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Famous Landmarks in South Korea: 7 Sites Worth Seeing

Six days in the country that exports its culture to everyone else: four in Seoul, where Joseon palaces share blocks with 24-hour neon, and two in Busan, the mountain-backed port city of beaches, fish markets, and hillside color. See the full itinerary.

These are the 7 famous landmarks of South Korea, from Petrel Voyage, a travel app that turns booking confirmations into a day-by-day plan. Each one says what it is and why it matters, grouped by city, and the free 6-day South Korea itinerary fits 6 of them into a day-by-day plan with the transport between cities. One of 45 free landmark guides, readable without an account.

From the same hand-researched library as our South Korea itinerary. Last reviewed 2026-07-29.

Seoul

Seoul is a 600-year-old capital moving at the speed of a startup, five Joseon palaces, granite peaks inside the city limits, and neighborhoods that reinvent themselves block by block. Nowhere else does deep tradition and relentless novelty share the table so naturally.

1
Gyeongbokgung Palace
The main Joseon palace, built 1395, throne halls, a pavilion floating on its lotus pond, and the changing of the royal guard most mornings at 10. Wearing rented hanbok gets you in free.
Seoul
2
Bukchon Hanok Village
Hundreds of traditional tiled-roof hanok on the hills between the palaces, still a lived-in neighborhood, so visit in the daytime visitor hours, keep voices down, and leave the alleys as quiet as you found them.
Seoul
3
DMZ day trip
The 4-km-wide buffer that has split the peninsula since 1953, visited only on a guided tour, with a passport, booked ahead. Observatories, an infiltration tunnel, and the strangest border on Earth; the standard half-day tours leave early and have you back in Seoul by early afternoon.
Seoul
4
Changdeokgung Palace and the Secret Garden
The UNESCO-listed palace the kings actually preferred, with a 78-acre rear garden of pavilions and lotus ponds entered on timed tours. Book the garden slot ahead.
Seoul

Busan

Korea’s second city and biggest port faces the sea the way Seoul faces its screens, beaches inside the city, temples on the cliffs, hillside villages painted every color, and the country’s best seafood sold loud and fresh off the boat.

5
Gamcheon Culture Village
A Korean War refugee settlement stacked down a hillside, revived by artists into a maze of pastel houses, murals, and stairway viewpoints. Arrive by early afternoon and wander without a plan.
Busan
6
Haedong Yonggungsa Temple
A 14th-century temple built directly on the sea rocks, cross the stone bridge with the surf underneath. One of Korea’s very few oceanside temples; mornings are calmest.
Busan
7
Gwangan Bridge
The 7-km suspension bridge across the bay, best watched lighting up from Gwangalli Beach with fried chicken on the sand, Busan’s definitive night view.
Busan

Museums, parks, and neighborhoods are on the full South Korea itinerary, sequenced into a realistic day-by-day plan with transport between cities.

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