Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
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…
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…
Nature
서천군
On a seaside knoll in Seo-myeon, Seocheon, the Maryang-ri Camellia Forest is a rare camellia wood on Korea's west coast. Some 80 camellias, kept to 2–3 m by the sea wind, cover the hill, and from the Dongbaekjeong pavilion on top you look…
Churches & monasteries
예산군
Sudeoksa sits on the slopes of Deoksungsan in Yesan, South Chungcheong, and its main hall, built in 1308, still stands today. It is one of the oldest wooden buildings in Korea whose construction date is documented, so it is a key stop if y…
Churches & monasteries
아산시
Between Asan Bay and the Sapgyocheon stream, a red-brick Gothic church rises from a low hill in Gongse-ri, Inju-myeon. Consecrated in 1922, Gongseri Catholic Church was the first Western-style church built in the Chungcheong region, and it…
Old towns & squares
아산시
Thatched cottages and tiled mansions linked by stone-walled lanes climb the foot of Seolhwasan at Oeam, a Joseon-era aristocratic village that is still lived in. Since the village took shape around 500 years ago it has been home to the Yea…
Historic sites & memorials
아산시
This shrine honours Admiral Yi Sun-sin, the naval commander who led Joseon's fleet during the Japanese invasions of the 1590s. The grounds in Asan were also his home in his younger years, so alongside the hall that holds his portrait you c…
Fortresses
예산군
Imjonseong, ringing the summit of Bongsusan in Daeheung-myeon, Yesan, became the last stronghold of the Baekje restoration movement after the kingdom fell. With a circumference of about 2.45 km it is counted as the largest of all Baekje mo…
Historic sites & memorials
천안시
Out in the fields of Seonghwan near Cheonan, a lone stele stands on the back of a stone turtle. It records the founding of Bongseon Honggyeongsa, a temple built by King Hyeonjong of Goryeo, and it is a National Treasure. The temple vanishe…
Nature
논산시
East of central Nonsan, the stream coming down from Daedunsan was dammed to create Tapjeong Reservoir (Tapjeongho), the second-largest reservoir in South Chungcheong. In winter tens of thousands of migratory birds such as whooper swans and…
Coast & islands
태안군
At the north-western tip of the Taean Peninsula, wind-built dunes spread out behind Sinduri Beach. These are the largest coastal sand dunes in Korea, designated a Natural Monument in 2001. Walking the boardwalks, you pass grassy hummocks,…
Coast & islands
태안군
Two rocky islets sit side by side off the beach, and in the evening the sun goes down behind them. This view from Kkotji Beach on Anmyeondo is counted among the classic sunsets of Korea's west coast. Anmyeondo stretches south from the Taea…
Churches & monasteries
당진시
On a low hill south of Hapdeok-eup in Dangjin, South Chungcheong, a pair of red-brick twin bell towers looks out over the rice fields. This is Hapdeok Catholic Church, which began as the first parish in the Chungcheong region; the present…
Churches & monasteries
서산시
Beside the Haemi Stream in Seosan, the Haemi International Sanctuary stands where more than 1,000 Catholics, brought from across Chungcheong Province during the late-Joseon persecutions, were executed and buried alive. It lies just over a…