Ultimate Travel Guide to Gyeongju – Know this when planning your trip!

In this travel guide to Gyeongju, we focus on giving you all the information you need to plan an awesome trip to Gyeongju! Many people consider Gyeongju to be South Korea’s best open-air museum, which is why it is a great addition to any South Korea Itinerary!

In this guide, you will learn how to get to Gyeongju, where to stay as well as what highlights you absolutely should not miss while there! We also delve a little into whether a trip to Gyeongju is something for you, in case you are not yet decided, and what the ideal duration of your stay will be!

So, let’s get travel planning!

A Quick Travel Guide to Gyeongju

Gyeongju is located a short train or bus ride north of Busan and therefore known for being the perfect (weekend) getaway from South Korea’s stunning coastal city. In general, it is a great stop when making your way from Seoul to Busan or vice-versa.

In this travel guide to Gyeongju, we want to show you why you should travel to Gyeongju as well as how you can easily plan your own trip with a few key information we will be sharing in this post!

And I guess, where better to start than with the why😉.

Why travel to Gyeongju? A quick excursion to the past

Gyeongju is often considered to be something like a city-sized open air museum. And that comparison is not entirely off. Remnants of old buildings and tombs of considerable importance can be found scattered all over the city! And quite a few of them have been classified as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

But, how did Gyeongju become so important? Way back, the Korean peninsula was divided into different kingdoms. Thereof, one was the kingdom of Silla. Over time, Silla proceeded to conquer the other kingdoms, which it was able to do due to its powerful alliance to Tang China, and ruled as Unified Silla over most of the Korean peninsula for ~250 years. From beginning to end, the kingdom of Silla persisted for ~1000 years (to be more specific from 57 BC to 935 AD)!

Why all that talk about Silla you may ask? Well, Gyeongju used to be the capital city of the Silla kingdom, which made it at one point in time one of the largest cities in the world! Today the city still holds numerous remnants of that time period and thus remains a site of significant cultural and historical importance!

Is Gyeongju worth visiting?

Gyeongju is one of the most popular destinations in all of South Korea. However, whether Gyeongju is worth visiting for you depends on your interests and what you wish to see and do. So the better question is, for whom is Gyeongju worth visiting?

Personally, we would say that Gyeongju is a great destination for two types of people. While Gyeongju is something of an open-air museum (with it being home to all those archaeological sites), Gyeongju is also home to a quaint Hanok Village, which in turn houses numerous cafés, shops and restaurants!

If either of those two peak your interest (or ideally both), then Gyeongju is definitely a destination that is worth checking out. Plus, Gyeongju is quite rural and depending on where your explorations take you, you may find yourself surrounded by stunning rice fields, flowers and lotus ponds. In other words, the perfect break in between visiting South Korea’s bigger cities!

Can you visit Gyeongju as a day trip from Busan?

Gyeongju is located roughly 1-2 hours away from Busan, depending on how you plan to get there. So, yes you can visit Gyeongju as a day trip from Busan. However, personally, we would not necessarily recommend doing so.

Why? Well, Gyeongju has quite a lot of things to see and do and some of its attractions, such as the stunning Bulguksa temple, are rather spread out. Trying to fit everything into one day plus travelling to and from Busan may get pretty stressful.

If your only option for visiting Gyeongju is a day trip from Busan, then we would suggest either skipping Bulguksa temple and limiting your sightseeing to Gyeongju’s historical centre OR booking a guided tour from Busan. Check out the top-rated Gyeongju day trip from Busan on GetYourGuide* or Book this Gyeongju One Day Tour from Busan via Klook*. The latter also includes seeing Gyeongju’s attractions at night!

How many days are enough for Gyeongju?

We would recommend staying in Gyeongju for 2 nights. One day to arrive and do most of the sightseeing inside Gyeongju’s historical centre, one day to visit Gyeongju’s more remote attractions such as Bulguksa temple as well as some time to stroll around and enjoy the many cafés and shops in Gyeongju’s Hanok Village!

That way you have plenty of time to visit Gyeongju’s most important sites, but also to relax a bit and enjoy the stunning scenery and lovely atmosphere in and around Gyeongju!

How to get to Gyeongju

There are essentially two ways to get to Gyeongju. Either you take an Express/Intercity Bus or you travel to Gyeongju by train. In this section we will give you a quick overview of each option and tell you which one makes more sense depending on where you are travelling from.

Travel Tip: Personally we always looked up our travel options via Naver Map, a Korean navigation app you will 100% need to travel South Korea! Naver Map will tell you real time connections with travel times and prices as well as what station to go to since those may vary depending on the connection you choose.

Getting to Gyeongju by Bus

Intercity and Express Buses are a common and convenient way to travel around South Korea. Personally, we used them a lot. Down below, you can find the approximate travel times and prices associated with travelling to Gyeongju by bus via a direct bus connection from various locations.

Travel to Gyeongju by Express/Intercity Bus:
🚌 from Seoul (Express Bus Terminal): Travel Time: 3h30min; Price: ~33.600KRW 
🚌 from Busan (Busan Bus Terminal): Travel Time: 50min; Price: ~7.700KRW
🚌 from Daegu (Dongdaegu Terminal): Travel Time: 56min; Price: ~8.000KRW
🚌 from Jeonju (Jeonju Intercity Bus Terminal): Travel Time: 3h9min; Price: ~26.900KRW

Do note that the travel times given are from station to station! As such, you should also factor in some time to get to your starting station. E.g., Busan Bus Terminal is located outside of Busan and therefore requires a 39min ride on Busan’s Metro Line 1 to get to (from Busan Train Station).

As mentioned in our Guide to South Korea’s Express/Intercity Bus System, buying tickets for Express/Intercity buses can usually be done on the day of travel at the bus terminal itself.

How to get to Gyeongju Historical Centre from the bus station?

You will be arriving either at the Gyeongju Express Bus or Gyeongju Intercity Bus Terminal, depending on whether you travel by Express or Intercity Bus. Both are located nearly one next to the other so it does not really make a difference which one you travel to.

In Gyeongju, you are in luck, because the bus stations are located very close to the city centre. This means that, after arriving in Gyeongju by bus, the way to your hotel should be feasible on foot (especially if you stay in a hotel close to the bus station, but more on that later) or by taking a short taxi or local bus ride.

Getting to Gyeongju by Train

Train travel, especially on South Korea’s high-speed trains, is a fast and efficient way to travel between major cities. The most well-known high-speed train in South Korea is the KTX (Korean Train Express). However, when travelling to Gyeongju from Busan, the SRT (Super Rapid Train) is a notable option as well.

Travel to Gyeongju by train:
🚅 from Seoul (Seoul Station): by KTX: Travel Time: 2h10 min; Price: ~49.300KRW
🚅 from Busan (Busan Station): by KTX: Travel Time: 35 min; Price: ~11.000KRW; by SRT: Travel Time: 28-35 min; Price: ~ 10.100KRW.

Train tickets can most easily be bought in advance on Trip.com* or 12 Go Asia*!

How to get to Gyeongju Historical Centre from the train station?

If you plan on taking the train to Gyeongju, you have to consider that the Gyeongju Train Station is located outside of the city. To get to the city centre of Gyeongju, there are several local buses (e.g., Nr. 50, 51, 60, 61, 70, 700, 710, 711, etc., quite a lot as you can see) that can take you in a ~20min bus ride from the train station to Gyeongju’s historical centre.

Again, our tip is to check real-time connections via Naver Map. Local buses can most easily be paid by T-Money Card. In case you have never heard of the latter before, more information on the T-Money Card can be found in our South Korea Travel Checklist!

Bus vs. Train. Which one is best for you?

Now that we went over all of your options, I suppose that most of you will have a solid idea about what option you like best. In case you do need a bit more help deciding, we share how we would personally choose down below.

• When travelling to Gyeongju from Seoul, we recommend taking the KTX. This option is simply a lot faster!
• For getting to Gyeongju from Jeonju, your only option is taking the bus. Do note that direct bus connections between the two are not as frequent so we would suggest settling on a specific connection beforehand.
• When travelling to Gyeongju from Busan, either option is as good as the other. Personally we made the trip by bus since our accommodation was located only a few hundred metres from the bus station. Train travel is a bit quicker though.

Where to stay in Gyeongju?

When it comes to looking for an accommodation in Gyeongju, you essentially have two main options. Either you stay in a Hanok, a traditional Korean house, inside the historical city centre or in a standard hotel in a neighbourhood right next to the historical area. So, how do you choose?

🏨 Staying in a Hotel in Gyeongju

If you decide to stay in a hotel in Gyeongju, one of the more popular areas to stay is located west of Geumgwanchong (in blue on the map above). Here you can find quite a number of budget as well as mid-range hotels.

The advantages of staying here are the following:

• For one, you are close to the Express Bus Station (should that be your chosen way of getting to Gyeongju).
• But, most importantly, this option is likely going to be a tad cheaper than staying in a Hanok.

Do note that accommodations tend to be a bit more expensive on weekends as Gyeongju is a perfect weekend getaway! This is true both for hotels and hanok. So keep that in mind when planning your South Korea Itinerary!

Note: Personally we stayed at the ‘G House Hotel’. However unfortunately that one seems to have closed its doors permanently in the meantime. It was however rather similar to the one’s we recommend above.

🏠 Staying in a Hanok in Gyeongju

Staying in a Hanok has one major advantage: it is quite a unique and awesome experience! As such we would recommend staying in a Hanok at least once during your time in South Korea.

At this point we had already done so in Jeonju Hanok Village so we did not feel the need to do so again in Gyeongju. However if you haven’t done so up until now, do consider giving it a try! Just maybe not for multiple nights in a row if you choose a Hanok where you sleep on a futon rather than a bed. Sleeping on the floor may take its toll on your back if you are not used to it😉.

How to get around Gyeongju

Gyeongju is a destination that is actually quite walkable, especially if you stick to Gyeongju’s historical centre. Streets are quaint and quiet, lots of parks and lovely paths: Walking around is definitely a big part of exploring Gyeongju!

When it comes to attractions that are located further outside (such as Bulguksa Temple), your best bet is using Gyeongju’s local bus system. There are quite a number of local buses so you usually have several options. As mentioned previously, real-time bus connections are best checked via Naver Map! Local buses can most easily be paid by T-Money Card!

What to see and do in Gyeongju?

As you might have grasped from this post by now, Gyeongju is home to a great many archaeological sites, but also a lovely historical city centre filled with shops and cafés.

Since this post focusses mostly on the planning part of your trip to Gyeongju, we will not go into too much depth on the topic of what to see and do in Gyeongju. We have a separate post for that (coming soon)😉. Nonetheless, down below, you can find a quick overview of experiences you should not miss out on while in Gyeongju!

Must-Do's in Gyeongju:
🏮 Visit Bulguksa Temple, one of the most stunning temples in South Korea!
🏠 Stroll around Gyeongju Gyochon Traditional Village.
🌳 Marvel at the many "hill" tombs (e.g. Hwangnamdaechong Tomb) scattered throughout Gyeongju! 
🫓 Try Hwangnam-ppang or Gyeongju Bread.
🌉 Cross the stunning Woljeonggyo Bridge.
🎎 Rent a Hanbok (Silla-style) and go shopping or café-hopping around Hwangnidan-gil.
🪷 Visit Wolji and the Lotus Pond.

Travel Guide to Gyeongju: Final thoughts

Gyeongju has much to offer and the great blend between archaeological sites and a lovely historical city centre filled with shops and cafés make it the perfect getaway from South Korea’s busy cities! In fact, due to its location, it is the perfect stop on your way from Seoul to Busan or vice-versa!

In this travel guide to Gyeongju, we went over all the planning details you may need to plan your own perfect trip, i.e. the best ways to get to Gyeongju, where to stay, how many days you should stay and more! As always, if there are any topics we did not cover or questions that remain unanswered, do not hesitate to leave them in the comments down below!

Save this post for later if your trip isn’t for another while! And, finally, we wish you safe and happy travels!🍀