Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Gardens & parks
울산
Seonam Lake Park lies in the middle of Nam-gu, Ulsan, around Seonam Reservoir, which once supplied water to the city's factories. Fenced off with barbed wire for more than 40 years, the lake opened to the public in 2007, and today a walkin…
Churches & monasteries
고창군
A band of camellia forest wraps around the hillside behind the temple. Seonunsa, on the northern slope of Dosolsan in Gochang, North Jeolla, is the head temple of the 24th district of the Jogye Order. Red camellias in early spring, a hermi…
Mountains & peaks
고창군
At just 336 m Seonunsan is not high, but its cliffs, deep valley and ancient temple make it Gochang's signature mountain. It became a provincial park in 1979, and its volcanic rock formations are part of the Jeonbuk West Coast UNESCO Globa…
Gardens & parks
서울특별시
Seonyudo is a small island in the middle of the Han River, and the whole of it is a park. It covers just 0.11 km², yet it still holds the huge concrete tanks and columns of the plant that once produced Seoul's tap water. Instead of tearing…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
Seonjeongneung is a group of Joseon royal tombs in Samseong-dong, Gangnam, right next to the office towers of Teheran-ro. The name combines Seolleung and Jeongneung, where King Seongjong (the 9th king), his queen Jeonghyeon and their son K…
Mountains & peaks
속초시
Seoraksan spans Sokcho, Yangyang, Inje and Goseong in Gangwon Province, and its highest peak, Daecheongbong (1,708 m), is the third-highest in South Korea after Hallasan and Jirisan. Sharp granite ridges and deep valleys make it one of the…
Fortresses
속초시
Gwongeumseong is a rocky summit in Outer Seorak that you reach in about five minutes by cable car from Seoraksan's Sogongwon area. It is the site of a Goryeo-era mountain fortress, but these days it is known less for its walls than for its…
Theme parks
곡성군
This railway theme park grew out of the old Gokseong Station, built in 1933, and the former Jeolla Line track beside the Seomjingang River. You walk in through the old station building, and from the platform a steam-style tourist train run…
Coast & islands
성산읍
South of Seongsan Ilchulbong, at the end of a green headland jutting into the sea, rises a red volcanic cone topped by a white lighthouse. Seopjikoji is a cape on the coast of Seongsan-eup in Seogwipo, with windswept grassland, black basal…
Gardens & parks
성남시
Covering about 42 ha in the heart of Bundang new town, this park was designed to keep as much of the forest and natural terrain of the Yeongjangsan slopes as possible. A pond modelled on Anapji in Gyeongju, traditional pavilions, and the o…
Mountains & peaks
성산읍
Seongsan Ilchulbong is a 182 m volcano rising from the sea at the eastern tip of Jeju, in Seongsan-eup, Seogwipo. Jagged rocks ring a huge bowl-shaped crater like the walls of a fortress, so you can recognise it from far away. In 2007, tog…
Towns & cities
서울특별시
Seongsu-dong was, not long ago, a semi-industrial patch of eastern Seoul packed with shoe workshops, print shops and car repair garages. As its red-brick factories and warehouses turned into cafés, galleries and pop-up stores, it became on…
Caves
서귀포시
In the hills of eastern Jeju, at Seongeup Green Tea Village in Pyoseon-myeon, Seogwipo, a path across the tea fields leads to a small lava cave hidden in a patch of forest. Look back towards the entrance from deep inside and the black basa…
Mountains & peaks
울릉군
Rising from the centre of Ulleungdo, Seonginbong is the summit of the volcano that built the entire island. Near the top, a primeval forest of trees and plants found only on Ulleungdo is protected as a Natural Monument, and walking through…
Nature
상주시
Seongjubong Recreational Forest in Euncheok-myeon, Sangju, North Gyeongsang, sits at the foot of Seongjubong, a 606 m rocky peak. You stay in forest cabins or at the campsite, walk the trails up Seongjubong and along the herb garden paths,…
Historic sites & memorials
성주군
At the foot of a hill on the eastern side of Gyochon village in Seongju-eup, a shrine with red columns and a plain lecture hall stand side by side. This is Seongju Hyanggyo, a state-run local school of the Joseon dynasty. Its shrine to Con…
Gardens & parks
양평군
Right next to Dumulmeori, a chain of ponds on the Han River floodplain has been turned into a garden of water and flowers. In high summer white and pink lotuses cover the ponds, and a bridge of boats modelled on one from King Jeongjo's tim…
Gardens & parks
세종특별자치시
In Boram-dong, near Sejong City Hall on the south bank of the Geumgang River, Geumgang Riverside Park is a city park for relaxing with a view of the water. With a campsite, barbecue area and picnic decks, it is a favourite weekend spot for…
Churches & monasteries
세종특별자치시
Biamsa, on the slopes of Unjusan in Jeonui-myeon, Sejong, is a small mountain temple, yet it produced one of the key finds in the history of Korean Buddhist sculpture. In 1960, a stone Buddhist stele found on top of the temple's three-stor…
Gardens & parks
세종특별자치시
In the middle of Sejong, Korea's purpose-built administrative capital, this city park occupies the Jangnam Plain, a broad stretch of farmland north of the Geumgang River. It is planned to cover about 1.38 million m², and the first phase of…
Nature
인천광역시
In Nonhyeon-dong, Namdong-gu, right behind Sorae Port, Incheon's old salt pans and tidal flats have been turned into a large nature park. Sorae Wetland Ecology Park covers about 1.51 million m² of salt marsh crossed by tidal creeks, reed b…
Coast & islands
인천광역시
Sorae Port in Incheon's Namdong district is a working fishing harbour you can reach by subway. At low tide the harbour floor turns into mudflat and the boats lie tilted on the mud; when the tide comes in they float again and head out. On w…
Coast & islands
고흥군
Across a narrow channel from Nokdong Port, at the tip of the Goheung Peninsula, lies Sorokdo. Its name means "small deer island", after the shape of its coastline. The pine forests and neat gardens look peaceful, yet for more than a centur…
Coast & islands
통영시
Out at sea 26 km south-east of Tongyeong harbour lies Somaemuldo, an island of just 0.51 km². What made it famous is its tiny neighbour, Deungdaeseom ("Lighthouse Island"). Twice a day, when the tide goes out, a 70-metre pebble causeway ap…