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Ssanggye
The visual imagery of this temple is a feast for the eyes and, like any exquisite dinner, should be savoured with deliberation. Stone walls supporting multiple levels of buildings notched into the mountainside, combined with mature trees and a trickling creek, create a pleasant sen
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Tongdo
Tongdo-sa is noted for a sari, a crystalline substance thought to develop inside the body of a pure monk. The sari is enshrined in a fenced area and cannot be seen. It is a focal point of devotion, which is why Tongdo-sa does not have a Buddha statue in the main hall, a rarity in K
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Andong Folk Village
On a hillside above the town, Andong Folk Village is a repository for homes moved to prevent them from being submerged by the construction of Andong Dam in 1976. Relocated and partially reconstructed traditional-style buildings range from peasant farmhouses to elaborate mansions of
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Tumuli
The huge, walled park has 23 tombs of Shilla monarchs and family members. From the outside, they look like grassy hillocks – much more subtle than the Egyptian pyramids, but they served the same purpose; many of the tumuli have yielded fabulous treasures, on display at the Gyeongju
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Hallasan
Hiking up or around 1950m Hallasan, South Korea’s highest peak, is worth the effort. The densely wooded dormant volcano, the world’s only habitat for Korean firs, is beautiful throughout the seasons, with hillsides of flowering azaleas in April and May being a particularly notable
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Dodong
Dodong-ri is the island’s main tourist hub, meaning the greatest selection of lodging and dining options. Behind the ferry terminal, a spiral staircase leads to a seaside walking trail offering spectacular views of the sea crashing into jagged rocks. About 1.5km down the path is a
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Seoknam
This temple is a visual masterpiece filled with enchanting contours, colours and contrasts. And it all begins at the park entrance with an 800m walk through a heavily wooded forest where patches of sunlight struggle to break through the thick canopy of foliage. Home to female monks
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Gatbawi
Gatbawi is a medicinal Buddha shrine and national treasure, some 850m above sea level and said to date back to AD 638. This Buddha is famed for the flat stone ‘hat’ hovering over its head, 15cm thick. Incense wafts and mountain mist make it quite a spiritual experience. Plan on a c
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Hwanseongul
One of the largest caves in Asia, with almost 2km of steel stairways that take visitors through cathedral-sized caverns – up, down and around its varied formations. Some curious formations to look out for are the heart-shaped hole over the correspondingly named Bridge of Love, the
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Bosingak
Contrasting with the modern Jongno Tower opposite, this ornate pavilion houses a recent copy of the city bell – the original, forged in 1468, is in the garden of the National Museum of Korea. Costumed guardsmen patrol around the bell and ring it 12 times at noon (the ceremony runs
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Golgul
Finally, a temple where you can do more than just look around. The Buddha carved out of solid rock by Indian monks in the 6th century is fairly interesting but the real draw here is sunmudo, a Korean martial art that blends fighting skills with meditation. Short 20-minute demonstra
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Chamsori Gramophone & Edison Museum
This whimsical museum is a sheer delight. It combines the two loves of private collector Son Sung-Mok: gramophones and Thomas Edison. There are hundreds of antique gramophones (or phonographs, as Edison termed them) and music boxes, as well as a colourful collection of Edison’s oth
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Ihwa Maeul
High on the slopes of Naksan is one of the citys old daldongnae (literally ‘moon village’) where refugees lived in shacks after the Korean War. Sixty years later it has morphed into a tourism hotspot thanks to a growing collection of quirky sculptures and imaginative murals on wall
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Gwanghwamun Square
This broad, elongated square provides a grand approach to Gyeongbokgung and is used for various events (as well as protests). Giant statues celebrate two national heroes: Admiral Yi Sun-sin , 1545–98, who stands atop a plinth at the squares southern end; and King Sejong , 1397–1450
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Cheondogyo Temple
Cheondogyo means Religion of the Heavenly Way, and this temple is the hall of worship for a home-grown faith containing Buddhist, Confucian and Christian elements that gathered momentum in the 1860s. Designed by a Japanese architect and completed in 1921, this is a handsome baroque
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Gangneung Seongyojang
Dating to the late Joseon dynasty, this national cultural property was for 300 years the home of a yangban (aristocratic) family. It was built for a descendant of the brother of King Sejong (the monarch who invented hangeul, the Korean phonetic alphabet), and has been restored in k
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Korea Furniture Museum
Advance reservations are required for the hour-long guided tours of this gem of a museum. The collection includes furniture, such as chests, bookcases, chairs and dining tables, made from varieties of wood like persimmon, maple and paulownia, some decorated with lacquer, mother of
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Songnisan National Park
This park has easy hikes and year-round beauty amongst the craggy cliffs. Its atmospheric and misty in winter and alive with pink azaleas in spring. Though it often goes by the touristy catchword Chungbuk Alps, its name has a more solemn meaning – ‘Remote from the Ordinary World Mo
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Oepo
Theres a quiet beauty to this picturesque fishing village located on the west coast, about 13km from Ganghwa-eup. Flocks of the seagulls swoop around the ferries between Oepo-ri and Seongmodo, while the views of the harbour and mud flats seem to be cut from a Korean painting. Fishi
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Jungdo
Directly across from Chuncheon on Uiam-ho (Uiam Lake), the little island of Jungdo is packed in true Korean style with enough recreational options to occupy a schoolful of children. Take your pick from bicycle rental and boat hire , rowing or waterskiing. There’s also an outdoor sw
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