Beyond Seoul & Busan: Korea's Best Small Cities

If you love history, start here. Gyeongju was the capital of the Silla kingdom for nearly a thousand years, and the whole city is often called a "museum without walls" — grassy royal tomb mounds rise between ordinary streets, and you can cycle past 1,400-year-old monuments. Don't miss Bulguksa Temple and the Seokguram Grotto (both UNESCO World Heritage), the Daereungdo tomb park, and Donggung Palace & Wolji Pond, which is breathtaking lit up at night.

What makes Gyeongju special is that the past isn't fenced off — it's woven into a living town. You'll cycle past a 7th-century observatory (Cheomseongdae) on your way to lunch, then find a café tucked beside a tomb mound. The old Hwangnidan-gil street has become a fun strip of restored hanok houses, indie shops and cafés, which gives the city a young, easygoing energy alongside the ancient stones. I'd give it two days if you can: one for the central tomb-park-and-pond cluster you can do on foot or by bike, and one for Bulguksa and Seokguram, which sit up the mountain a bus ride away. Rent a bike — flat, scenic, and the nicest way to feel the place.

Korea's food capital, and the birthplace of bibimbap. The Jeonju Hanok Village is the country's largest cluster of traditional tile-roofed houses — hundreds of them, packed with little restaurants, tea houses, hanji paper workshops, and makgeolli (rice wine) bars. Rent a hanbok, wander the lanes, and eat your way through. It's touristy in the best way, and the food genuinely lives up to the reputation.

A tip from me: Jeonju is the one place I'd tell you to come genuinely hungry and pace yourself. Beyond the famous Jeonju bibimbap, hunt down a proper makgeolli house — order one kettle and watch a tableful of free side dishes appear, a local tradition that's half the fun — and don't skip the street food (the choco pie and PNB bread are local institutions for a reason). Because it's so close to Seoul, lots of people do Jeonju as a day trip, but an overnight lets you see the hanok village quiet in the early morning before the crowds and tour groups arrive, which is when it's prettiest.

The heart of Korea's Confucian, old-aristocrat heritage. The Hahoe Folk Village (UNESCO) is a living village of clay-walled and tiled houses curled inside a river bend, still lived in today. Andong is also home to the famous mask dance, the autumn Mask Dance Festival, fiery Andong soju, and Andong jjimdak (braised soy-sauce chicken). This is the Korea of slow mornings, ancestral courtyards, and deep tradition.

Andong is the most "old-soul" place on this list, and it rewards a slower visit. Hahoe sits a little outside the city centre, so plan your transport — it's not somewhere you stumble into between other stops. While you're out that way, the Byeongsan Confucian academy nearby has one of the loveliest old pavilions in the country, looking out over the river. Back in town, a plate of Andong jjimdak is non-negotiable; it's hearty, a little sweet, a little spicy, and meant for sharing. If you can line your trip up with the Mask Dance Festival in autumn, do — but even on a quiet weekday, Andong's measured, traditional rhythm is exactly the antidote to a Seoul-paced trip.

Korea's favourite east-coast escape. Wide blue beaches, pine forests, and a famous "coffee street" at Anmok Beach where café after café faces the sea. Catch sunrise at Jeongdongjin, breathe in the salt air, and eat fresh seafood. Hosting the 2018 Winter Olympics put it on the map, and the high-speed train from Seoul made it an easy weekend by the ocean.

Gangneung is the easiest "I just need the sea" trip from Seoul, and the fast train (under two hours through the mountains) makes it a very doable weekend. The coffee culture here is real and slightly funny — Anmok Beach turned into a coffee-street because of one legendary barista decades ago, and now it's wall-to-wall cafés facing the water, which is a wonderful way to spend a slow morning. Beyond the beaches, Ojukheon (a historic home tied to two revered Joseon figures) and the calm of Gyeongpo Lake give you something to do when you're not just staring at the ocean. Summer is busy and bright; I have a soft spot for it off-season, when the beaches are empty and the sunrises are crisp.

A gorgeous little port city on the southern coast, scattered with islands and nicknamed the "Naples of Korea." Ride the cable car up Mireuksan for sweeping sea views, wander the colourful Dongpirang mural village above the harbour, hop a ferry to nearby islands, and eat your fill of oysters and chungmu gimbap (the local bite-sized seaweed rice rolls). Quietly one of the prettiest places in the country.

Tongyeong is the kind of place that surprises people who'd never heard of it. The islands are the draw — a short ferry out to somewhere like Somaemuldo or Bijindo turns a city break into a proper coastal adventure, with clear water and walking trails. Back on the mainland, the Dongpirang murals climbing the hillside above the old harbour are genuinely charming (and a model for how an ordinary neighbourhood reinvented itself with art). The food is a highlight: oysters in winter, that famous chungmu gimbap, and a sweet honey-bread called kkulppang that locals are proud of. If you're already heading to Yeosu and Suncheon, Tongyeong slots neatly into the same southern loop.

Koreans have an entire hit song about Yeosu's night sea (여수 밤바다) — and once you've seen the harbour lights shimmering on the water, you'll understand why. This southern coastal city is made for evenings: a cable car over the sea, the little island of Odongdo, a buzzing waterfront, and fresh-off-the-boat seafood. Romantic, breezy, and underrated by foreign visitors.

Of everywhere on this list, Yeosu is the one I've wandered most myself, and it's the one I'm most likely to push on a couple looking for a romantic couple of days. The trick is to stay overnight — the whole magic is in the evening, so a daytime visit misses the point entirely. My personal highlight is Hyangiram, a cliff-top hermitage out on Dolsan island with a sea view that genuinely stopped me in my tracks. I've written the city up in full if you want the deep dive.

For nature lovers, Suncheon is a revelation. Suncheonman Bay is one of the world's best-preserved coastal wetlands — endless golden reed fields, tidal flats, and migratory birds, especially beautiful at sunset. Right beside it, the vast Suncheon Bay National Garden is a calm, blooming sprawl you can lose a whole day in. Add the Naganeupseong walled folk village nearby and you've got a gentle, green couple of days far from the city rush.

Suncheon pairs perfectly with Yeosu — they're close, so you can base in one and day-trip the other, or fold both into a southern loop. The Bay and the Garden are linked by a little eco-shuttle "Sky Cube" so you can see both in a day without a car, which is handy. My honest take: the wetlands are the soul of the place, and they're at their most spellbinding at sunset when the reeds catch the light and the birds come in to roost — time your visit for late afternoon rather than the middle of the day. It's a slower, greener kind of trip than most of this list, and a lovely change of pace.

Tucked between the great Jirisan mountains and the southern sea, Hadong is where Koreans go to slow right down. The clear Seomjin River runs through it, lined in early April by a cherry-blossom road that turns into a pink tunnel, and the hillsides hold some of Korea's oldest green-tea fields. There's an old market, Hwagaejangteo (화개장터), where two provinces historically met to trade, a mountain temple at Ssanggyesa, and the literary rice-paddy landscape of Pyeongsari. It's quiet, soulful countryside rather than a city, and timing is everything.

On the west coast, Boryeong is best known for one gloriously messy thing: the summer Mud Festival at Daecheon Beach, where thousands of people happily coat themselves in mineral-rich mud from the local flats. It's silly, joyful, and one of Korea's most famous events — but the wide beach and west-coast sunsets are lovely outside festival time too, and you can take a ferry out to nearby islands for a quieter day by the sea.