Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Coast & islands
거제시
Haegeumgang, "the Diamond Mountains of the sea", is a cluster of rock islets off Galgot-ri at the southern tip of Geojedo Island. Sheer cliffs, a cross-shaped sea cave that boats can nose into and rock shapes carved by wind and waves earne…
Coast & islands
거제시
Geojedo is South Korea's second-largest island after Jeju, covering about 380 km². A ria coastline more than 443 km long winds around it, forming pebble beaches, rocky islets and sea cliffs, and the island has seen several chapters of Kore…
Museums
거제시
During the Korean War up to 173,000 prisoners were held on Geoje Island, more people than the island's own population, behind barbed wire. Prisoners even kidnapped the camp commandant. The Historic Park of Geoje POW Camp uses the remains a…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
The two-storey villa attached to the front of Kangbuk Samsung Hospital is Gyeonggyojang. After liberation, independence leader Kim Ku lived here from November 1945, using it as the last seat of the Korean Provisional Government, and on 26…
Other
서울특별시
Step out of Jegi-dong Station in Dongdaemun-gu and the smell of medicinal herbs greets you before anything else, from lanes stacked with sacks of ginseng, liquorice, jujubes and goji berries. Gyeongdong Market, opened in 1960, is one of Se…
Palaces
서울특별시
Gyeongbokgung was the first palace built after the Joseon dynasty moved its capital to Hanyang, today's Seoul, in 1395. Its name, taken from a line in the Chinese Classic of Poetry, means roughly "palace of great blessings", and the schola…
Churches & monasteries
경산시
On the summit of Gwanbong, on the southern side of Palgongsan, a stone Buddha wearing a flat stone hat sits against a screen of rock. Officially the Stone Seated Buddha at Gwanbong Peak of Palgongsan, it is known to everyone as Gatbawi, th…
Historic sites & memorials
대구
In the heart of downtown Daegu, a few minutes' walk from Jungangno Station, brightly painted Joseon government buildings appear among the trees. Gyeongsang-gamyeong Park stands on the site of the Gyeongsang Provincial Office, which governe…
Gardens & parks
서울특별시
When the railway went underground, a long, narrow park 6.3 km in length appeared on top of it. Gyeongui Line Forest Park is a linear park running from Yeonnam-dong in Mapo to Wonhyo-ro in Yongsan, and the Yeonnam-dong stretch near Hongik U…
Viewpoints
인천광역시
The Gyeongin Ara Waterway is a canal dug across the land from near Haengju Bridge on the lower Han River to the Yellow Sea at Incheon. It is 18 km long and 80 m wide. It was built to control floods and carry ships, but the cycle paths and…
Historic sites & memorials
경주시
Driving from central Gyeongju towards the East Sea, you will spot two huge stone pagodas standing side by side at the edge of the fields, below a low hill. Every temple building has gone and only foundation stones remain, yet the site stil…
Historic sites & memorials
경주시
Between Cheomseongdae Observatory and Wolseong Palace Site lies a small grove of willows and zelkovas called Gyerim (鷄林), the "Rooster Forest". This is where, according to legend, Kim Al-ji, founder of the Gyeongju Kim clan, was found in a…
Churches & monasteries
경주시
Stairs and railings cling to a yellowish cliff riddled with holes, and from the highest point a Buddha gazes out towards the East Sea. Golgulsa is a cave temple at the foot of Hamwolsan near Gyeongju. Twelve caves open in a tuff cliff tens…
Old towns & squares
경주시
Between Wolseong and the Namcheon stream in Gyeongju lies a village of low tiled-roof houses. Gyochon grew up around the site of Silla's national academy, later the local Confucian school, and its name simply means "the village with the hy…
Historic sites & memorials
경주시
In September 1921, a man building a house in Noseo-dong, in the centre of Gyeongju, dug soil from a nearby mound to level his plot. Children found beads in the earth and played with them; a policeman noticed, looked into the mound and real…
Churches & monasteries
경주시
On the slopes of Hamwolsan, east of Gyeongju and not far from the East Sea, Girimsa sits quietly in the forest. It was once the largest temple in the Gyeongju area, so large that Bulguksa was at one point its branch temple, but its remote…
Historic sites & memorials
경주시
On a pine-covered ridge, walk around the round burial mound and you notice that the twelve animal-headed guardians carved around its base all turn their heads the same way. The Tomb of Kim Yu-sin is traditionally the grave of Kim Yu-sin (5…
Mountains & peaks
경주시
Climb the pine paths and you find a Buddha on almost every rock: some carved in shallow relief, some sitting headless. Namsan in Gyeongju was the most sacred mountain of the Silla kingdom, and its valleys hold the remains of about 100 temp…
Palaces
경주시
Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond in Gyeongju are the site of a detached royal palace and an artificial pond created just after Silla unified the Three Kingdoms. After dark the restored pavilions are lit up and mirrored in the water, which ma…
Historic sites & memorials
경주시
On the slopes of Seondosan on the west side of Gyeongju, the Tomb of King Muyeol belongs to Kim Chun-chu, King Taejong Muyeol, 29th ruler of Silla, who laid the groundwork for unifying the Three Kingdoms. It is one of the few Silla royal t…
Historic sites & memorials
경주시
The Tomb of King Munmu is a small rocky islet about 200 m off the beach at Bonggil-ri, Munmudaewang-myeon, on the coast of Gyeongju. It is said to hold the remains of King Munmu (r. 661–681), the 30th ruler of Silla, who completed the unif…
Nature
경주시
East of central Gyeongju, below the old fortress walls of Myeonghwalsan, a tourist resort spreads around a large lake. Bomun Lake is the man-made lake at the heart of the Bomun Lake Resort, known for its lakeside loop path and spring cherr…
Churches & monasteries
경주시
Next to the Hwangnyongsa temple site in Gyeongju, a small temple courtyard holds what looks like a dark brick tower. Up close, it turns out to be made of stone cut one piece at a time into the shape of bricks. The Bunhwangsa stone brick pa…
Other
경주시
If you want to eat among locals rather than tour groups in Gyeongju, head to Seongdong Market. Gyeongju's largest traditional market sits at the Wonhwa-ro entrance opposite the old Gyeongju Station and has traded on this spot since 1971. B…