Many tourists flock to Seoul when they visit South Korea. It’s easy to understand why – Seoul is an energetic city, and there’s an endless amount of things to do. Some tourists do venture further into the country and visit cities like Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, Daejeon, and Jeju.
However, other cities in the country are pretty unheard of and one of them is Suncheon, located in Jeollanam-do (the South Jeolla Province). Although it’s highly overlooked, Suncheon is a great place to visit. Here’s a Suncheon Itinerary to help you enjoy 2 days in the city.
Table of Contents
How to get there
Suncheon has one main bus station and train station, so you can get to it from many cities in Korea. In Seoul, buses leave from Seoul Express Bus Terminal (Line, 3, 5, 7) and take almost four hours to get to Suncheon depending on the traffic. Trains to Suncheon from Seoul leave from Yongsan Station (Line 1 and the Jungang Line) and take around 3 hours to get to the city.
For more information on how you can get to Suncheon from other cities, click here for bus timetables and here for train timetables.
Day 1 – Suncheon Bay Garden, Suncheon Bay Wetland Reserve and Suncheon Aretjang Market
Suncheon Bay National Garden
Once you get to Suncheon Station or Suncheon Express Bus Terminal you can catch bus 67 to get to Suncheon Bay. No Suncheon itinerary is complete without visiting this place.
The bus stops at both the East and West Gate of the National Garden. I recommended getting off at the East Gate if you want to visit both Suncheon Bay National Garden and Suncheon Bay Wetland Reserve on the same day.
It will be the bus stop before the West Gate. Once you’re inside, you can explore all Suncheon Bay National Garden has to offer and walk towards the West Gate, which has transportation links to the Wetland Reserve.
Suncheon Bay National Garden is definitely one of the best destinations to visit in the city. This place is huge, so it could take up to 4 hours to explore the garden if you’re keen on taking lots of photos. The National garden is split up into four areas: the World Garden Zone, Arboretum, Wetland Centre and Wetland Zone.
The World Garden Zone
Artists and designers from all over the world collaborated together to create 11 gardens, which represent distinct countries. Details such as windmill in the Netherlands Garden and a Volkswagen in the German garden make you feel like you’re visiting a different country each time.
The Arboretum
This area includes a traditional Korean Garden where you can find the Palace Garden, the Noblemen’s Garden, and the Garden of Hope. There are also multiple wonderful trails which lead you up to the Mountaintop View. From this viewpoint, you can see the whole national garden as well as surrounding areas of the city. In late April/early May you also find wonderful Royal Azaleas in the Arboretum.
The Wetland Zone
The main attraction of this area is Dream Bridge created by artist Kang Ik-Jung. He created it from 30 abandoned cargo containers. The exterior of these includes a mosaic of hangul characters, which can be used to create different words and ideas. On the other hand, the inside of the containers includes works of art by children from 16 different countries. It shows their hopes and dreams.
The Suncheon Bay International Wetland Centre is also in this area, which will give you an opportunity to learn more about the site.
The Wetland Zone
You can find the Kindness Forest and Biotope Wetland here as well as an Eco Training Playground. This area is lit up with pink muhly in the early autumn, which will create a great background for your travel photos.
More info:
| When to visit: Spring and autumn are the best times to visit Suncheon Bay National Garden as you can view a multitude of beautiful flowers and colours. It looks a bit bare in the winter and it may be too hot in the summer. However, some elements in each garden change every season so it’s worth visiting in every season if you have the opportunity to do so. For example, in the summer, traditional Dutch clogs are placed in the Netherlands garden, which you can stand in. Lots of tourists take silly photos here. |
| Cost: Adults – 8000 won, 4000 won for Yeosu residents and 2000 won for Suncheon residents. For the discounted prices, you have to show your ID card to demonstrate you’re a resident of the aforementioned cities. |
Suncheon Bay Wetland Reserve
Another must-see destination on any Suncheon itinerary is Suncheon Bay Wetland Reserve, which is connected to Suncheon Bay National Garden. In fact, the ticket you get at the National Garden can also be used for the Wetland Reserve and vice versa.
I suggest visiting the National Garden first so that you have a chance to see the sunset at Yongsan Observatory in the Wetland Reserve, as it’s a gorgeous sight to see. You should get there early though because it’s a popular event.
There are three ways you can get to the Wetland Reserve from the National Garden:
a) You can take the Sky Cube from the Wetland Centre in Suncheon Bay National Garden to the Suncheon Bay National Wetland Reserve. One pro of using the Suncheon Eco Trans/ SkyCube is that the view in the journey is gorgeous. Plus, the SkyCubes just look so cool.
You can book a one-way ticket which costs 6000 won if you intend to catch a taxi or bus back to the city centre from the Wetland Reserve. Alternatively, you could buy a return ticket, which costs 8000 won if you wish to go back to the National Garden. Buses and taxis from the National Garden are easier to catch.
b) You can exit the National Garden and catch a bus to the Wetland Reserve. This is the cheapest option as it only costs about 1250 won. However, buses are infrequent and you have to be certain that you’re catching the right bus.
c) You can exit the National Garden and catch a taxi to the national garden. This may end up being more expensive than the SkyCube though.
If you get a taxi or a bus to the Wetland Reserve then you can just show your ticket at the main gate. If, however, you choose to use the SkyCube, then there’ll be someone waiting to check your ticket near the SkyCube’s exit.
Once you get to the Wetland Reserve, you will come across a lot of nature. In the autumn, you’ll see beautiful reeds, which will be a vibrant green in the summer and spring. There’s a lot of open land to explore here, so you could spend some time taking Instagram gorgeous photos.
However, you should make sure that you make it to Yongsan Observatory before sunset. The entrance to the start of the walk to the Observatory is about 20 minutes away from the reed fields. It takes approximately half an hour to get there from the entrance. Just follow the signs.
You’ll be able to see breathtaking views of the Wetland Reserve from the Observatory. There are even binoculars in the area so you can get a more detailed look at the scenery. Once the sun has set, it’s best to start making your back down to the reed fields as soon as possible because there’s not much light on the trail nor in the fields.
More info:
| Cost: Adults – 8000 won, 4000 won for Yeosu residents and 2000 won for Suncheon residents. For the discounted prices, you have to show your ID card to demonstrate you’re a resident of the aforementioned cities. |
Suncheon Aretjang Market
You can catch a bus back towards Suncheon Station or Suncheon Express Bus Terminal to get to Aretjang Market because it’s in between both of these places.
The market’s great to visit in the day and night. During the day time, the market area is bustling with vendors and buyers. You can buy delicious food here and see an authentic Korean market that’s lively but not so packed. You should take your time wandering both the outside and inside of the market.
At night, the area becomes more crowded and moves totally inside. There are dance and singing performances and you can still buy tasty food here. Overall, the atmosphere is great and jovial.
More info:
| When to visit: The market only is only open on Fridays and Saturdays. |
| How to get there: You can walk to the market from Suncheon Station of Suncheon Express Bus Terminal. If you want to catch a bus from any of the stations then you can take buses 77 or 777 and many others to get to the market. |
| Cost: Free entry, but there may be food or items you want to buy. |
Day 2 – Suncheon Open Film Set, Seonamsa Temple and Naganeupsong Folk Village
Nagan Eupseong Folk Village
You can start day 2 of this Suncheon itinerary with a trip to Nagan Eupsong village, a fortress village, where some people still live. Visitors of the site get to see past houses and lifestyles. There are lots of things to see and do in the village.
For instance, there are several performances such as a ugwi (Korean traditional wedding) parade, which I had the fortune of seeing and following as soon as I entered the site.
There are also several other performances such as a traditional Korean music performance, a military music performance and more. You can also play traditional Korean games such as Yut Nori. It’s also great to just walk around and take in the beautiful natural and historical sites.
More info:
| When to visit: The Folk Village is nice during each season but it, of course, looks more beautiful in Spring and Autumn. |
| How to get there: The Folk Village is a bit hard to get to without a car, as it’s quite a distance from the city. There are buses (16, 61, 63 or 68) you can catch from the bus station to the site but they come infrequently, especially if you’re travelling from the Folk Village back to the city centre. So, I’d suggest catching a taxi there and back if you don’t want to be waiting ages for a bus to come. Alternatively, you catch a bus there and catch a taxi back if you want to save some money. |
| Cost: 3000 won. |
Seonamsa Temple
This temple was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009, so it’s no surprise that it’s beautiful to see in the Spring and Autumn. There’s a short walk between the entrance of the temple and the temple itself, but the path is full of lush trees and wonderful views.
You’ll also come across Seungseon Bridge, which you can take amazing photos near. You can even climb down to the bottom of the bridge near the lake to take more pictures if you’re feeling brave. The bridge has separate UNESCO World Heritage status, which was granted in 1963.
More info
| How to get there: It’s best to travel back towards Suncheon Express Bus Terminal after you’ve visited Nagan Eupseong Folk Village because you can easily catch bus 1 or 16 to the temple from here. |
| Cost: 2000 won. |
Suncheon Open Film Set
This Open Film Set includes three villages with mimic the locations in South Korea from the 50s to the 70s. The first village representing the 50s has replicas of certain buildings in Suncheon at that time such as a cinema, fire station and brewery.
The villages that represent the 60s and 70s focus more on Seoul as visitors can see areas that resemble daldongne (poor towns located up hills).
More info:
| How to get there: Again, it’s best to go back to Suncheon Express Bus Terminal because you can take bus 77, 777 or 99 to get to the Film Set from here. You can catch buses 77 and 99 from the train station too. |
| Cost: 3000 won |
Bonus
You can also check out any of these other places if you have time left over.
Waon Beach
Waon beach gives you a similar view you would get at Suncheon Bay Wetland Reserve. The beach is all the way in the countryside so it’s a bit difficult to get here. You could catch a taxi if you want to easily get there, but the walk from the bus stop is nice and freeing.
You get to see a bit of the Korean countryside up close. It’s even trickier to get back to the city. I ended up getting a ride from a kind citizen who saw me waiting at the bus stop. On the way back to the city-centre, I saw a bus heading to where I was picked up from 10 minutes into the car journey.
In the winter and spring, the water levels are low so I advise only visiting the beach from April-November. It’s still peaceful without the water though. You can also take cute pictures with the “I heart Waon” Beach sign.
More info
| How to get there: It’s best to catch a taxi there but if you do choose to use public transportation then you can catch bus 97 or 98 from Suncheon Express Terminal. |
| Cost: Free |
Songgwangsa Temple
Although there’s already one temple on this Suncheon itinerary, it’s worth visiting another: Songgwangsa Temple.
It’s one of the Three Jewel Temples, which represent the Three Jewels of Seon Buddhism. It’s also renowned for producing high-esteemed monks. You can get to Songgwangsa temple from Seonamsa Temple by hiking Jogyesan or you could use public transportation or a taxi to get there.
However, as these destinations are quite far from each public transportation such as buses can be long-winded and unreliable and taxis could be costly, so if you’re pressed for time or want to save money then it’s best to visit Songgwangsa Temple on a different day to Seonamsa Temple.
More info:
| How to get there: You can catch bus 111, near Suncheon Express Terminal. The stop is close to a petrol station called S-Oil. |
| Cost: 3000 won |
Suncheon Lake Park
Despite, not really being a tourist place, Suncheon Lake Park is great to visit to unwind and enjoy simple natural views, so it deserves a place on this Suncheon itinerary.
There’s a hiking trail nearby for those who enjoy outdoor activities. If exercise in the fresh air doesn’t appeal to then you can visit the restaurants and shops nearby.
More info:
| How to get there: You can catch Bus 59 to Lake Park from Suncheon Express Terminal. |
| Cost: Free |
