2 days SOLO to gyeongju, korea 🪷🎑🌳

i took an intercity bus from seoul that took ~3 hour 30 minutes (with stop over) to gyeongju via booking on https://www.kobus.co.kr/ — an affordable and convenient way to travel around korea. i simply collected the tickets at the machine of the terminal where i’m boarding the bus.

gyeongju is one of the more exciting place out of the 10 cities i went to korea ⚡️ because of the sculptures, unesco sites and beautiful views. it is also one of the more “touristy”cities, outside of busan, seoul, and jeju, so i felt more safe and convenient to travel around. most of the places i visited were also nearby each other.

day 1 🫧

1) Woljeonggyo Bridge

a stream of water where you can cross over and reach bukchon hanok village! i think the bridge is a popular photo spot 🤳 i visited the popular Eyst 1779, located in the hanok village. it’s so spacious and chill ❤️‍🔥 i highly recommend the icecream 🍦which had chewy bits inside 😋

2) Hwangnidan-gil 🌟

a vibrant shopping street which reminded me of seoul 🛍️. there’s many things to see, and i spent a few hours here. people usually get the 10 won bread (although it is not literally 10 won…) which originated from gyeongju. there are multiple 10 won bread shops along this street. it is filled with a lot of cheese and i wasn’t rly a fan of the taste but still worth trying when you’re there.

i ate at Yeomion because they allowed for solo eating, it was decent but not memorable 🍚.

3) Cheomseongdae Observatory 🌟

this was one of my favourite sites because it is the oldest surviving astronomical observatory in asia (how cool!) 🔭☄️ i also enjoyed the walk in the park as they had many scenic hills which were apparantly graves for people with high status in the past.

day 2 🫧

4) Bulguksa Temple

one of unesco sites in gyeongju. honestly it didn’t particularly stand out to me. nearby was Seokguram Grotto which was recommended by the taxi driver! there is a huge buddha statue after walking 15 minutes of pathway. as i went in july, it was raining heavily… that was not fun…

5) Donggung Palace & Wolji Pond

one of the popular attractions that you’ll see photographs of to represent gyeongju! there wasn’t much to see tbh… but still beautiful views and if you want a chill walk around the park. 🎑

i booked a one night stay at Wadamjeong hanok pension on booking.com. it is so so beautiful and clean. there’s also breakfast provided, where i ate cup ramen. the only thing is the alley gets dark at night because of the lack of lamp posts and you’ll have to walk in for 10 minutes to get in. i just went home early everyday to avoid that problem because i was alone.

do consider heading to gyeongju for a day trip or 2 days if you’re consider exploring other cities in korea🚶‍♀️

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