Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Gardens & parks
부산
Ride the escalators up from one side of the Gwangbok-ro shopping street and you suddenly come out on a tree-shaded plaza on top of a hill. Yongdusan Park covers a small hill in the middle of Busan's old town. Its name, "dragon's head mount…
Other
부산
Jagalchi Market stretches along the waterfront of Busan's South Port, between Nampo-dong and Chungmu-dong in Jung-gu. Selling live and fresh fish, shellfish and dried seafood, it is counted among Korea's largest seafood markets and has bec…
Historic sites & memorials
부산
In April 1592, Japanese forces landed at Busan and the Imjin War began. Busanjin Fortress and Dongnae Fortress were the first to be attacked, and many commanders, officials and ordinary people died defending them. Chungnyeolsa, in Allak-do…
Museums
부산
On a hillside in Daeyeon-dong, right next to the UN Memorial Cemetery, Busan Museum tells the story of the city from the Old Stone Age to the democracy movement under one roof. Busan has chapters no other Korean city shares, from the Joseo…
Gardens & parks
부산
A short walk from the busy Seomyeon district, a wide green space opens up between the high-rise blocks. For decades, Busan Citizens Park was land that ordinary people could not enter. It passed from racecourse to Japanese army training gro…
Fortresses
부산
Among the apartment blocks and markets of Beomil-dong in Busan's Dong District, one small hill has been left as woodland. Busanjinseong was a Joseon naval fortress, closely tied to the first battle of the Japanese invasion of 1592. The wal…
Churches & monasteries
부안군
At the foot of the inland Byeonsan mountains on the Byeonsan Peninsula, Naesosa is remembered for its approach as much as for the temple itself. A shaded avenue of some 700 fir trees leads from the first gate to the Gate of the Four Heaven…
Historic sites & memorials
부안군
Suseongdang is a small tile-roofed shrine on the cliffs of Jeokbyeokgang at the western tip of the Byeonsan Peninsula. It honours Gaeyang Halmi, the sea goddess who rules the West Sea, and her eight daughters, and every year at the first f…
Coast & islands
부안군
Chaeseokgang and Jeokbyeokgang are stretches of coast at Gyeokpo-ri in Buan, at the point where the Byeonsan Peninsula juts furthest into the Yellow Sea. Despite the word "gang" (river) in their names, they are sea cliffs and rocky shores.…
Old towns & squares
서울특별시
Buam-dong is a neighbourhood of Jongno-gu tucked into the valley between Inwangsan and Bugaksan. Being so close to the former presidential compound, it spent decades under military and green-belt restrictions, so there are almost no tall b…
Fortresses
부여군
Garimseong is the only Baekje fortress for which both the year of construction and its original name survive in written records. It rings the summit of Seongheungsan, a hill of only about 260 m, so the climb is easy, yet the top looks out…
Historic sites & memorials
부여군
On the northern edge of downtown Buyeo, where Busosan hill meets the plain, lies a wide stretch of lawn. It looks like a park, but this is believed to be the royal palace of Sabi, Baekje's last capital from 538 to 660. In 2015 it was inscr…
Gardens & parks
부여군
In the fields south of the town of Buyeo lies a wide pond lined with weeping willows. Gungnamji, literally "the pond south of the palace", was made south of the royal palace when Sabi, today's Buyeo, was the capital of the Baekje kingdom.…
Churches & monasteries
부여군
On the slopes of Mansusan, Muryangsa is remembered for its Geungnakjeon Hall, which looks two-storeyed from outside but is one tall open space inside, and for the Goryeo pagoda and stone lantern lined up in front of it. The Joseon writer K…
Fortresses
부여군
A low wooded hill on the south bank of the Baengmagang River watched over the last days of Sabi, the final capital of the Baekje kingdom. Busosanseong Fortress is thought to have served as a royal retreat in peacetime and as the city's las…
Historic sites & memorials
부여군
During the 538–660 Sabi period, when Baekje ruled from what is now Buyeo, its kings and royal family were buried on a hillside at Neungsan-ri just east of town. The grass-covered round mounds lined up on a south-facing slope look modest, b…
Historic sites & memorials
부여군
In an open field in the middle of Buyeo stands a stone pagoda that has kept its place for almost 1,400 years. Jeongnimsa Temple Site was the main temple of the period when Sabi (today's Buyeo) was the Baekje capital (538–660), and its five…
Nature
서울특별시
In Gangbuk-gu, northern Seoul, Dream Forest (Buk-Seoul Kkumui Soop) was created on the site of an old amusement park called Dreamland. At about 660,000 m² it is one of the largest parks in Seoul, with cherry-blossom avenues, a maple forest…
Mountains & peaks
서울특별시
Bugaksan is a granite peak about 342 m high rising directly behind Gyeongbokgung Palace and the former presidential compound, Cheong Wa Dae. In the Joseon period it was called Baegaksan, and as the guardian mountain on the northern side of…
Old towns & squares
서울특별시
Bukchon Hanok Village is a neighbourhood of traditional houses on the hill between Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung palaces and Jongmyo Shrine in Jongno District, Seoul. Tiled roofs step up the slopes of Gahoe-dong, Samcheong-dong, Wonseo-d…
Mountains & peaks
서울특별시
Bukhansan is the granite mountain that rings the northern edge of Seoul and the highest mountain in the city. Its top peak, Baegundae (836.5 m), rises next to Insubong (810.5 m) and Mangyeongdae, and the jagged skyline is visible from almo…
Churches & monasteries
영광군
Bulgapsa sits at the foot of Bulgapsan (516 m) in Yeonggwang, and tradition says it was the very first temple founded by Marananta, the Indian monk who brought Buddhism to Baekje. Hence the name, written with the characters for "Buddha" an…
Churches & monasteries
경주시
Bulguksa is the best-known temple of the Silla kingdom, set on the western slopes of Tohamsan in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. Its wooden halls stand on tall stone terraces, so while fires replaced the buildings several times, the 8…
Waterfalls
속초시
Biryong Falls is a 16 m waterfall 2.4 km up a valley from Seoraksan's Sogongwon entrance, about an hour's walk. Its name means "flying dragon", after the way the water seems to leap skywards, and it drops between granite cliffs into a roun…