Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Churches & monasteries
공주시
Donghaksa sits in a valley on the eastern side of Mt. Gyeryongsan and is home to Korea's oldest college for Buddhist nuns. Together with Gapsa on the western side, it is one of the two best-known temples of Gyeryongsan, and in spring crowd…
Churches & monasteries
공주시
Right in front of the temple, the stream swings round in a wide S-bend. Geomancers likened its course to the taegeuk symbol, and Joseon writers counted the Magoksa area among the ten refuges where you could sit out a war in safety. Magoksa…
Historic sites & memorials
공주시
The Tomb of King Muryeong and Royal Tombs lie on the southern slope of Songsan hill in Ungjin-dong, Gongju, South Chungcheong. They are the burial ground of the kings and royal family of Baekje during its Ungjin period, when the capital wa…
Churches & monasteries
공주시
On the southwestern slopes of Gyeryongsan, Sinwonsa is counted with Donghaksa and Gapsa among the mountain's three great temples. It dates back to the Baekje kingdom, but what sets it apart is Jungakdan, a shrine where the Joseon royal cou…
Mountains & peaks
서울특별시
Gwanaksan is a 632 m granite mountain rising on Seoul's southern edge, and you can start hiking straight from a subway station. At the summit, Yeonjudae, a small hermitage clings to the top of a sheer cliff – one of the most dramatic sight…
Churches & monasteries
논산시
On the eastern slope of Banyasan in Nonsan, Gwanchoksa is home to the Stone Standing Maitreya Bodhisattva, often called the largest stone Buddha statue in Korea. About 18 m tall and nicknamed Eunjin Mireuk after the area's old name, it is…
Mountains & peaks
수원시
Gwanggyosan rises on the border of Suwon and Yongin; its highest peak, Sirubong, is given as 582 m or 585 m depending on the source. Standing alone in a plain with no other large mountains nearby, it has long been seen as Suwon's guardian…
Gardens & parks
수원시
Gwanggyo Lake Park lies at the heart of Gwanggyo New Town in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, and joins two reservoirs, Woncheon Lake and Sindae Lake, into one urban lake park. The loop path connecting the two lakes is 6.5 km long, with boardwalks ove…
Caves
광명시
Just outside Seoul's southwestern edge, Gwangmyeong Cave is not a natural cave at all but a gold mine dug by hand and machine. It was a site of colonial-era resource exploitation, and after it closed the tunnels spent decades as a store fo…
Coast & islands
부산
Gwangalli Beach in Suyeong-gu, Busan, is a 1.4 km city beach. Gwangan Bridge spans the bay in front of its half-moon of sand, so people come during the day to walk along the water and after dark to see the bridge lights and the city skylin…
Other
서울특별시
Gwangjang Market is Seoul's best-known traditional market, founded by Korean merchants in the early 1900s. Under its covered lanes, the smell of frying mung bean pancakes and customers perched on stall benches fill the centre, while shops…
Old towns & squares
광주
Walk into the lanes of Wolgok-dong in Gwangju's Gwangsan district and Cyrillic signs hang right next to Korean ones. Koryoin Village is a community of Koryo-saram, descendants of ethnic Koreans who lived across the former Soviet Union, and…
Other
광주
Stretching along the Gwangjucheon stream, Yangdong Market is counted as the largest traditional market in the Honam region. From fruit and vegetables to ancestral-rite foods, wedding gift platters and fermented skate, locals say there is n…
Churches & monasteries
광주
On the western slopes of Mudeungsan, right where hikers start their climb, stands Jeungsimsa. Founded in the 9th century and burned and rebuilt several times since, the temple is mostly made up of newer halls, yet among them survive the ol…
Historic sites & memorials
광주
On a hillside above a stream at the upper end of Gwangju Lake, in Chunghyo-dong, Buk-gu, stands the small pavilion of Hwanbyeokdang. It is where the mid-Joseon scholar Kim Yun-je taught students after retiring to his home village, and wher…
Old towns & squares
서울특별시
Gwanghwamun Square stretches south along Sejong-daero from Gwanghwamun, the main gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace, and is Seoul's best-known public square. It occupies the site of Yukjo-geori, the "Street of Six Ministries" lined with governme…
Fortresses
서울특별시
A short walk along Toegye-ro from Dongdaemun History & Culture Park brings you to a small gate with a single-storey pavilion standing beside the busy road. Gwanghuimun is the southeastern gate of the Seoul City Wall that enclosed Hanyang,…
Churches & monasteries
괴산군
At the end of a deep valley on the flanks of Chilbosan in Chilseong-myeon, Goesan, lies Gagyeonsa. The mountains close around it like the petals of a lotus, so even the drive in feels secluded, and inside the grounds you will find a Treasu…
Nature
괴산군
North of Songnisan National Park, in Cheongcheon-myeon, Goesan, Hwayang Gugok is a valley where clear water runs over broad white rock. Nine scenic bends follow one another upstream, each with its own name, and spotting the characters carv…
Coast & islands
강화군
Gyodongdo lies northwest of Ganghwado Island, just 2.6 km from North Korean territory in Hwanghae Province. Daeryong Market, built by refugees from the Korean War in the image of the market they had left behind, the walls of Gyodong Eupseo…
Churches & monasteries
구례군
Saseongam is a hermitage built into a sheer rock face near the top of Osan, across the Seomjin River south of Gurye town. The red-pillared hall clinging to the cliff and the view from its terrace over the Seomjin River, the Gurye plain and…
Landmarks
구례군
Unjoru is a late-Joseon yangban house in Omi village, Toji-myeon, Gurye, at the foot of Jirisan. The whole house takes its name from its main men's quarters, Unjoru, meaning "the house where one lives hidden like a bird in the clouds". Its…
Churches & monasteries
구례군
Hwaeomsa is a major Buddhist temple on the southern slopes of Jirisan in Gurye, South Jeolla. It is said to have been founded in 544 and is the head temple of the 19th district of the Jogye Order. In the middle of the grounds stands Gakhwa…
Historic sites & memorials
구리시
Donggureung in Guri, Gyeonggi Province, is the largest group of royal tombs of the Joseon dynasty. The name means "nine tombs east of the capital": nine tombs, including Geonwolleung of King Taejo, the founder of Joseon, hold 17 kings and…