51 attractions in Gangwon Province, including Gariwangsan Mountain, Gyeongpodae Pavilion and Seongyojang House (Gangneung).
Mountains & peaks
정선군
Rising between Jeongseon and Pyeongchang, Gariwangsan (1,561 m) is one of the big mountains that, together with Odaesan, form the "roof" of the Gangwon ranges. It is an earth-covered mountain rather than a rocky one, so forest reaches all…
Historic sites & memorials
강릉시
When the moon rises there is one in the sky, one on the sea, one on the lake, one in your wine cup and one in the eyes of the person beside you. The Joseon poet Jeong Cheol wrote that from Gyeongpodae you could see five moons. About 7 km n…
Historic sites & memorials
강릉시
When Gyeongpoho Lake was far larger than today, villagers crossed it on a bridge of boats, so the village was called Baedari, or Seongyo (船橋) in Chinese characters. The grand residence that settled here is Seongyojang. With its main quarte…
Coast & islands
강릉시
Anmok Beach is a stretch of sand about 500 m long and some 20,000 m² in area just north of the Namdaecheon River mouth in Gangneung, right beside Gangneung Port. The cafés lining the seafront became known as "Gangneung Coffee Street", and…
Historic sites & memorials
강릉시
Ojukheon in Gangneung is the house where Shin Saimdang (1504–1551) and her son, the scholar Yi I, known as Yulgok (1536–1584), were born. It is one of the oldest surviving houses of the early Joseon period and was designated a Treasure in…
Coast & islands
강릉시
Step off the train and the end of the platform is the beach, with the East Sea right behind it. Jeongdongjin is a seaside village south of Gangneung that became famous across Korea for its tiny station almost touching the water and for New…
Coast & islands
강릉시
When the boats come in at dawn, the market by the harbour is the first thing to wake up. Jumunjin is a town at the northern edge of Gangneung and one of the main fishing ports on Korea's east coast, landing squid, pollack, sand lance and h…
Historic sites & memorials
강릉시
About ten minutes' walk from Gangneung Station, tiled roofs climb in tiers up the slope of Hwabusan hill. Gangneung Hyanggyo is considered the largest provincial Confucian school in Korea after the national academy Seonggyungwan, and becau…
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…
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…
Museums
춘천시
Step into the darkened gallery and hundreds of small stone faces look back at you. Smiling, sleepy or tilting their heads, these arhat figures are what made Chuncheon National Museum famous across Korea. Opened on 30 October 2002, the muse…
Nature
가평군
Nami Island (Namiseom) is a half-moon-shaped island in the Bukhan River, criss-crossed by avenues of metasequoias, Korean pines and ginkgo trees. It was not originally an island but a riverside hill; it became one in 1944, when the Cheongp…
Mountains & peaks
강릉시
Daegwallyeong is an 832 m pass over the Taebaek Mountains linking Pyeongchang and Gangneung in Gangwon Province. For centuries it was the gateway between the inland Yeongseo region and the east-coast Yeongdong region. Today the top of the…
Churches & monasteries
동해시
Enter Mureung Valley, which runs between Dutasan and Cheongoksan in Donghae, and you will find Samhwasa close to its mouth. The name means "harmony of three", a wish attributed to Wang Geon, founder of the Goryeo dynasty. It is a natural s…
Mountains & peaks
동해시
Not far inland from the East Sea coast rises a deep mountain of granite gorges and waterfalls. Dutasan straddles the cities of Donghae and Samcheok in Gangwon Province, and sources give its height as 1,353 m or 1,357 m. Far more people wal…
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…
Mountains & peaks
고성군
Misiryeong is an 826 m pass over the Baekdudaegan ridge between Inje and Sokcho in Gangwon Province. Climb the twisting old road from the Sokcho side and Seoraksan's Ulsanbawi Rock stands right in front of you like a folding screen, while…
Churches & monasteries
인제군
Baekdamsa sits at the mouth of the deep valleys of Inner Seorak, inside Seoraksan National Park. It is where the independence activist and poet Manhae Han Yong-un stayed and wrote his poetry collection The Silence of Love, and it is famous…
Historic sites & memorials
삼척시
Jukseoru is a pavilion perched on the cliffs of the Osipcheon River, which loops through central Samcheok. Of the Eight Scenic Views of Gwandong praised by Jeong Cheol in his "Gwandong Byeolgok", all the other pavilions overlook the sea; J…
Caves
삼척시
Deep in the mountains of Daei-ri in Singi-myeon, Samcheok, about 820 m above sea level, a 10 m high cave mouth opens in the hillside. Hwanseongul is one of Korea's largest limestone caves, with 6.2 km of passages mapped so far and an estim…
Mountains & peaks
속초시
Seoraksan spans Sokcho, Yangyang, Inje and Goseong in Gangwon Province, and its highest peak, Daecheongbong (1,708 m), is the third-highest in South Korea after Hallasan and Jirisan. Sharp granite ridges and deep valleys make it one of the…
Fortresses
속초시
Gwongeumseong is a rocky summit in Outer Seorak that you reach in about five minutes by cable car from Seoraksan's Sogongwon area. It is the site of a Goryeo-era mountain fortress, but these days it is known less for its walls than for its…