too much to do in Gwangju, i’m coming back

Gwangju is a big city with many small neighboring cities to visit so we decided to stay in Gwangju and take day trips out to explore.

📍 Boseong

This city is famous for their beautiful green tea fields! It was much bigger than the one in Jeju and so more to explore. You can hike up the hill to get a better view of the entire field and walk between the bushes for photos!

There are souvenir shops and cafes here for you to spend time (and money) at. I spent over $50 here buying tea and matcha powder 💸

Try the Green Tea Soft Serve while you’re here too! It tastes light and creamy yet still tastes strongly of matcha. The espresso shot added for my affogato didn’t add much value to the overall dessert.

Location: Boseong Tea Farm

Opening Hours: 9am - 6pm

Damage Done:

Admission Tickets - 4,000KRW

Soft Serve - 3,500KRW

📍 Damyang

📌 Bamboo Forest

This city is known for their bamboo forest! Honestly the park itself doesn’t have much other than to look at a lot of bamboo trees and because it was crowded, it was as difficult to get a nice photo but still an experience since i’ve never been to a bamboo forest.

At the exit of the bamboo forest, there is a small dessert store that sells bamboo flavored treats. I heard that the soft serve is a must try and it was so good?? I mean i don’t know if it’s how bamboo should taste but it’s sweet and light. We got a hotteok for free and it was so good too? there was an oozing center and the hotteok was delicious 🤤

Damyang is a really nice place to chill and picnic at. Outside the bamboo forest there’s a path that leads to the Meta Provence and Metasequoia Path and it’s like your typical ECP park connector but with a lot of trees and shade and tables for families to sit at to eat, chill or take a nap even. Down from the main pedestrian path, there’s also an small field next to the parking lots where families laid out their picnic mats and camping gear.

Location: Jungnogwon Bamboo Forest

Opening Hours: Winter (November to February) 9am - 530pm last entry, Summer (March to October) 9am - 6pm last entry

Damage Done:

Admission Ticket - 3,000KRW

Ice Cream - 3,000KRW

📌 Meta Provence

The walk to Meta Provence was longer than expected maybe 40mins? but you get a different view of the city! we walked past rice paddies and saw small mountains across the road - unique photo spot for photos!!

Meta Provence is a cute place that looks similar to Petite France but less colourful and has more things to do (eat and shop)

Location: Meta Provence

Opening Hours: 24/7

Damage Done: Free entry 🤑

📍 Gwangju

there so much to explore here! so much to see and eat, there’s a shopping street with tons of food and snacks to try! that’s when we realized we couldn’t finish all of Gwangju in a day and kept extending the trip to walk around Gwangju more.

📌 SoSwaeWon

after traveling around to the different cities, we had to dedicate a day to the city of Gwangju too. We took a short trip out to SoSwaeWon and boy we got baited it was such a small park and nothing much to see.

Location: Soswaewon Garden

Opening Hours: 9am - 6pm

Damage Done: 2,000KRW

📌 Gwangju Ecology Park

we walked to a nearby ecology park and there was much more to see. it was a pretty big park, we didn’t finish walking the entirety of the park but we went to all the spots that seemed pretty, even saw the metasequoia trees!!

Location: Gwangjuho Lake Waterside Eco Park

Opening Hours: 9am - 6pm

Damage Done: Free entry 🤑

📌 1913 Songjeong Market

After dinner (famous Gwangju Duck Soup ), we went to the Songjeong market to take a look. It’s a place that’s super chill at night, not a lot of people but still a crowd present. Lots of food places (macaroon is famous here and the boss is super nice and friendly) and a handicraft shop for souvenirs

Location: 1913 Songjeong Station Market

Opening Hours: 11am - 10pm

Damage Done: Free entry 🤑

📌 5.18 Democratic Movement Archives

If you’re familiar with Korean history, you would know that Gwangju is where the 5.18 Democratic Movement happened. This museum showcases all the things that happened then, didn’t feel like it would be appropriate to take photos so i just went around to take a look.

Location: 5.18 Democratic Movement Archives

Opening Hours: 9am - 6pm

Damage Done: Free Entry 🤑

📌 Gwangju Cafe Street

This gives off a similar vibe to Yeonnam where there are many cafes on both sides of the street, small gift shops and many restaurants.

Location: Dongnidangil Cafe Street

There was still so much more i have not explored so this is definitely on my itinerary for my next trip back to Korea 😤

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