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The Most Beautiful Places in
South Korea
Temples, tea plantations, and more than 3,000 o!shore islands.
BY CAITLIN MORTON
January 31, 2018
WATCH
South Korea is on everyone's radar right now, as PyeongChang
gears up to host the Winter Olympics beginning on February 9. But
the country's appeal extends far beyond athletic facilities—with
ancient temples, tea plantations, trendy neighborhoods, and more
than 3,000 offshore islands to explore, South Korea should be on
everyone's travel bucket list. Need more convincing? Here are the
country's most beautiful sites, ready to welcome you long after the
Olympians head home.
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Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond
Located near the city of Gyeongju, this 7th-century palace complex
contains well-preserved temples, museums filled with ancient
relics, and three small islands. Its star attraction is the surrounding
Wolji Pond, an artificial lake that perfectly reflects the buildings
(especially at night) and becomes covered with lotus flowers in the
summer.
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Cheongsando Island
Southern Cheongsando Island is known for its untouched beauty—
think terraced rice paddies, panoramic ocean views, and fields of
yellow rapeseed flowers. The island is also famous for embracing
the concept of slow living, hosting a "Slow Walking Festival" every
year in which visitors and residents are encouraged to stroll the
walking trails as slowly as possible to better soak in the scenery.
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Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), Seoul
Built in 2014 near Seoul's Dongdaemun Market, this Zaha Hadid-
designed plaza is well worth exploring for a few hours. The
building's seven levels can be explored on a guided tour or at your
own leisurely pace, but the on-site history museum and clothing
market are just added bonuses to the architecture itself, designed
with no angles nor straight lines.
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Samgwangsa Temple, Busan
Samgwangsa Temple is known for its annual lantern festival, an
event honoring Buddha's birthday (usually in late May) that
attracts over a million visitors every year. During the festival,
countless lanterns light up in spectacular colors beneath the night
sky.
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강남속의 미국국제사립 열기
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Boseong County
About 40 percent of the country's green tea supply grows in the
fields of Boseong, which attracts photographers and filmmakers as
much as tea drinkers thanks to its dramatic green fields.
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Jinhae
Located about 20 miles west of Busan, Jinhae is a quiet coastal town
known for one thing: cherry blossoms. Each spring, the city holds
the largest cherry blossom festival in South Korea, with hundreds
of thousands of pink trees lining streets, railways, and streams.
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Ulleungdo Island
This volcanic island boasts some seriously impressive scenery, with
Hawaii-esque coastlines and Cabo San Lucas-esque rock
formations. But visual similarities aside, this Sea of Japan
destination is truly one of a kind—especially when you throw in the
island's famous seafood dishes (like honghap bap, a seasoned rice
dish served with mussels).
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Jirisan National Park
Established in 1967, this is the oldest official national park in the
country, drawing visitors for its 119,350 acres of rolling mountains
and valleys, temple complexes, and Asiatic black bear habitats.
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Haeinsa Temple
Haeinsa is one of the most famous ancient sights in the country,
designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. Aside from its
beauty, the temple is home to the Tripitaka Koreana, a collection of
some 80,000 tablets engraved with Buddhist writings.
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Juwangsan National Park
Juwangsan National Park may be small (about 41 square miles), but
it packs quite the punch. The park is known for the vertical, rocky
cliffs of Juwangsan Mountain, tucked-away waterfalls, and willow
tree-filled Jusanji Pond (pictured).
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Jogyesa Temple, Seoul
This 620-year-old Buddhist temple may be the most photographic
spot in the Insadong district, with streams of pink, blue, and yellow
lanterns on the ceiling and window shudders carved into the shape
of trees.
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Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, Busan
Haedong Yonggungsa Temple has one of the most scenic locations
of any temple in the country—overlooking the sea on the northwest
corner of Busan. Most temples are found in the mountains, so the
chance to meditate while watching the sun rise over the ocean is
particularly special.
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Cheonjiyeon Falls
Located on Jeju Island—a wholly beautiful destination in its own
right—this 72-foot-tall waterfall is surrounded by walking trails,
lemon trees, and a pond filled with tropical (and totally harmless)
eels. There is truly no wrong time to visit, as the cascades are lit up
at night.
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Homigot
Located at the easternmost end of the country, Homigot is the place
to watch the sun rise in South Korea. Due to its location, the area is
the first in the country to catch sight of the rising sun—there is even
a Sunrise Festival held here every New Year's, where visitors gather
in masses to watch the solar event together. The site is made even
more special with "Hand of Harmony," a sculpture featuring two
hands—one on land, one in the ocean—reaching upward in a
symbol of harmony.
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Naganeupseong Folk Village
Time seems to stand still in this village, with houses, castles, and
monuments appearing almost exactly as they did 600 years ago.
Cultural significance aside, the village is a unique tourist attraction
—visitors get to tour houses, watch traditional dance performances,
and take lessons in Korean tea ceremony etiquette.
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Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul
Gyeongbokgung Palace is the largest—and arguably the most
beautiful—of Seoul's five palaces. Its Gyeonghoeru pavilion
remains nearly exactly as it was when it was built back in 1395, and
its on-site museums feature some of the best Korean art in the
country.
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Oedo-Botania
You can't visit the city of Geoje without taking a ferry ride to the
nearby island of Oedo, home to Oedo-Botania. The 12 square miles
of this marine botanical garden contain more than 3,000 species of
plants, with perfectly manicured green spaces modeled after the
gardens at Versailles.
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Upo Wetlands
Stretching across 526 acres, Upo is the largest swamp area in the
country. Visitors can walk or bike around the wetlands, getting
glimpses of the more than 1,500 species of plants and endangered
animals, plus beautiful willow groves and gatherings of fireflies.
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Bulguksa Temple, Gyeongju National Park
Built in 774, the Temple of Bulguksa is found in the incredibly
scenic Gyeongju National Park on the slopes of Mount Tohamsan.
The complex's stone terraces, bridges, and pagodas look especially
lovely in winter, covered by a light layer of snow.
