By rail
Singyeongju station, ~2 h by KTX from Seoul
East Asia · South Korea
Gyeongju, South Korea
A museum without walls: the Silla capital
Getting there
By air
Gimhae, Busan (PUS), ~1.5 h by road
Best time to visit
April for cherry blossom, October for autumn
Don't miss
Bulguksa
Seokguram
The Tumuli Park
Cheomseongdae
Things to do
Cycling between the royal tombs
Bulguksa
The Seokguram grotto
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Bernard Gagnon · CC0
What to pack
Walking shoes
A quieter corner
Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond, lit up at night
Questions travellers ask
When should I visit Gyeongju?
April for the cherry blossom, or October for autumn.
How do I get to Gyeongju?
The KTX from Seoul takes about 2 hours to Singyeongju station. From Gimhae airport in Busan (PUS), it's around 1.5 hours by road.
How should I get around Gyeongju's royal tombs?
Cycle between them, then make time for Bulguksa and the Seokguram grotto. Walking shoes help.
Is Gyeongju worth seeing at night?
Yes — Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond are lit up at night.
About Gyeongju
- Inland
Where it is
Gyeongju lies in North Gyeongsang Province in the south-east of South Korea, in a basin of low hills near the East Sea coast, north of Busan.
History
As Seorabeol, Gyeongju was the capital of the Silla kingdom for close to a thousand years, from its traditional founding in 57 BC until 935. After Silla unified most of the Korean Peninsula in the 7th century the city flourished, and the temple of Bulguksa and the Seokguram grotto date from the 8th century. Its royal tombs, temples and palace sites are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
People
Gyeongju's people speak Korean in the Gyeongsang dialect, and the Yangdong Folk Village, north-east of the centre, keeps the clan houses and Confucian rites of the Joseon era. The surrounding countryside grows rice and fruit, and the city's bakeries turn out Hwangnam bread, a small bun filled with sweet red beans.
Known for
- Bulguksa temple and the Seokguram grotto
- The royal burial mounds of Daereungwon
- Cheomseongdae, an ancient observatory
- Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond
- Gyeongju bread filled with red beans
Did you know?
Cheomseongdae, a stone tower built in the 7th century during the reign of Queen Seondeok, is often described as the oldest surviving astronomical observatory in East Asia.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.