Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Museums
세종특별자치시
The Presidential Archives in Eojin-dong, Sejong, is the national body that preserves the records, policy documents and event materials of Korea's presidents. Its Presidential Archives Exhibition Hall puts part of that collection on public…
Coast & islands
서귀포시
Off the coast of Jungmun in Seogwipo, black stone columns stand packed together along the cliffs as if someone had carved them. Daepo Jusangjeolli Cliff is a stretch of shore made of basalt columns, formed when lava cooled and cracked at t…
Towns & cities
서울특별시
Step out of Hyehwa Station in the evening and the first things you see are people handing out show flyers and queues at ticket booths. Daehangno (Daehak-ro, "University Street") is officially the road from Jongno 5-ga to Hyehwa Rotary, but…
Museums
서울특별시
On Sejong-daero, on the east side of Gwanghwamun Square, the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History is the national museum of Korea's modern history, from the opening of its ports in the late 19th century to the present day. Maps,…
Churches & monasteries
강화군
Climb the steps of a low hill in the centre of Ganghwa-eup and, beyond a tall gate, you find a hanok with a two-tiered tiled roof. The board under the eaves reads "Cheonjuseongjeon", Holy Hall of the Lord, and a cross stands at the end of…
Palaces
서울특별시
Deoksugung is the palace in Jeong-dong, Jung District, right opposite Seoul Plaza and City Hall. Unlike Seoul's other palaces, traditional wooden halls and Western-style stone buildings stand inside the same walls, because it was the main…
Mountains & peaks
무주군
In winter every tree on the ridges is coated in white frost, and from the summit the mountain ranges roll away layer after layer in every direction. Deogyusan rises to 1,614 m across Muju and Jangsu in North Jeolla and Geochang and Hamyang…
Coast & islands
덕적면
Deokjeokdo is the main island of the Deokjeok archipelago, about an hour by fast ferry from Yeonan Pier in Incheon. With Seopori Beach backed by an old pine forest, pebble coves and one of the largest reed fields on Korea's west coast, it…
Mountains & peaks
서울특별시
Spanning Seoul's Dobong District and the cities of Uijeongbu and Yangju in Gyeonggi Province, Dobongsan is a mountain you can start climbing almost straight off the subway. Next to its highest peak, Jaunbong (739.5 m), the blade-like rock…
Museums
서울특별시
Dosan Park, between Apgujeong and Garosu-gil, is named after the independence leader Ahn Chang-ho, known by his pen name Dosan. The park holds the grave he shares with his wife, Helen Lee (Lee Hye-ryeon), and next to it the Dosan Ahn Chang…
Churches & monasteries
서울특별시
On the way up to Baegundae, the highest peak of Bukhansan, a temple sits above the Ui-dong valley. Doseonsa stands at about 400 m, the highest temple in Seoul that can be reached by car, and it is the largest temple complex on Bukhansan. A…
Museums
천안시
The Independence Hall of Korea in Cheonan is the country's largest history museum devoted to the modern history of Korea, with a focus on the independence movement under Japanese colonial rule. A public fundraising campaign began in 1982 i…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
A granite arch that looks like a small Arc de Triomphe stands in a park in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. Independence Gate (Dongnimmun) was completed in 1898 with money donated by ordinary citizens, on the spot where Yeongeunmun, the gate for welco…
Waterfalls
서귀포시
Water from Hallasan splits into two streams deep in a Seogwipo forest and drops into an emerald pool. Donnaeko is a valley in Sanghyo-dong, Seogwipo, and Wonang Falls inside it is only about 5 m high, but its water is famously cold even in…
Other
부산
Head north from central Busan to the foot of Geumjeongsan and you reach a neighbourhood where signs for hot springs hang all along the streets. Dongnae Hot Spring has been known since the Silla period and is one of the oldest hot springs i…
Fortresses
부산
In April 1592, Dongnae Fortress was among the very first places hit by the Japanese army after it landed at Busan. What survives today along the Maansan ridge, Dongnaeeupseong, is the much larger walled town rebuilt in 1731. Walking the wa…
Other
서울특별시
Step out of Exit 3 of Dongmyo Station and you are already in the Dongmyo Flea Market, often called the biggest flea market in Seoul. Its streets overflow with second-hand goods of every kind, from heaps of used clothes on the pavement to f…
Churches & monasteries
동해시
Enter Mureung Valley, which runs between Dutasan and Cheongoksan in Donghae, and you will find Samhwasa close to its mouth. The name means "harmony of three", a wish attributed to Wang Geon, founder of the Goryeo dynasty. It is a natural s…
Viewpoints
양평군
Dumulmeori means "where two waters meet head to head". Here in Yangseo-myeon, Yangpyeong, the Bukhangang (North Han), which flows down from the Geumgangsan mountains, joins the Namhangang (South Han), which rises at Geomnyongso spring belo…
Mountains & peaks
동해시
Not far inland from the East Sea coast rises a deep mountain of granite gorges and waterfalls. Dutasan straddles the cities of Donghae and Samcheok in Gangwon Province, and sources give its height as 1,353 m or 1,357 m. Far more people wal…
Theme parks
서울특별시
Lotte World in Seoul's Jamsil district is two theme parks in one: Lotte World Adventure, a huge indoor park under a glass roof, and Magic Island, an outdoor park on an island in Seokchon Lake. The indoor half is what sets it apart from oth…
Viewpoints
서울특별시
Lotte World Tower rises 555 metres over 123 floors, making it the tallest building in South Korea and the first in the country to pass 100 storeys. It opened on 3 April 2017. For visitors, the point is Seoul Sky, the observatory on the top…
Museums
서울특별시
On a hillside in Hannam-dong, Leeum Museum of Art is a private museum run by the Samsung Foundation of Culture that shows national-treasure-level Korean antiquities alongside Korean and international contemporary art. Its buildings were de…
Coast & islands
서귀포시
Marado is the southernmost island of South Korea. It lies about 11 km south of Moseulpo and covers just 0.3 km², so you can walk around the whole island in a little over an hour. Black basalt cliffs ring a flat, grassy plateau, and at the…