Where to Stay in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do

What is Gyeongju known for?

Across the town and its valley rise the grassy burial mounds of the Silla kings, an ancient stone observatory, and the halls of great temples, so that the whole city is often called a museum without walls. Golden crowns lie in the royal tombs. Kings and temples mark the city.

What are the main landmarks in Gyeongju?

The royal tombs of Daereungwon rise in the heart of Gyeongju. Great grassy burial mounds of the Silla kings fill a green park in the middle of the town, the emblem of the city, beside the old streets. Temples and towers ring the valley.

The Gyeongju National Museum holds the gold crowns and the great bell, while the observatory of Cheomseongdae and the temple of Bulguksa stand among the fields.

What is the history of Gyeongju?

Gyeongju ruled Korea for nearly a thousand years. From this valley the kings of Silla built a kingdom that, in the seventh century, united the whole peninsula for the first time under one crown, and the capital grew into one of the great cities of its age. The court gathered fabulous wealth.

Its rulers were buried under huge mounds of earth with crowns and ornaments of gold, and they raised temples, palaces, and an observatory to watch the stars. Buddhism flowered in the hills around. The Silla built the great temple of Bulguksa and the stone grotto of Seokguram on the eastern mountains, masterworks of Korean Buddhist art that still stand above the town.

Then the kingdom fell. Silla gave way to new dynasties after the tenth century, and the capital sank into a quiet country town, its palaces gone to grass. The tombs kept their treasures underground.

Gyeongju guards the golden past of Korea among its green mounds.

Where is Gyeongju?

Gyeongju lies in a wide green basin in the southeast of Korea. The city spreads across a flat plain of rice fields ringed by low wooded mountains, near the east coast of the peninsula, where old burial mounds rise among the modern streets. Forested hills enclose the valley.

The plain runs green to the ranges.

What is the climate of Gyeongju?

Gyeongju has a temperate monsoon climate. Hot, wet summers bring the heavy rains of the East Asian monsoon, and the winters turn cold and dry in the sheltered basin, with mild spring and autumn between. Cherry blossom fills the valley in spring.

The seasons turn sharp and clear.

How do you get to Gyeongju?

Gyeongju lies in the southeast of Korea near the coast. A high-speed rail line and the expressway run to it from Seoul in the north and Busan on the coast, and the old town lies close to both. Buses reach the temple mountains around.

Most arrive by train through the hills.