Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
City tour programs offer convenient trips
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Dong Palace and Wolji Pond in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, offer a breathtaking night view. / Courtesy of Korea Tourism Organization
By Kim Rahn
By Kim Rahn
When planning a trip, it is sometimes bothersome to search for attractive destinations and draw up an itinerary. But it is also troublesome to take a package tour and follow a guide with other tourists on a tight schedule. Is there any way to combine the advantages of the individual and package tours ― someone else drawing up a good itinerary and you just following it on your own schedule?
City tours are the answers: many municipalities run programs with buses that stop at major tourist destinations, and participants can just select their favorite among them. The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) selected six cities with quality programs.
Modern times in Gwangju
Dahyeong teahouse in Yangnim-dong, Gwangju, where buildings built between late 19th and early 20th centuries remain
Gwangju offers four city tour courses on weekends, and the heritage for modern times is one of the most popular.
Starting at Gwangju Songjeong Station, the tour bus heads to Yangnim-dong, where buildings built between late 19th and early 20th centuries remain. There coexist traditional Korean-style houses where noble people lived and Western-style ones where foreign missionaries lived.
Some of the traditional buildings include Lee Jang-woo house, a hanok built in late 19th century that was designated as a Gwangju Folk Heritage; and Dahyeong teahouse that was built in commemoration of Gwangju-based poet Kim Hyeon-seung.
Western-style ones include the House of Missionary Robert M. Wilson, a two-story brick house; Curtis Memorial Hall in the Speer Girls’ High School that was built to commemorate the school founder Eugene Bell; and Owen Memorial Hall that was built in memory of American missionary Clement Owen.
During the period of 2015 Gwangju Summer Universiade through July 14, the city operates two city tour courses ever day. For more information, visit utour.gwangju.go.kr.
Every nook and cranny of Chuncheon with one ticket
Statues featuring a scene of “Camellia Flower,” novel by novelist Kim You-jeong, are set up at the garden of Kim You-jeong House of Literature in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province.
Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, has two types of city tour buses: one runs pre-set courses like a package tour, and the other circles spots and visitors can hop on and off when they like.
In the first type, participants move along a designated course including the Kim You-jeong House of Literature, Gongjicheon Stream, Jade Garden, rail bike, Gugok Waterfall, Soyang Dam and Cheongpyeong Temple. The bus departs at 10:30 a.m. and the tour finishes at 5:30 p.m. The course differs according to the day.
The second-type offers two courses linking about 15 spots each. Three buses operate on each course every day, so visitors can hop off at a destination they like and then hop onto the bus that comes about two hours later and move to other destinations through purchasing just one ticket.
“Dakgalbi” (spicy stir-frying chicken) and “makguksu” (buckwheat noodle) are must-eats in Chuncheon. For more information, visit tour.chuncheon.go.kr.
Trip to Silla in Gyeongju
Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, offers seven city tour courses, and Course 2 on eastern coastal areas is recommended for those wanting to experience the culture of the ancient Silla Kingdom (57 B.C.-A.D. 935).
It is a one-day course from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The program includes Seokguram, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed cave temple with a large stone statue of Buddha; Gyeongju Traditional Silk Museum; twin three-story stone pagodas at Gameun Temple site; horizontal columnar joint; underwater tomb of King Munmu; and Golgul Temple that offers templestay programs.
For those staying in Gyeongju for more than one day, it is recommended to visit cultural heritages like Cheomseongdae (astronomical observatory), Dong Palace and Wolji Pond at night as they offer breathtaking night views.
For more information, visit guide.gyeongju.go.kr or www.cmtour.co.kr.
Gongju, center of Baekje era
Visitors to Gongju National Museum in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, look at a stone animal discovered from the tomb of King Muryeong.
Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, is one of three regions having historic sites from the Baekje Kingdom (18 B.C.-A.D. 660) that was recently listed as a UNESCO World Heritage.
Of the eight sites, Gongju has Gongsanseong Fortress and a group of royal tombs in Songsan-ri. The two destinations are included in the all five of the city’s tour courses.
The tombs include that of King Muryeong that was discovered in 1971 with more than 4,600 artifacts. Several other tombs are connected with each other on gentle slopes.
The fortress was built after Baekje set Gongju as its capital. Visitors can look around the natural scenery and old downtown of Gongju from the fortress.
Seokjangni Museum and Seokjangni ruins are where people can have a glimpse of Paleolithic people in the region some 25,000-30,000 years ago. For more information, visit tour.gongju.go.kr.
Ecology in Busan
A child looks at migratory birds through bird-shaped binoculars at the Nakdong Estuary Eco Center in Busan.
Busan offers new city tour programs starting the middle of July. Circular buses have three courses and visitors can use any of them with one pass for one day. Also three themed courses, which require reservations, are on offer ― history, night view and ecology. The KTO recommends the ecology course.
It starts with Amnam Park, which offers beautiful scenery of bluffs. Visitors can go down to the beach using stairs. An observatory on Mount Ami is where people can look at sand cays and migratory birds and learn the geography of the estuary of the Nakdong River.
Eulsuk Island is where migratory birds come during all seasons. The Nakdong Estuary Eco Center there has exhibitions about the ecology of the estuary, and visitors can use telescopes to watch birds.
For more information, visit www.citytourbusan.com.
Meet Seoul on ‘trolley’ buses
A trolley-like city tour bus in Seoul stops near 63 Square, one of spots the bus visits.
Seoul’s city tour programs have four courses. Two circle various attractions ― the downtown palace course and the panorama course ― while another two offer night views on 90-minute courses.
The panorama course, which stops at hot places in the capital, is the most popular. The course runs trolley-like buses that have wooden bench-style seats and bells.
Spots on the course include Gwanghwamun, Cheonggye Plaza, Myeong-dong, Mount Nam cable car, 63 Square, Hongik University, and Ewha Womans University. Visitors can have a panoramic view of Seoul at the observatory of N Seoul Tower on Mount Nam, watch marine creatures at 63 Sea World of 63 Square, or have funny pictures taken at the Trick Eye Museum near Hongik University.
The bus on the route runs every 30 minutes from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit
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