Day One Korea

Parks and water

The Han River cuts a kilometre-wide line through the city, and both banks are park the whole way. Outside Seoul there are lakes and gardens. These are walking and cycling courses, so the weather decides a lot.

The riverside parks never close, so late visits work. In midsummer, though, there is almost no shade.

25 courses

Jamsil Skyline Half-DayHalf day

Songpa, Seoul

Jamsil Skyline Half-Day

Up to the 123rd floor, then down to the lake to look back up at it. Half a day is enough.

2 stops2h 40m
Seoul Forest & the RiverHalf day

Seongdong, Seoul

Seoul Forest & the River

Start in a city forest and end at the river. It's a walking-and-cycling course, so save it for a clear day.

2 stops3h 10m
Hongdae & YeonnamHalf day

Mapo, Seoul

Hongdae & Yeonnam

Start on a street of buskers and drift into a long thin park built over a dead railway line. The two run into each other.

2 stops2h 15m
Yeouido Riverside Half-DayHalf day

Yeongdeungpo, Seoul

Yeouido Riverside Half-Day

From the widest of the river parks to an island in the middle of a bridge. Start near sunset and it carries into the night view.

2 stops3h
Gapyeong: Garden and IslandFull day

Gapyeong

Gapyeong: Garden and Island

A hillside garden and an island in the river — the easiest nature day you can reach from Seoul by train.

2 stops6h 10m
Banpo River by NightHalf day

Seocho, Seoul

Banpo River by Night

Watch a fountain pour off the side of a bridge, then walk out to an island on the river. This one only works after dark.

2 stops2h 42m
Haneul Park at SunsetHalf day

Mapo, Seoul

Haneul Park at Sunset

A hilltop of silver grass on a covered landfill. The whole point is the half hour when the setting sun comes through the grass from behind.

1 stops2h
Seoul Botanic Park Half-DayHalf day

Gangseo, Seoul

Seoul Botanic Park Half-Day

The outdoor grounds are free and only the glass conservatory is ticketed. One of the few courses that survives rain and midwinter.

1 stops2h 30m
Dumulmeori, YangpyeongFull day

Yangpyeong

Dumulmeori, Yangpyeong

Where the two branches of the Han River meet, known for a 400-year-old tree and the morning mist — which only shows up early.

1 stops2h
Half day

Paju

Majang Lake, Paju

Cross a 220m suspension bridge over the lake, then loop the shoreline trail. The bridge genuinely sways.

1 stops2h
Pocheon Art ValleyFull day

Pocheon

Pocheon Art Valley

An abandoned granite quarry that filled with water. Cliffs beside emerald water is not a combination you find often in Korea.

1 stops3h
Mullae & Yeouido Half-DayHalf day

Yeongdeungpo, Seoul

Mullae & Yeouido Half-Day

Studios and murals among working metal shops, then out to the river. The neighbourhood has not been tidied up for visitors, so there is barely any signage.

2 stops3h 20m
Mangwon Market & the RiverHalf day

Mapo, Seoul

Mangwon Market & the River

Buy something at a neighbourhood market and walk it down to the river. This stretch of riverside is the least crowded, so you will find a spot.

2 stops2h 35m
Danyang: Dodam SambongHalf day

Danyang

Danyang: Dodam Sambong

Three rock peaks standing in the middle of the river. There is not much to do beyond looking, but the shape is the one you have seen in photographs.

1 stops1h
Suncheonman Bay WetlandFull day

Suncheon

Suncheonman Bay Wetland

The country's largest reed bed and tidal flat, a Ramsar wetland. From the viewpoint you see the round channels the tide has cut into the mud.

1 stops3h
Damyang Bamboo and MetasequoiaHalf day

Damyang

Damyang Bamboo and Metasequoia

Loop through a bamboo grove, then walk an avenue of metasequoias that closes overhead. Both of Damyang's shades in one day.

2 stops2h 40m
Boseong Tea FieldsHalf day

Boseong

Boseong Tea Fields

Green stripes winding up a hillside along its contours. Only from the top of the stairs does the pattern actually resolve.

1 stops2h
Hahoe Folk Village, AndongFull day

Andong

Hahoe Folk Village, Andong

A Joseon-era clan village inside a bend of the river. Not a reconstruction — most of the houses are lived in.

1 stops2h 30m
Seongsan Ilchulbong and ManjanggulFull day

Seongsan & Gujwa, Jeju

Seongsan Ilchulbong and Manjanggul

A crater that rose out of the sea and a tube left by flowing lava — two UNESCO natural heritage sites in one day, strung along Jeju's east coast.

2 stops4h 15m
Seogwipo Falls & the Lava CliffHalf day

Seogwipo, Jeju

Seogwipo Falls & the Lava Cliff

A waterfall you reach on foot from town, and a cliff of hexagonal columns where lava met the sea. On Jeju's south coast this is the pairing with the least walking.

2 stops2h 20m
Seopjikoji & Bijarim ForestFull day

East Jeju

Seopjikoji & Bijarim Forest

Start on a grassland headland running into the sea and finish inside a forest of five-hundred-year-old trees. On Jeju's east side these two are as different as it gets.

2 stops3h 50m
Yongmeori Coast Half-DayHalf day

West Jeju

Yongmeori Coast Half-Day

A walk between cliffs running into the sea below Sanbangsan — Jeju's oldest volcanic formation. It closes often, depending on the swell.

1 stops1h 20m
Buyeo: The Baekje CapitalFull day

Buyeo

Buyeo: The Baekje Capital

Sabi, the last capital of Baekje. A hill fortress and an ancient pond within walking distance of each other, both part of the UNESCO Baekje Historic Areas.

2 stops3h 10m
Namhansanseong FortressFull day

Gwangju, Gyeonggi

Namhansanseong Fortress

A UNESCO World Heritage site where twelve kilometres of wall follow the ridgeline. A village still lives inside it, so it reads less as a fortress than as a town on a mountain.

1 stops3h
Magoksa Temple, GongjuHalf day

Gongju

Magoksa Temple, Gongju

One of the seven mountain monasteries inscribed by UNESCO. A stream loops around the compound, and you cross a bridge to reach the main courtyard.

1 stops1h 30m

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