Tom We hope you have enjoyed our South Korea Travel Itinerary so far. On day 8 of our South Korea Travels, we drove from Busan to Gyeongju – capital of the 1000 year long Silla Dynasty. Together with Danyang, these were the two locations that we missed most about our travels in South Korea. The day started out with breakfast at the 21st floor of Hotel Marianne Haeundae…
Book with Agoda Here: Popular Hotels in Gyeongju
Book Here with Klook: Popular Activities in Gyeongju
As our room didn’t include the price of breakfast, we paid 3,000krw each to have breakfast at the 21st floor of Marianne Hotel, which offers views of Haeundae beach. The breakfast was fairly simply with salad, fruits, coffee, porridge and bread. Simple but sufficient. Coupled with the view, 3,000krw was well worth it.
Book with Agoda Here: Popular Hotels in Gyeongju
Book Here with Klook: Popular Activities in Gyeongju
Driving from Busan to Gyeongju
If you’re intending to drive from Busan to Gyeongju (or Busan to Seoul for that matter), do read our Ultimate Guide to Driving in South Korea as all the information that you need for driving, parking and tolls in South Korea has been written extensively in that post.
The entire toll from Busan to Gyeongju was 6,000krw. Our first stop at Gyeongju was Cheomseongdae – the oldest surviving astronomical observatory in Asia. Parking at Cheomseongdae was street parking style at 1,000krw per hour. When you’re parked, a parking attendant would come over and record down the time that you parked. When you leave, he’ll come back around to tabulate the duration that you parked and thus the amount owed. Primitive but it works.
Gyeongju Travel Itinerary – Cheomseongdae Observatory
Cheomseongdae was built as an observatory during the Silla dynasty around the years of 632-647AD. Besides being the oldest observatory in Asia, it is also an architectural beauty in that curves and lines and harmonised in this structure. Cheomseongdae stands at 9.17m and is designated as the 31st National Treasure of South Korea.
Actually, the first thing we did when we arrived at Cheomseongdae at 9:45am was to purchase a Pororo balloon! He became our guide for the rest of the trip 😛 The area around Cheomseongdae is actually the Gyeongju Daereungwon Ancient Tomb Complex. Hence, the tombs of many ancient kings can be found here…
Gyeongju Travel Itinerary – Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond
Thank the Lord for the beautiful weather where we were able to enjoy the leisurely walk from Cheomseongdae to Donggung Palace. Entrance fees costs 2,000krw per person to Donggung Palace.
The above 3 images were probably the most detailed tourist map of Gyeongju we’ve seen. This we got from the entrance of Donggung Palace. Even Google Map is not as detailed. You may wish to take a look before you visit Gyeongju as well.
Donggung Palace was the secondary palace for the crown prince. Sort of like his “leisure” palace. Inside, there’s a huge pond known as Wolji Pond (it is also known as Anapji Pond) where the crown prince would go on boat rides inside Donggung. We did a walk around Donggung Palace which took us about 30 minutes at a leisurely pace. Soon, it was time for lunch and we headed back to the Cheomseongdae area to enjoy a traditional Shilla Lunch. During this time, we walked past a flower field, another attraction in Gyeongju during the spring/summer season…
Book with Agoda Here: Popular Hotels in Gyeongju
Book Here with Klook: Popular Activities in Gyeongju
Gyeongju Attractions – Traditional Shilla Lunch
The Shilla lunch is known for its variety and delicious small dishes. This time, we ordered the beef short rib set at 13,000krw per person (min. order of 2 pax) and it consists of pork, mackerel, kimchi, octopus, crab and many different vegetables. There was also a toufu soup along with the grilled short rib patty. We also noticed that one style of eating was to wrap the rice, along with your dish of choice into the vegetable and enjoy it in one big mouthful. By the end of the meal, we were SOOOO FULL!!!
Gyeongju Attractions – Bulguksa Temple
We’ve read online that Bulguksa Temple is one of the biggest attraction in Gyeongju. Hence, after the meal, we drove and parked at the foot of Bulguksa Temple (1,000krw per hour) and walked up the slope which took us about 10 minutes. This was because the jam up to the top of the slope (entrance of Bulguksa) would have taken a while. Entrance to Bulguksa was 5,000krw per person, the most expensive of the lot.
Truth be told. Eventhough Bulguksa Temple is an UNESCO heritage site, we felt that the drive, walk and eventual structure itself was not worth the visit. Hence, you can skip it if time is not on your side. From there, we took a short drive to the Bomun Tourist Complex, where we stayed at Hotel Valentine (*wink wink*).
Book with Agoda Here: Popular Hotels in Gyeongju
Book Here with Klook: Popular Activities in Gyeongju
Gyeongju Attractions – Bomun Tourist Complex and Bomunho Lake
Bomun Tourist Complex is an area designated for tourists in Gyeongju. Here, you can find conference centres, hotels and even a theme park – Gyeongju World. At the centre of Bomun Tourist Complex is the Bomunho Lake, where you can find many restaurants, shops and hotels lining the shores of the lake. We chose Hotel Valentine because of its proximity to Lake Bomunho and also because it was the peak season, prices at Hotel Valentine was a little lower.
Parking is available at Hotel Valentine both at the front porch and at the back of the hotel. The back of the hotel is actually closer to the lake. When we entered the hotel, we encountered a small problem. The receptionist, an Ajumma did not understand English. Furthermore, our reservation had been translated to Korean and we were not able to see which was our reservation. Thankfully, we knew that Hangul can be phonetically read. Hence, we kept reading out our name slowly in English and hoped that Ajumma was able to find our reservation – indeed she did! Soon, we were able to check out our room at Hotel Valentine…
After checking into our room, we made a bee line for Bomunho Lake to wind down for the evening…
While walking towards Bomunho Lake, we were surprised to see that there was a huge dry patch of land in front of Hilton Gyeongju. According to Google Map, Bomunho Lake ought to be directly in front of Hiltong Gyeongju. Later, we found out that due to an extended period of dry spell, the lake waters started to recede. Nonetheless, we were still able to enjoy views of Bomunho Lake from Cafe Eden, located next to the lake.
Book Here with Klook: Popular Activities in Gyeongju
The second level of Cafe Eden was where we sat and enjoyed views over Bomunho Lake. Tourists were riding the swans over the lake (~20,000krw). Chilling on the second level while enjoying drinks and pastries including Green Light (6,500krw), Tomorrow Mocha (6,500krw) and Chocolate Whipped Cream Bun (5,000krw), was particularly enjoyable and relaxing. We also loved that Cafe Eden had so many variety of pastries to choose from. They were all so beautifully decorated! After taking in the sights for over an hour, we decided to walk along Lake Bomunho to enjoy the sunset…
Thank the Lord for the sunset and reflection of the sun rays over the waters. It was simply awesome. The walk along the shore of Bomunho Lake was also idyllic. During spring time, with cherry blossoms blooming, the views must be a sight to behold…
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During the walk, we also enjoyed live guitar music and saw a turkish ice cream shop. In the evening lights came on for the bridge, accompanied by a cello basker in the background. Definitely a feel as though it was a scene right out of the Korean drama. Before we headed back, we bought some ramen, mageolli and 2 face masks for 5,500krw. On the way back, we found a short cut back via Hilton Hotel and also checked out the Lotteria/Cine-Q next to our hotel.
Stay tuned as we go cafe hopping and enjoy a Korean Beef BBQ dinner on day 9 of our travels in Gyeongju South Korea! We’ll now leave you with this video coverage of the top things to do and attractions in Gyeongju!
Book with Agoda Here: Popular Hotels in Gyeongju
Book Here with Klook: Popular Activities in Gyeongju
Related Posts
You have just finished reading a post from our 14 Days Travels in South Korea. Check out the rest of the posts from this series below!
South Korea Travel Itinerary Day 1: Busan Gwangalli Beach, Spaland and Fried Chicken Army Stew!
South Korea Travel Itinerary Day 6: Flight from Jeju to Busan PLUS Hilton Busan Review!
South Korea Travel Itinerary Day 7: Haeundae Beach, Dalmaji Road and Dalmaji Hill
South Korea Travel Itinerary Day 11: Driving from Danyang to Seoul!
Top 17 Things to do and Attractions in Jeju South Korea!
Top 8 Busan Travel Experiences, Things to do and Attractions!
Top 7 Gyeongju Things to do, Attractions and Travel Experiences!
Top 5 Danyang Attractions, Travel Experiences and Things to do!
Top 7 Seoul Attractions and Things to do
Top 8 Food to eat in Seoul South Korea
The Ultimate Guide to Driving in South Korea!
What Souvenirs to buy from South Korea? 9 Souvenirs to get from South Korean Supermarkets!
The Complete Hilton Busan Review: Probably the Most Instagrammable Hotel in the World!
Jeju Shinhwa World Landing Resort Review: The Perfect Base to Discover Jeju!
Da Moim Buffet Restaurant Hilton Busan Review
Singapore Airlines (SQ) 777-300ER Business Class Review: Singapore to Beijing
Air China Business Class Review: Beijing to Busan CA 129
Singapore Airlines Business Class A330-300 Review: Incheon to Singapore
