Throughout my time I’ve spent in Korea I’ve had the opportunity to visit a lot of different cities. One of my personal favorites was Jeonju. Jeonju is located in the west of Korea, in the Jeolla province. This province is famous for its abundance of side dishes when you order meals, so a lot of Koreans think of good food when they think of the Jeolla province.
Things to do:
It’s easy to go to Jeonju by bus, and the bus fare also is quite reasonable. When I went there for my first time, I went to see the Hanok village which is a complete area of traditional Korean buildings. A lot of people who travel here take the opportunity to wear traditional Korean clothing (hanbok) to take pictures with the old buildings. This area is also filled with great street food and entertainment. For example, I got the chance to listen to ”Pan-sori” which is a traditional Korean singing style that is almost acapella but has a light instrumental melody. It is easy to spend a couple of hours in this area. There is so much to see, eat and experience which is why it’s a great and underrated tourist attraction. If you want to experience something very traditional Korean I really recommend going here.
Within walking distance of Hanok village, there are a lot of different places to go to. Both the Jeondong catholic church and the Pungnam gate are within a 5-minute walk from each other and there is also Gyeonggijeon, a Korean shrine. Here you can get a view of how the Korean people used to live hundreds of years ago. You can get an understanding of how rooms like kitchens and toilet used to look like. The entrance fee is 3000 won for an adult and you can easily spend an hour here.
Another place I recommend to visit is Deokjin Park. If you are lucky and arrive in time for the lotus season it’s a beautiful lake filled with lotus leaves and flowers. If you want, you can also go on a pedal boat to explore the lake. It’s beautiful and a lot of areas here are very photogenetic. It’s easy to take great pictures.
Things to eat:
The Jeolla province is very famous for the abundance of side dishes when they serve food. I recommend trying both their famous Bibimbap or any form of Korean bbq.
Another dish that is not specifically Jeolla or Jeonju but that I strongly recommend is Budae jjigae. The reason is that tourists usually never try this dish and for people with a more western taste I think Budae jjigae fits perfectly. It’s western ingredients like spam meal and sausages but cooked in a Korean way. It’s easily my favorite food and all my western acquaintances that have had the opportunity to try it have loved it.
* Andreas is one of our honorary reporters, currently living in Sweden and he had lived in Korea for a few months.
