rock", and the name covers the rock, the p…
Churches & monasteries
고성군
In the hills of Goseong, not far from the inter-Korean border, Geonbongsa sits where the ridges of Geumgangsan, the Diamond Mountains, begin, which is why it is often called "Geumgangsan Geonbongsa". It was once a vast temple of 3,183 kan…
Coast & islands
고성군
The shore of Deokmyeong-ri, Hai-myeon, Goseong County in South Gyeongsang preserves Mesozoic dinosaur and bird footprints on its broad rock platforms. As a dinosaur track site it ranks among the world's most important for both number and v…
Historic sites & memorials
고성군
Between Haesang-ri and Tabhyeon-ri in Ganseong-eup, Goseong County, a single-arch stone bridge spans a small stream. This is the Yuksongjeong Hongyo, a Joseon-era bridge listed as a Treasure. At just 10.6 m long it is small, but its founda…
Historic sites & memorials
고성군
In Toseong-myeon, Goseong County, the Cheonggancheon stream flows down from the Seoraksan area into the East Sea, and on a rocky bluff right at the river mouth stands Cheongganjeong. A few minutes along a path through pine trees bring you…
Churches & monasteries
고성군
North of Sokcho, below Misiryeong Pass on the southern slope of Sinseonbong Peak, stands a temple whose gate reads "Geumgangsan Hwaamsa". It has long been described as lying at the foot of the peak where the twelve thousand summits of the…
Other
성산읍
Goseong Five-day Market sets up in Goseong-ri, Seongsan-eup, about 3 km west of Seongsan Ilchulbong on Jeju's east coast. On dates ending in 4 and 9 it opens early in the morning, bringing together fish landed off Seongsan, meat, vegetable…
Historic sites & memorials
고양시
Between the wide pastures and woods of Wondang in Goyang, Seosamneung, "the three tombs west of the capital", is the name for the royal tombs of Huireung, Hyoreung and Yereung, where Joseon kings and queens are buried. Part of the UNESCO W…
Fortresses
고양시
On Deogyangsan, a hill rising where the Han River makes a wide bend at the western edge of Seoul, stands Haengjusanseong. In 1593, during the Japanese invasions of Korea, Joseon troops under General Gwon Yul defeated a much larger Japanese…
Churches & monasteries
고양시
On the slopes of Hanmisan, on the western edge of Bukhansan in Jichuk-dong, Goyang, stands a temple whose story begins with the great monk Wonhyo and takes a turn when King Yeongjo spent a snowy night here. That night made it a royal praye…
Historic sites & memorials
고창군
Along the low hills behind Maesan village in Gochang, North Jeolla, some 440 dolmens line up over roughly 1.8 km. Few places in the world hold so many in one spot, and almost every Korean form is here: go-board, table-type and capstone-onl…
Gardens & parks
고창군
In autumn, a farm at the foot of Seonunsan Mountain in Gochang looks as if it has been covered in pink mist. Flower Guest Project (Kkotgaek Project) is a farm-style garden described as the first registered private garden in Jeonbuk Provinc…
Nature
고창군
Halfway up Munsusan (621 m), on the border between Gochang and Jangseong, the last stretch of road to Munsusa Temple runs through a dense grove of centuries-old maples. The Munsusa Maple Forest holds about 500 maples estimated at 100 to 40…
Other
고창군
In spring, red dirt tracks wind through endless waves of green barley; in autumn the same rolling hills turn white with buckwheat flowers. Hakwon Farm in Gongeum-myeon, Gochang, practises landscape farming, choosing crops for how beautiful…
Fortresses
고창군
Gochangeupseong is the walled town that guarded Gochang county in the Joseon era, and its rough stone walls survive almost intact for 1,684 m. You can walk the entire circuit on top of the wall, and inside are rebuilt government buildings…
Coast & islands
목포시
Lying long and low just off Mokpo harbour, Gohado is the island where Admiral Yi Sun-sin rebuilt his navy during the second Japanese invasion of the 1590s. Today it is linked to the mainland by Mokpo Bridge and the Mokpo Marine Cable Car,…
Churches & monasteries
고흥군
Beneath the eight rocky peaks of Palyeongsan in Goheung, South Jeolla, which rise behind it like a folding screen, Neunggasa sits on a broad stretch of flat ground. It looks like a quiet country temple, yet it holds several Treasures: an e…
Churches & monasteries
곡성군
Taeansa lies deep in a valley of Dongnisan in Jukgok-myeon, Gokseong, and was the head temple of the Dongnisan school, one of the Nine Mountain Schools of Seon Buddhism in Unified Silla. The forest path of about 1.8 km along the stream fro…