Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
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.…
Historic sites & memorials
부안군
On a hill on the west side of Buan town, ringed by pine woods, Buan Hyanggyo climbs the slope in terraces. Founded in 1414 as a state Confucian school, it is approached past a red spindle gate and a dismount stone, then up stone steps thro…
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…
Historic sites & memorials
부여군
A wide stretch of lawn a short walk from Gungnamji Pond in Buyeo hides the site of a Baekje temple whose name has been lost. Excavations in 1935–1936 revealed, for the first time, the classic Baekje "one pagoda, one hall" layout, with the…
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…
Historic sites & memorials
부여군
At the foot of Bihongsan in Hongsan-myeon, Buyeo, a Joseon-era county office survives almost in its entirety. The Hongsanhyeon Government Office is a very rare example where both the dongheon, the magistrate's office, and the gaeksa, the g…
Viewpoints
안동시
Buyongdae is a 64 m cliff on the north bank of the Nakdonggang, facing Hahoe Village in Andong across the river. From the top you see the whole village, tiled roofs and thatch alike, held inside the S-shaped loop of the river. It explains…
Historic sites & memorials
인천광역시
Bupyeong Hyanggyo, below Gyeyangsan in Incheon, traces its roots back to 1127. That year a school was founded here by order of Goryeo's King Injong; whenever the district changed its name, the school's name and site moved with it. The pres…
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…
Mountains & peaks
대구
Rising to 1,084 m where Daegu's Dalseong County meets Cheongdo and Changnyeong, Biseulsan turns pink with azaleas along its summit ridge in spring, and on its slopes lies a huge block stream, a river of boulders. Near the top, Daegyeonsa,…
Nature
구좌읍
Step into this forest in Gujwa-eup, eastern Jeju, and the canopy closes over you, formed by thick, twisted trunks with wide-spreading branches. Bijarim Forest (officially the Torreya Forest of Pyeongdae-ri) is a stand of thousands of centu…
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…