Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Coast & islands
통영시
Bijindo is an island in the Hallyeosudo waterway, a little over 40 minutes by ferry from Tongyeong, made of two islands joined by a narrow sandbar. The beach along the sandbar has fine sand on one side and smooth pebbles on the other, so f…
Coast & islands
통영시
Saryangdo belongs to Saryang-myeon in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, and is made up of two main islands that face each other about 1.5 km apart, Sangdo (Upper Island) and Hado (Lower Island), plus the smaller Suudo. For its size the…
Nature
제주시
In the mid-mountain belt on the eastern flank of Hallasan, at about 500–600 m above sea level, a path of red volcanic scoria runs for miles between tall cedars and cypresses. Saryeoni Forest Path stretches roughly 15 km from Bijarim-ro tow…
Mountains & peaks
서귀포시
Rising like a bell from the flat fields of southwest Jeju, Sanbangsan is a 395 m mountain made of a single mass of lava. It is counted among Jeju's three great mountains alongside Hallasan and Seongsan Ilchulbong, and a Buddha is enshrined…
Churches & monasteries
안양시
Sammaksa sits high on the slopes of Samseongsan, the mountain shared by Anyang and Seoul's Gwanak and Geumcheon districts, at the end of a long forest climb. It is not a large temple, but within one compound you find a late Joseon Buddha t…
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…
Coast & islands
부안군
The Saemangeum Seawall is a 33.9-kilometre dyke built straight across the sea between Buan and Gunsan in North Jeolla. It is 1.4 km longer than the Afsluitdijk in the Netherlands (32.5 km), which earned it a Guinness World Record as the lo…
Mountains & peaks
제주시
Drive along the Pyeonghwa-ro road across western Jeju and a rounded hill rising from the open fields catches your eye. Saebyeol Oreum in Bongseong-ri, Aewol, is a small volcanic cone whose slopes turn into a sea of silver grass in autumn,…
Coast & islands
서귀포시
The highest point on the island is barely 20 m above sea level. Wherever you stand on Gapado you can see the sea, and in spring, beyond the barley fields that cover most of the island, Sanbangsan, Songaksan and on clear days even Hallasan…
Museums
서귀포시
This public museum is devoted to a single fruit, the citrus that Jeju is famous for. Galleries cover its history, cultivation and industry, while a glasshouse behind the building shows citrus varieties from around the world bearing fruit i…
Coast & islands
서귀포시
On the coast just west of central Seogwipo, at the end of a path through pine woods, a lone pillar of rock rises out of the sea. Oedolgae means "the solitary rock", a name earned by the way it stands alone in the water. This stack, about 2…
Waterfalls
서귀포시
Walk down the steps onto a shore of round boulders and you see water falling from the top of the cliff, crossing a rock pool and mixing straight into the waves. Jeongbang Waterfall lies about 1.5 km south-east of central Seogwipo, and the…
Other
서귀포시
Under the arcade roof in the middle of old Seogwipo, an artificial stream with fish and water plants runs down the centre of the market lane. Seogwipo Maeil Olle Market is the largest and oldest permanent market in Seogwipo, where tangerin…
Museums
서울특별시
The Seodaemun Museum of Natural History sits at the foot of Ansan mountain in Seoul. Step inside and you are greeted by a sperm whale suspended from the ceiling of the central hall and the skeleton of Acrocanthosaurus, a meat-eating dinosa…
Museums
서울특별시
Seodaemun Prison History Hall is a modern prison built under Japanese rule and preserved as a museum. It opened in 1908 and held prisoners for almost 80 years until 1987: independence activists such as Kim Gu, Yu Gwan-sun and Ahn Chang-ho,…
Churches & monasteries
서산시
Off Ganwoldo in Buseok-myeon, Seosan, Ganworam is a tiny hermitage you can walk to at low tide and that becomes an island when the tide comes in. At high water it seems to float on the sea; at low water a path across the seabed leads to it…
Historic sites & memorials
서산시
On the slopes of Gayasan in Seosan, a short climb from the Yonghyeon Valley leads to a cliff where three Buddhas are smiling. After more than 1,300 years of wind and rain, their full cheeks and gentle smiles are still clear. The Rock-carve…
Fortresses
서산시
Most old Korean fortresses cling to hills or rivers, but Haemieupseong was built in an egg-shaped ring around a low rise and a wide stretch of flat ground. Step through the gate and you find open lawns dotted with government buildings and…
Historic sites & memorials
고양시
Seooreung in Yongdu-dong, Deogyang-gu, Goyang, is a cluster of royal tombs of the Joseon dynasty. The name means "five tombs in the west": five royal tombs of kings and queens, plus several tombs of princes and royal consorts, are spread a…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
Dongmyo, formally Donggwanwangmyo, is a shrine to Guan Yu, a general of China's Three Kingdoms period. A Chinese general's shrine in the Joseon capital may seem odd, but it is a legacy of the Imjin War, the international conflict of the 15…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
Just inside the main gate of Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul Munmyo and Sungkyunkwan preserve a shrine to Confucius and the highest state academy of the Joseon dynasty within one walled compound. The old lecture hall and student dormitories…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
In Joseon Korea the phrase "jongmyo-sajik" simply meant the state, and Sajikdan was one of its two pillars alongside the royal ancestral shrine of Jongmyo. Set on the lower slopes of Inwangsan west of Gyeongbokgung Palace, this is where th…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
The Samjeondo Monument is a stele that Joseon was forced to erect to the "virtues" of the Qing emperor Hong Taiji after surrendering to the Qing in the war of 1636. Its official name is the Stele to the Merits and Virtues of the Emperor of…