Gyeongju by KTX: an easy English-friendly weekend in Korea's old royal capital

Gyeongju was the capital of the Silla kingdom for roughly a thousand years, and the town still looks the part. Grassy royal tombs sit between cafes. A temple on the mountain is on the UNESCO list. And you can do all of it on a weekend without a word of Korean.

Getting there

Take the KTX. The city's own English page puts the ride at about 2 hours 10 minutes from Seoul, 20 minutes from Dongdaegu and 30 minutes from Busan.

One thing trips people up. The KTX stop is now called Gyeongju Station. Older blogs and some maps still call it Singyeongju, and there used to be a different, older Gyeongju Station in town that no longer takes passenger trains. If a guide tells you to "take the train to the old station", it is out of date.

Book on Korail's English site or the KORAIL+ app (it used to be called Korail Talk), which has an English menu. Weekend trains out of Seoul fill up, so book a few days ahead if you can.

From the station, city buses run into town and out to Bulguksa. Bus numbers change, so do not trust a list from a blog. Put your destination into a Korean map app and it will tell you which bus is coming and when (which map app, and why not Google).

If you are carrying a bag or it is late, a taxi into town is quick, and Kakao T works here the same as in Seoul.

Day one: tombs, a golden crown, and the pond at night

Start at Daereungwon, the tomb park in the middle of town. It is a quiet green park with 23 burial mounds, and one of them, Cheonmachong, is open inside. The gold crown found there is described by the Korea Tourism Organization as the largest and most elaborate gold crown ever dug up in Korea. Hours are 9:00 to 22:00 (last entry 21:30), and adult admission is 3,000 won.

Walk out of the park onto Hwangnidan-gil, a street of hanok cafes, small shops and bakeries. This is where you try the town's red-bean pastry, Hwangnam bread. Several bakeries on the street sell it. Try two and pick a favorite.

From there it is an easy walk past Cheomseongdae, the old stone observatory, to Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond. Go after dark. The rebuilt pavilions light up and reflect in the water, and it is the picture everyone takes home from Gyeongju. Hours are 9:00 to 22:00 (last entry 21:30), and adult admission is 3,000 won.

Day two: Bulguksa and Seokguram

In the morning, head out to Bulguksa Temple. Together with Seokguram Grotto further up the mountain, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Admission to Bulguksa is free, and the Korea Tourism Organization lists it as open 9:00 to 18:00.

Seokguram is a granite Buddha inside a small man-made cave, and it is a short bus or taxi ride above the temple. Your map app will show the connecting bus. Go early. By midday on a weekend the path fills up.

English help while you are there

Three things make this an easy trip for a first-timer:

1. The 1330 Korea Travel Hotline. Dial 1330 from a Korean phone and choose English. It runs 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and they can help with a bus, a menu or a lost bag.
2. Official English pages. The Korea Tourism Organization's English site (VisitKorea) has a page for every stop above, with hours and fees.
3. An audio guide app. The city points visitors to an app called Odii for English audio at the heritage sites.

Why this is a normal weekend here

If you teach in Busan or Daegu, Gyeongju is a Saturday day trip. From Seoul it is a Friday-night train and back on Sunday. That is the part people do not expect about living in Korea: a thousand-year-old capital is just a weekend plan.