Gyeongju: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

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Gyeongju was for almost a thousand years, until 935, the capital of Silla, the kingdom that first united most of the Korean peninsula. Its centre is a park of giant grassy burial mounds among which the modern town grew up, and it is called a museum without walls. Half a day on foot or by bicycle.

A short history of Gyeongju

According to tradition, the kingdom of Silla was founded in 57 BC, and Gyeongju was its capital for almost a thousand years, until 935. In the 7th century Silla unified most of the Korean peninsula, and the capital became one of the largest cities in Asia. From that period remain the Cheomseongdae observatory, the royal burial mounds, and Bulguksa Temple with the Seokguram Grotto, which were completed in the 8th century. In 1995 the temple and the grotto were declared a World Heritage Site, and in 2000 the city's historic areas were added. In 2025 Gyeongju hosted the APEC summit.

The ten best sights in Gyeongju

1
Bonghwangdae
The highest tomb mound in town
2
Daereungwon
The park of the royal tombs
3
Cheonmachong
A tomb you can walk inside
4
Cheomseongdae
The oldest observatory in East Asia
5
Gyerim
The forest of the golden box
6
Wolseong
The crescent palace fortress
7
Gyochon Village
The house of the generous Choi family
8
Woljeonggyo
A rebuilt royal bridge, lit at night
9
Donggung and Wolji
The palace pond, best at night
10
Gyeongju National Museum
Gold crowns and the great bell

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Tours in Gyeongju →

A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Gyeongju:

Free walking tours in Gyeongju

The city of tombs

Bonghwangdae · The largest tomb mound in the town, about twenty-two metres high, standing among shops and houses with old trees growing from its sides. No one knows which king lies inside; it has never been excavated.
Cheonmachong · The heavenly horse tomb, excavated in 1973, the only one in the park you can walk inside. It held a gold crown and a saddle flap of birch bark painted with a flying white horse, one of the few paintings to survive from Silla.
Daereungwon · A walled park of some twenty royal mounds, the most photographed sight of the city. The largest is a double tomb, of a king and a queen, joined like two hills.
Cheomseongdae · A bottle-shaped stone tower of the seventh century, from the reign of Queen Seondeok, the oldest surviving observatory in East Asia. It is said to be built of three hundred and sixty-odd stones, one for each day of the lunar year.
Gyerim · An old forest where, according to legend, a golden box was found hanging from a tree as a white rooster crowed beneath it. Inside was a baby, Kim Alji, ancestor of the Gyeongju Kim clan, from whom the later kings of Silla descended.
Gyochon Village · The village of the Gyeongju Choi family, who stayed rich for about twelve generations by rules such as never owning more than a set amount of rice land and letting no one within a hundred ri — about forty kilometres — go hungry. Their house now sells their family liquor, Gyeongju beopju.

Palaces and temples by night

East of the tombs lay the royal palace of Silla and its great temples. Afternoon into evening; the pond and bridge are lit after dark.

Gyeongju National Museum · Home of the gold crowns of Silla, and in its garden the Divine Bell of King Seongdeok, cast in 771 and weighing about nineteen tonnes. A legend says a child was thrown into the molten bronze, and that its tone is the child crying for its mother — emille.
Wolseong · A crescent-shaped earthen fortress where the royal palace of Silla stood for most of the kingdom’s history. Only the walls survive; excavations are still going on.
Hwangnyongsa site · A field of foundation stones where the greatest temple of Silla stood, with a nine-storey wooden pagoda about eighty metres high. The Mongols burned it in 1238.
Bunhwangsa · A temple founded in 634 whose pagoda, of stones cut like bricks and guarded by stone lions and carved guardians, is the oldest dated pagoda of Silla.
Donggung and Wolji · A palace for the crown prince built around an artificial pond in 674. When the pond was drained in 1975 some thirty thousand objects were found, among them a fourteen-sided die whose faces ordered drinking-game forfeits such as drinking three cups at once.
Woljeonggyo · A covered wooden bridge with gate towers at each end, rebuilt over the river on the stone piers of a Silla bridge and opened in 2018; at night its reflection glows in the water.

Bulguksa and the kings by the sea

In the mountains east of the city stand the two greatest Buddhist works of Silla, and beyond them, on the coast, the tomb of a king who wanted to guard his land from the sea. A full day by car or bus.

Bulguksa · The temple of the Buddha land, rebuilt in 751 on stone terraces. Its two pagodas stand side by side: the ornate Dabotap, on the Korean ten-won coin, and the plain Seokgatap, inside which a printed Buddhist scroll was found in 1966, one of the oldest woodblock prints in the world.
Seokguram · An artificial cave of granite blocks high on the mountain, built in the eighth century, where a great seated Buddha gazes east toward the sea, surrounded by carved guardians and disciples. It is now seen through glass.
Golgulsa · A temple of caves cut into a cliff, with a Buddha carved on the rock face above, and the home of Sunmudo, a Buddhist martial art; visitors can join a temple stay or watch a demonstration.
Gameunsa site · Two great stone pagodas of the late seventh century, all that remains of a temple built by King Sinmun for his father. Under the main hall a channel was left so that the father, become a dragon, could swim in from the sea.
Tomb of King Munmu · A rock a couple of hundred metres off the beach. King Munmu, who completed the unification of the peninsula and died in 681, asked to be buried at sea so that he would become a dragon and protect Silla from Japanese raiders.
Samneung · Back at the foot of Namsan, three royal tombs in a forest of twisted red pines, famous for early-morning mist. From here paths climb the mountain, where dozens of Buddhas are carved into the rocks.

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Getting to Gyeongju and getting around

Singyeongju Station · The KTX, two hours from Seoul; half an hour from town
Express Bus Terminal · Next to the tombs; buses to Busan and Seoul

Cheap eats in Gyeongju

Gyeongju has its own sweets: Gyeongju bread, also called Hwangnam bread, a small round pastry stamped with a pattern and filled with red bean, sold hot by the box; and chalbori-ppang, two soft barley pancakes around red bean paste. For a meal there is ssambap, a table of a dozen side dishes with leaves to wrap rice and meat in. A box of bread costs about ten dollars.

Hwangnidan-gil · Bakeries and hanok cafés
Gyochon Village · Noodles and the family liquor
Daereungwon · Ssambap restaurants by the tombs

Museums in Gyeongju

Gyeongju is a museum without walls, with one great museum at its heart.

Gyeongju National Museum · The gold crowns and the bell
Cheonmachong · Inside a royal tomb
Yangdong Village · A living Joseon village

Nature and day trips near Gyeongju

Pine forests, a mountain of carved Buddhas, a lake and the East Sea.

Namsan · Trails among the Buddhas
Samneung · The misty pines
Bomun Lake · Cherry blossoms

Things to do in Gyeongju with kids

With children: bicycles between the tombs, a tomb to walk inside, and the lit palace pond at night.

Cheonmachong · Into the tomb
Bomun Lake · Swan boats and paths
Golgulsa · Martial arts monks

Holy places in Gyeongju

Silla made Buddhism its state religion in the sixth century and filled the city and its mountains with temples and carved Buddhas.

Bulguksa · The two pagodas
Seokguram · The grotto Buddha
Oksan Seowon · The Confucian academy

Nightlife in Gyeongju

Gyeongju’s nights are lit monuments and bars in old hanok houses on Hwangnidan-gil.

Donggung and Wolji · The pond at night
Woljeonggyo · The lit bridge
Hwangnidan-gil · Hanok bars

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Frequently asked questions about Gyeongju

What is there to see in Gyeongju?

The top sights in Gyeongju are Bonghwangdae, Daereungwon and Cheonmachong. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Gyeongju?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of Gyeongju without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in Gyeongju?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Gyeongju, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The city of tombs.

How do you get to Gyeongju and get around?

The main ways are Singyeongju Station and Express Bus Terminal. Full details are in the transport section on this page.

Where to stay in Gyeongju, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Gyeongju that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

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