Gyeongju

Introduction

Gyeongju is a coastal city in the far southeastern corner of North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, historically known as Sŏrabŏl. It sits roughly 370 km southeast of Seoul and 55 km east of Daegu, bordering Cheongdo and Yeongcheon to the west, Ulsan to the south, and Pohang to the north, with the Sea of Japan along its eastern edge.

The city's landscape is shaped by numerous low mountains, outliers of the Taebaek range, scattered across its territory. Its coastal position and mountain terrain define the setting you'll encounter as you explore the area.

Before you go

Gyeongju was once the capital of the Silla kingdom, and it is possibly the foremost place in Korea to see ancient buildings, burial grounds and artefacts. Driving through, you will notice modern Korean buildings interspersed with large burial mounds. It is one of the country's most popular destinations, though most visitors are domestic or from elsewhere in East Asia. Forested hills dominate the region, with rice fields, houses and roads between them. Downtown is a small city without high-rises; the high-rise hotels are found about 5km to the east at Bomunhu Resorts, beside the lake of the same name. The region is known for traditional roofs on the houses — even some gas stations have them.

Summer brings heavy rainfall and warm days, while late fall is the best time to visit, with lower temperatures and usually clear skies. Winters are cold. Tourist offices at the bus station, the railway station and Bulguksa Temple have English-speaking staff, English-language brochures on the region's sights, and advice on which to see if your time is short; you can also ask about hiking paths and bus connections there.

Getting there

Gyeongju has no airport of its own, so most travellers arrive via Busan Gimhae International Airport or Ulsan, each roughly an hour away by express bus. Incheon International Airport, near Seoul, connects directly by high-speed KTX train, though the train stops at Singyeongju station a little outside town; buses also run hourly between the airports and Gyeongju's main terminal, and direct coaches link Incheon International Airport with the Intercity Bus Terminal in around four hours.

By rail, the KTX is the only option, since the old station in the city centre has closed and Singyeongju station now handles all rail travel. From there, local buses or the taxi rank at the station will get you into the city in about fifteen minutes. Intercity buses are frequent and convenient: services from Daegu, Pohang and Busan leave at least every twenty minutes, buses to Seoul every forty minutes, with travel times of roughly forty minutes to an hour for the nearby cities and about four hours from Seoul. For other parts of the country, you will usually be routed through Daegu or Busan depending on your direction of travel.

Getting around

Gyeongju is a sprawling urban–rural complex rather than a dense metropolis, so how you get around depends on where you're headed. The historic core is compact and best covered on foot or by bicycle, while outlying temples, tombs and grottoes are easier to reach by bus, taxi or guided tour. Start by picking up free maps and guides from the two tourist kiosks — one next to the express bus terminal, the other beside the parking lot in front of Gyeongju Station. Signage is excellent: at almost every intersection you'll find signs pointing toward nearby attractions with distances given, in both Romanized and Hangul form, so if you know your destination's name you're unlikely to get lost.

• On foot and by bike: The central city is best explored on foot or by bicycle, and bikes can be rented by the day from shops near the express bus terminal. Bikes are permitted on some trails and within a few of the city's parks, so with good planning a bike can save money compared with buses and let you see more in a day. The trade-off is weather — a hot summer day or a snowy winter day can make cycling a sweaty, uncomfortable experience.
• By bus: The #10 and #11 buses circle the central city and many of the most notable tourist destinations in opposite directions. Fares are flat and paid on board, with no transfers included on the standard fare. There are no timetables posted at stops, so waits can sometimes be long. Stops sit in front of the train stations and the bus terminal, and stops for the most popular attractions are announced by voice in Korean followed by English. Busan and Seoul transportation cards are generally accepted, but not all regional cards are.
• Guided bus tours: These cover the main sights, typically include entrance to the sights, and spare you waiting for public buses. They're generally good value, though visits to particular sights can be shortened if the group falls behind schedule. Guide English is generally acceptable, but reading up on the sights beforehand will make the experience richer.
• By taxi: Taxis are readily available, with ranks at the out-of-town rail station and elsewhere around the city, and are the simplest way to cover a specific itinerary without waiting at bus stops.
• By scooter: Scooters suit covering several nearby attractions without dealing with parking. Rental shops cluster near the Intercity Bus Terminal and the Expressway Terminal, and rentals are typically priced by a block of hours rather than by the day.
• Arriving by rail: KTX serves the city directly, but it calls at a station outside the city centre — the old central Gyeongju station has closed, so the out-of-town station is your only rail option. From there, frequent local buses run into the city in about fifteen minutes; useful routes include buses 50, 60, 61, 70, 203 and 700. The Express Bus Terminal is a convenient place to get off, and there's a taxi rank right at the station.

Where to stay

Gyeongju's budget beds cluster near the old abandoned railway station, where yeoinsuk guesthouses are cheap but often lack hot water and have dirty facilities and roaches; the few motels in the same area are a far better bet. Hanjin Hostel is known for its long-experienced owner, who marks up his own tourist map with destinations and bus numbers and encourages evening gatherings on the rooftop. Sa Rang Chae Guesthouse sits down an alley beside Tumuli Park, within walking distance of other historic sights, and offers cozy traditional Korean rooms around a courtyard with a firepit, plus a modern kitchen and lounge with free internet and coffee. Gyeongju Guesthouse, a short walk from Gyeongju Station, draws young Korean visitors with dorms, doubles, a bright lounge and a self-service breakfast. Baramgot Guesthouse has a mixed main building and a women-only dorm building, rents bikes, and keeps a big common room with computers and a library. Modorine Hostel is a two-storey house with a garden and deck, and Motel Icarus, behind the express bus terminal, has clean modern rooms and a friendly manager who speaks some English.

For mid-range stays, the Bomunho Resort area has options such as Hansol Motel, with Western rooms and ondols, balconies and free movie rentals, and the Swiss Rosen Hotel. In the centre of the city, Gyeongju GG Tourist Hotel near the bus terminal has large, quiet rooms and helpful staff with limited English. The Bomun Lake Resort Area is also where the luxury hotels aimed at Korean tour groups are found, including international chains and spa hotels, with more accommodation near Bulguksa. Kolon Hotel, a concrete block a short walk from Bulguksa, has a golf course and pool but feels dated and sits far from many sights. Soi Hanok offers a traditional hanok stay updated with modern fittings, bookable through online travel sites.

Food & drink

Gyeongju has no single signature dish beyond a general association with seafood, but it does have famous edible items known throughout Korea. Hwangnam ppang is a small ball of silky-smooth sweet red bean paste inside a thin pastry shell, while Gyeongju ppang wraps the same red bean paste between two thin barley bread pancakes. Both are sold in many places around town, but the best way to eat them is fresh and warm from the bakery, just across the street east of the Flying Horse Tomb (Cheonmacheong) Park. More recently, Gyeongju Tenny Bread has become very popular: a hotcake-like dough filled with mozzarella and cream cheese, characterised by the pagoda depicted on the 10 won coin, and seemingly in everyone's hand as they walk around the city. For seafood, many locals head to Gampo, a village directly on the coast where most of Gyeongju's fishing catch is brought and served locally rather than exported; the local hoe (sashimi) is excellent and very fresh. If you overdo the local rice wine, Gyeodong Beopju, you can seek out the famous haejangguk — a pork spine and coagulated blood stew — on the "Hangover Soup Street". Around Bulguksa's bus stop and carpark there is a veritable village of restaurants; owners will, unusually for Korea, aggressively tout their shops, but with so many around you can ignore their advances and pick and choose, and prices are surprisingly standard given the location.

Most of the trendy cafes and restaurants are concentrated in Hwangnidan-gil (Poseok-ro), a street known for its preserved Hanok buildings and modern interiors, within walking distance of Daereungwon and Cheomseongdae. Here you'll find dessert cafes in renovated Hanok houses serving financiers and traditional tea, the original shop for the coin-shaped Ten-Won Bread, and restaurants offering Hanok-style hot pot, pot rice with toppings like steak, sea bream and eel, and Gyeongju-style cockle bibimbap. Elsewhere in the city you can eat Korean traditional meals from the Gyeongbuk area in a century-old Hanok, barley rice and bibimbap in a traditional building, sundubu jjigae, bulgogi and naengmyeon, and hanu beef barbecue, alongside Japanese and Italian options with a Korean twist. For drinking, Gyeongju is known for Gyeodong Beopju, a mild rice wine made from glutinous rice and spring water, which locals believe takes on special medicinal properties from a boxthorn growing near the water source. The city is not particularly known for nightlife: in the main tourist areas around downtown and Lake Bomun you can drink at restaurants and hotel bars, but proper bars and clubs are mostly concentrated around Dongguk University, some serving anju snacks.

What to see and do

When to go

Gyeongju's climate divides sharply across the year, and your timing will shape what you can comfortably do outdoors. Summer brings heavy rainfall and hot, wet days, so plan around frequent downpours if you visit then. Winter is a normal cold winter, with temperatures running well below freezing on average and highs that stay low, so pack accordingly.

Late fall is the best time to visit: temperatures drop from the summer heat and the sky is usually clear, giving you the most reliable conditions for exploring the city's historic sites and neighbourhoods on foot.

Festivals & events

If your visit falls in March, time it around the Korean Traditional Liquor and Cake Festival, the city's main seasonal event. As the name suggests, it centres on traditional Korean drinks and rice cakes, giving you a chance to sample both in one place.

Three days in Gyeongju

Day one: Start in downtown Gyeongju, the old Silla capital also known as Sŏrabŏl, and get your bearings on foot. The city is compact and green, with forested hills close at hand, so a morning spent wandering the centre gives you a feel for how the ancient capital sits inside the modern town. In the afternoon, head out to Bulguksa Temple, the best-known of the city's historic sites and the one most visitors put first. English signage is limited, so plan your route in advance. Come evening, return to the centre for Korean food and an early night.

Day two: Give the whole day to the wider Gyeongju area. Driving is the easiest way to reach the outlying sites, and it also lets you take in the countryside of North Gyeongsang Province between stops. If you prefer not to drive, base yourself near the Intercity Bus Terminal and use intercity services. The Bomunhu Resorts area is a convenient place to break for a meal or a rest between sights. Summer here is warm and humid, while winters are bitterly cold, so pace yourself accordingly.

Day three: Use your last day for the places around Gyeongju rather than the city itself. Daegu, Ulsan and Pohang are all within reach, as are Cheongdo and Yeongcheon, and the Sea of Japan lies to the east. Singyeongju station connects the city by KTX, which makes onward travel to Seoul straightforward, and Busan is a short hop south. If you are flying out, Busan Gimhae International Airport and Incheon International Airport are the main options, so allow time to get to whichever one you are using.