Dong Daegu

Of Interest: entertainment district, multiple bus stations

Lodging: multiple, hotels and motels

ATM: multiple banks in the area

Other transit: subway station, intercity and express buses

Dong (East) Daegu is Daegu's KTX station. It is in the midst of East Daegu's entertainment district. There are a lot of bars and restaurants nearby, and people come here to walk at night. There also two or three bus stations in the area. Therefore, this area has the most forms of lodging of any area of Daegu.

Daegu is relatively spread out for a Korean city. It actually takes up as much space as Seoul, even though it has less than one-fourth the people. The subway is the best way to get from one part of the city to the other. It goes downtown. So do most saemaeul and mugunhwa trains.

Heading south, Busan is a little over an hour away by KTX high speed train. It takes an hour and a half by regular speed train.

Heading north, Daejeon is fifty minutes away by KTX and two hours by regular speed train while Seoul is an hour and fifty minutes by KTX and two hours and forty-five minutes by regular speed.

KTX trains are frequent. Other trains are hourly.

Occaisional trains head into the mountains to end at Yeongju three hours away.

Jeonju

Lodging: motels

Tourist Office: Yes

Of Interest: station is at the edge of town

Jeonju is mainly famous for its festivals, especially for its annual film festival. Unfortunately, Jeonju is not very accessible by train. The train station is not within walking distance of downtown, and trains only run about once an hour. They can sell out during festivals.

Until a couple of years ago there was a Jeollabuk-do commuter train that ran from Gunsan to Jeonju, but that has been discontinued. I am curious about what happened to the people who lived near the stations.

Jeonju is a good place to visit. The tourist office has lots of information about what to do in Jeonju and about how to get there as well as about the surrounding area. Besides festivals, Jeonju is rich in museums and artists. There is also a section of traditional houses that is near a Confucian shrine that was important during the Joseon period.

Sintanjin

Lodging: many motels

Tourist Office: No

Of Interest: eclectic area

Nearest bank: across the street from the station

There are more motels and other kinds of lodging near Sintanjin Station than I have seen anywhere else in Korea. No hotels though. The closer to the station they are, the less appealing they look.

The shops and restaurants in the area are extremely eclectic while still being basically Korean. For example, there is a snail restaurant. Now one of the kim bap chains specializes in a particular kind of snail soup so I don't think that eating snails is rare in Korea. But this is the first restaurant that I have seen that has more than one dish using the creatures. If you are looking for some specialty from another part of Korea, this is the place to go.

Sintanjin used to be its own little town before it was absorbed into Daejeon. Maybe that is why it is so eclectic. Maybe there is just a wide range of people for the local industries.

The area that I am talking about is in a series of roads that are parallel to the one that runs in front of the station. The most attractive motels are on the second road in.

Osan

Lodging: motels in every direction

Tourist Office: no, but there is a decent tourist map at the station

Of interest: downtown Osan

Nearest bank: Nonghyup is straight down the road in front of the station

I have been to Osan three times, but every time I forget my camera. So sorry no pictures. Hopefully, I will remember next time because Osan actually has some pretty interesting parts. (Although if you look at the crappy picture I took of Sintanjin, maybe that is not such a bad thing.)

Several historical sites are located in Osan. The closest to the station is a Confucian shrine, one of two major ones in Korea. Someone who is good at reading maps and has a good memory can walk there in less than 45 minutes. Other sites are further away, but Osan is small enough that a taxi ride shouldn't be too expensive.

I also climbed to the top of a hill that is close to the center of town.

Osan is a working class town with a large foreign population. (Foreign meaning non-Korean.) There is a Central Asian/Russian restaurant to the left of the station and something else to the right.

Osan station is mainly served by subways and commuter trains that follow the subway route. There are a couple of trains daily to Busan and a couple to Seoul.

Nonsan

Lodging: motels

Tourist Office: No

Of Interest: downtown Nonsan, large covered market

It is surprising how quiet Nonsan is considering that it is so near Daejeon. The main attraction is a multi street covered market that covers downtown. There are few chain stores in the town, probably because the market sells everything.

The motels don't look great, but they are right by the train station.

Jeongeup

Lodging: multiple motels

Tourist Office: Yes

Of interest: river walk, Jeongeupsa Park, Chungreolsa temple, Jeongeup Hyanggyo

The name Jeongeup comes from a Baekje era song, one of only five songs that survived to today. The country of Jeongeup is full of historical monuments. In the city itself there are two areas of interest.

Turning right when you leave the station will take you to a small river with paths along both banks. Go left to walk into the city, walk right to walk away. If you walk left along the river for about twenty-five minutes, you will come to Jeongeupsa Park which contains the Jeongeupsa Art Center.

Turn left when you leave the station and then right at the first major street will take you toward City Hall. Chungryeolsa and the Jeongeup Hyanggyo are behind the city hall. Hyanggyo were Joseon-era public elementary schools.

I didn't actually see any of the above. I walked along the river and then through the city instead. It is possible to walk from one end of the city to the other in less than an hour. There are not a lot of sidewalks, but drivers are very polite to pedestrians. I did find the town's central "pedestrian" area. Unlike most pedestrian areas, this one formally let cars drive down it. But there were actually less cars than on some other "pedestrian" areas in Korea because the road was curved like a river. It was also painted blue. There was a exhibition of traditional Korean painting along the road.

I had a hard time finding a restaurant to eat at, but once I did, I was very happy. I just went to a local kim bap place where I had excellent turnip green (yeol mu) bibimbap. One of the things that I like about Jeolla-do is that you can go to the simplest restaurant and eat better than at an expensive big city restaurant.

Pyeongtaek

Of interest: Train station mall is a good place to hang out
Lodging: several motels and a hotel

Tourist Office: No

Pyeongtaek has a new station that is more than a station. In the building are several restaurants, a department store and a CGV movie theater.

Current movie times are on Nate (in Korean). A listing of movie posters with their names and in English and Korean can be found on The Yeogiyo.

The US army is in the process of moving the Yongsan army base to the area. The new constuction is probably in anticipation of this move as well as being a response to economic growth in the area. The station is right downtown, and right next to both bus stations, so it is a convenient location for development.

The station exits are numbered because this is a subway station as well as a regular train station. The main exit is Exit 1. To get to downtown, walk straight ahead. Buses to Seoul leave from a terminal that is just to the right of the main station. A large collection of motels and one hotel are on that same road after the intercity bus terminal.

Exit 2 leads to a residential neighborhood.

The new station is a good place to go when the weather is bad. The prices are cheaper than in Seoul, and there are some restaurants that you don't usually see outside of the major cities. There is a hamburger place and several Japanese restaurants. You can decent white bread in the department store basement.

Pyeongtaek is about an hour from Seoul on mugungwha, saemaeul, and commuter trains. Going north you can choose between trains that go to Seoul or Yongsan stations. Trains go to all southern lines, that is to Busan, Gwangju, Yeosu, Mokpo, and all stations in between. The Janghang Line to Chungnam (Onyang, Hongseong, Seocheon, etc.) stops here. The commuter train takes this route, ending three stops of the main line at Sinchang. These trains stop at the Cheonan-Asan KTX station (listed as Asan Station for non-KTX trains). If you are going past Daejeon, it may be quicker to change trains to a KTX train here. Please check the link in the sidebar for current schedules.

Jochiwon

Of Interest: Freight yard, downtown Jochiwon

Lodging: motels

Tourist office: none

Jochiwon is a little town that grew up around the convergence of the rail lines connecting Seoul and the rest of the country with the lines that connect Daejeon with Chungcheongbuk-do and the mountains of Gangwon-do. It is a typical Korean small town with a lot of lodging right next to the train station. Overall it feels like an industrialized area.

You can take buses that go out into the countryside and to Gongju from the bus stop across the street from the station.

Besides being on both the Seoul-Busan and Yongsan-Gwangju/Mokpo main lines, trains from here go up into North Chungcheong Province. The three stops that serve suburban Cheongju are from ten to twenty minutes away. Jecheon, where you can change to trains Gangwon and Gyeongsang Provinces, is a little more than an hour and a half away along an attractive route near many mountains. There is good hiking from some of the stations on this route.

If you are going toward some of the more urban parts of Korea, Seoul is about an hour and a half away while you can reach Daejeon in about thirty minutes. Go to Daejeon Station to transfer to the Busan KTX and to Seodaejeon Station to transfer to the southwest KTX. Saemaeul and Mugungwha trains to southern Korea are cheaper, but they are also slower.

The three stops that

Busan Station

Lodging: Both motels and hotels. Ask the tourist office for recommendations.

Tourist Office: Yes, excellent.

Of interest: Fake Chinatown, City Tour

There are really two stations, one for the subway and one for the train. They are separated by a plaza which has frequent public events. When I was there last, floats for a Buddha's Birthday parade were being displayed in the plaza.

Busan is the main KTX station for Busan. There is an excellent tourist office here. The staff in this office know a lot about Busan. Ask them any questions that you have about Busan or the surrounding area. They have good maps of Busan and other places in Korea.

Some slower trains for Seoul leave from Busan Station, but most of Busan's intercity trains leave from Bujeon.

Across the street from both the stations is a fake Chinatown. A couple of Busan's older Chinese restaurants are here, but there are more Russians than any other nationality. It is not really that international, and it is kind of skanky at night.

The City Tour buses leave from the side of the station plaza. There are two lines during the day, one going east and one going west. You have to buy a separate ticket for each line. Tickets are 10.000 won each with a 20% discount for people arriving by KTX and for groups of 20 or more. Tours run everyday except Monday.

Busan is spread out along the coast, so these tours are a good idea for a first time visitor. There is also a night time tour that runs once each night.

Soyosan Subway Station

Lodging: Yes

Tourist Office: No

Of interest: Soyo Mountain, Jajeam Mountain, Peace Museum, Wonhyo Waterfall

I like to go exploring because of the unexpected things that I see. Here I saw maple trees with pink seeds. I have only ever seen brown maple seeds.

Soyosan Station is at the northern end of line 1. San means mountain, and this station is at the foot of Soyo Mountain.

Almost everyone who gets off here is going to the mountain, so just follow the crowd. You will walk through a little town with motels and restaurants. There is a motel actually on the mountain along with several restaurants, so I recommend waiting.

There is a also a peace museum right outside the little town.

I didn't stay overnight, but I did eat. An excellent meal. The restaurant was next to the stream that comes off the mountain. They specialize in mushroom dishes. I had mountain vegetables which were really good.

One of the oldest temples in Korea is located here although the current buildings were actually built after the Korean war. The Buddhist monk Wonhyo built Jajae'am-sa in 645.

The walk from the station is not the only way up, it just one of the easiest and most convenient. You can also walk from one of the back gates of Camp Casey.

Seodaejeon Station

Of interest: Costco

Lodging: one motel
Tourist Office: Yes
In Station Computers: Yes

Note: There is also a Seodaejeon subway station which is a fifteen minute walk away from the train station.

Seodeajeon is the secondary train station in Daejoen. Seo means west. This station handles traffic going to the southwest. These trains go to Gwangju and Mokpo. Trains going north go to Yongsan Station in Seoul. There is a KTX line here, but trains are much less frequent than the ones running on the Seoul-Busan line. The upside is that they are also less crowded except for peak tourist season.

The station is located in a residential neighborhood about fifteen minutes by bus from Daejeon Station. The Daejeon Costco is right next door. Several good, but modest restaurants are in the area. There is also a department store, cinema, grocery store complex about five minutes away. Really this area is nothing special although it is a good place to live. It takes about ten minutes to walk to the subway.

There is one motel visible from the main station exit, however, I can't find the entrance when I walk down the street. Actually, getting to this motel may be more difficult than it appears at first.

Daejeon

Of interest: old downtown, traditional food and clothing market, art cinema, city tour

Lodging: Motel

Tourist office: Yes, a good one. There is also an international center across the street.

In Station Computers: Yes

Nearest Int'l ATM: In the underground subway station

Daejeon Station is the main train station for Daejeon. It also has the main tourist information office for Daejeon. This is unusual because few train stations have tourist info offices anymore. The people working here are a good source of information about Daejeon AND Seoul. Note that while the maps and pamphlets on local attractions are in multiple languages, those for Seoul are only in Korean. However, it may be worth stopping here before starting a trip to Seoul because there is NO tourist office at Seoul Station. They are inside. If you leave with the crowds when you arrive in Daejeon, you have to walk back into the train station. The tourist office is on the second floor, the same floor as ticket purchases.

Trains from Daejeon Station run southeast to Daegu and Busan, north to Seoul Station, and into Chungcheongbuk-do. KTX trains run along the Seoul-Busan route. Seoul is about an hour away to the north. To the south Daegu is also about an hour away, while Busan is two hours, all by KTX. Saemaeul and Mugungwha trains take about twice that long, but they are also half as much. There are also five Mugungwha trains a day that run to the mountains. (Trains running southwest leave from Seodaejeon Station.) Cheongju Station, near the capital of Chungcheongbuk-do, is 37 minutes away to the northwest. The line ends at Jecheon, two and a half hours away. At that point travelers can transfer to two other mountain lines.

Daejeon Station is also the name for a subway station which runs underneath the train station.

Daejeon Station is in old downtown. The station plaza is sometimes the location for citizen sponsored events. For the downtown food market, turn to your left when you leave the train station. It starts at the edge of the parking lot.

To get to the international center or the art cinema, go into the subway station to cross the street. There is an underground shopping center. Walk into this. The first set of stairs to your left will take you up to the international center. Keep walking straight away from the train station and shortly you will see some movie posters and flyers. The art cinema is on the third floor. Their website is http://cafe.naver.com/artcinema (Korean). There is also a more conventional multiplex near the station.

There are some good traditional Korean restaurants a five to ten minute walk from the train station. Again, cross under the street through the subway station and exit on the first set of stairs to the left. Keep walking straight, parallel to the train station, until you come to the first street on your right. Walk down this street. On it you will find used clothing stores, a couple of Buddhist stores, and various other small shops. The small streets to your left will take you to a market for luggage, hats, and clothing. Near the end of this small street there are several restaurants.

On the weekends, a city tour leaves from in front of the station.