Today I’ll share with you some of my top favorite 10 places in Gwangju, a.k.a. my “Korean hometown.”
Gwangju city is the first place in South Korea where I spent two years exploring and creating memories: I cheered at the KIA Tigers baseball game; I saw world famous K-pop boy band BTS perform in Gwangju; made friends with Koreans and foreigners at Korean-English language exchanges in the Gwangju International Center; rang in the new year at Speakeasy; and shared numerous #AnneLovesGwangju photos on my Instagram.
Where is Gwangju, South Korea?
Gwangju metropolitan city is located in the heart of South Jeolla province, or Jeollanam-do (전라남도), in southwestern South Korea. Gwangju has a population of 1.501 million (2017) and ranks as the sixth-largest populated city in Korea.
Did you know that there are two Gwangju cities in South Korea? One is Gwangju city (광주시) located in northern South Korea in Gyeonggi-do, and second is Gwangju Metropolitan city (광주광역시) located southwestern Korea in Jeollanam-do province. This post is about the Gwangju Metropolitan city!
Before I moved to Gwangju, I didn’t find much information or any travel guides about Gwangju. Gwangju has a friendly community of foreign workers and foreign university students, so don’t worry about not making friends. If you’re moving to Gwangju, join the “Gwangju 광주” group on Facebook to see local events and latest news.
Gwangju: Travel Guide
I will guide you and give you the top 10 best places to visit in Gwangju city. As always, use ‘Kakao Maps’ or ‘Naver Maps’ apps for the best navigation routes around Gwangju and other cities in South Korea!
From Seoul and other cities in Korea, you can set the destination to the “U Square Bus Terminal” or Gwangju Songjeong Station (광주송정역) if Gwangju Station (광주역) isn’t offering many times.
Gwangju is known for the pro-democracy uprising in 1980, so you may notice the numbers “5-18” placed around the city to recognize and remember the May 18th, 1980 event. This event helped South Korea become a Democratic country.
Sometimes, Gwangju is also spelled as Kwangju.
I highly recommend visiting this underrated city when looking for a city outside of Korea’s capital city Seoul or beach city Busan.
Now, here are my top 10 must-visit spots in Gwangju:
1.) Asia Culture Center (ACC) (아시아문화전당) in Gwangju, Korea
If there is one place you must visit in Gwangju, I think the ACC is the best.
Recently, the Asia Culture Center (ACC) was opened in 2015 as a culture hub for visitors to enjoy Asian art, music, and other events. It is located in the new “Downtown Gwangju” and recently the most popular spot to visit.
It was “constructed on and around the site of the former Office of Jeollanam-do Province which is a historically important area in Gwangju” for the 5.18 Democratic Uprising Movement of 1980. Even if the ACC buildings aren’t open, you can still visit the center and walk around it to see the sculptures and parks.
“It would take a full day to enjoy all of the ACC’s programs and tour the buildings. The ACC consists of the ACC Creation, where artists can develop their ideas and stories; the ACC Archive & Research, where journals and published materials from around Asia are stored; ACC Children, where children can learn and take part in cultural programs; ACC Theatre, where artists can exhibit their work; and ACC Culture Exchange, where people can learn and view exhibitions about the May 18, 1980, Gwangju Democratic Uprising.” published by The Korea Herald in 2015.
Visit the ACC’s official website to see current hours, exhibitions, and event schedules or the Asia Culture Center’s English Facebook page to see news.
The ACC buildings are located nearly 30 minutes from the Gwangju Songjeong Train Station (광주송정역) and 30 minutes from the U Square Bus Terminal. You can visit the ACC by bus (from the U Square Bus Terminal), Gwangju’s one-line subway, or car. If visiting the ACC via taxi, show the Korean taxi driver “아시아문화전당.”
ACC Address: 38 Munhwajeondang-ro, Gwangsan-dong, Dong-gu, Gwangju, South Korea
The second place is located next to the ACC and a popular spot for shopping, eating, and walking around.
2.) Gwangju’s Chungjang-ro (충장로) Shopping Street
My second favorite spot has plenty of shopping and restaurants.
Similar to Seoul’s busiest shopping neighborhood “Myeongdong,” Gwangju has its own shopping street called Chungjang-ro Street (충장로). It’s also located off of the ACC and Chungjang-dong (충장동) and Geumnam-ro 4 (금남로4) subway stations.
You can walk around, get street food from food carts, get coffee, or do some shopping. There are a variety of International clothing stores, like H&M, Zara, Nike, etc. as well as some movie theaters, Korean boutiques and stores, Korean stationary stores, K-beauty stores, etc.
When traveling in South Korea, you may notice the presence of “cute cafe culture” because Koreans love coffee and pretty cafes. The next place is great for cute cafes and dessert shops.
3.) Gwangju Cafe Street 동명동 DongMyeongDong
If you cross the street next to Sky Park (하늘 마당) of the ACC, you’ll walk into DongMyeongDong. This neighborhood has many trendy dessert and coffee shops and some restaurants as well. You can walk from the ACC to this neighborhood. If you’re craving Mexican food, visit “Ahorita” in this neighborhood!
The next place is across the road from the ACC and Chungjang Shopping area.
4.) Gwangju Art Street (광주예술의거리)
If you’re a fan of art, you should visit Gwangju’s Art Street. Art Street is the “so called Insa-dong” of Gwangju. There are alleyways just like this one, located off of the Chungjang-ro Street and Chungjang-dong subway station. Currently more than 100 art galleries and stores with handcrafted art can be found here. Sometimes, there is Live music or holiday events. You can find cute art wall murals and some traditional Korean art.
You’ll also find cafes and tea shops
Address: 62-3 Chungjang-dong, Dong-gu, Gwangju, South Korea
5.) Penguin Village (펭귄마을) in Yanglim neighborhood (양림역사문화마을)
Across the bridge is another unique spot with antique art and Korean culture — called Penguin Village.
There are no actual penguins living in this village in Gwangju, but it is worth a visit. Penguin Village has a few alleyways decorated with antiques and you guessed it — penguins. The old story of this neighborhood is that the older Korean adjusshis and adjummas, who live here, may look and walk like penguins as their bodies get older.
Address: 7, Seoseopyeong-gil, Nam-gu, Gwangju (광주광역시 남구 서서평길 7 (양림동))
6.) Sajik Park and Folk Music Street (사직공원)
Most cities have “Seoul Tower” or “Busan Tower” as a place to see tall 360-degree views of the city. Located across from the bridges and river is the Sajik Folk Music Street and Sajik Park. Sajik Park and Sajik Tower is located on the top of the mountain here, offering 360-degree views of Gwangju city and Gwangju’s Mudeungsan National Park.
Sajik Tower is a 5 to 10-minute walk or drive up the road, but it’s free and offers a nice view especially of the sunset. You can go inside Sajik Tower to see more historic photos of Gwangju’s landmarks and modern history.
7.) The Colorful Youthfulness Balsan Village (청춘발산마을)
This neighborhood has been a recent attraction for its colorful buildings. Its name is Chung-chun Balsan Village, translating to Colorful Youthfulness Village, was one home for many Koreans who worked at the Textile Factory in the 1970’s located next to this river. Today, it’s a renovated colorful village to attract young people to visit and photograph the alleyways. If you visit here, you’ll find the rainbow-colored 108-stairs and see views of the local Yeongsan River.
It is located about a 10-minute walk from the U Square Bus Terminal, or tell the taxi driver “Cheong-chun Ma-heul.” You can read more about this village’s history here or see the interactive village map 마을산책.
Address: 17-13 Cheonbyeonjwa-ro 108beon-gil, Yang 3(sam)-dong, Seo-gu, Gwangju, South Korea
8.) Gwangju’s Uncheon Reservoir (운천저수지)
In the spring, one of the best places in Gwangju to see the pink cherry blossoms and plum flowers is the Uncheon Reservoir. This is my favorite place to visit during the spring since the pink and white flowers are surrounded around the pond. During the summer, the reservoir pond is loaded with lotus flowers and lily pads.
This pond and park is located 10-minutes from Gwangju City Hall and U Square Bus Terminal. You can get off of the Sangmu subway station or the Uncheon subway station and easily walk to this pond. There are walking trails around the pond and even a boardwalk so you can walk over the pond! Also, there are some cafes and restaurants next to the reservoir if you want a nice view!
9.) Gwangju 5.18 Democratic Movement Hall (518민주화운동기록관)
As you read, the 5.18 Democratic Movement is important to South Korea’s modern history to the road to democracy. The Democratic Movement Hall and Memorial Park has some pictures of the statues and names of those who risked their lives for democracy.
This is the most important site of the 5.18 Democratic Movement, with sculptures and a memorial park dedicated to the memory of the historic event that helped bring democracy to South Korea.
There’s also a 5.18 Park with a newly-built pagoda for relaxed views of Gwangju City Hall and KBS Tower.
10.) Gwangju Mudeungsan National Park (무등산국립공원)
Coming in at number 8 is Mudeungsan (무등산) is located on the border of Gwangju and the province of Jeollanam-do, South Korea. The park was designated a provincial park on May 22, 1972 and was upgraded to national park status in 2012, making it South Korea’s 21st national park.
This national park is famous for its stone hexagon-shaped pillars and has huge variety of routes you can hike or run with its tallest peak at 1100 meters. View the routes on the National Parks of Korea English page.
Once in Gwangju, it is possible to take inexpensive city buses to the park’s main entrance.
Watch my video of me hiking Mudeungsan on my YouTube channel:
So that concludes my top 10 favorite places and beautiful neighborhoods of Gwangju, South Korea. Gwangju has been a great city to explore and I’m so grateful I was able to call home for the past two years. Be sure to comment below with your favorite places in Gwangju!
If you’re looking for more places and cities to visit outside of Gwangju, I recommend visiting Naju (나주) Bitgaram Innocity 10 minutes via train, 15 minutes to Mokpo (목포) sea ports, or 45 minutes via bus to Boseong (보성) Green Tea Fields, Damyang (담양) Bamboo Forest 35 minutes by bus, or Jeonju (전주) Hanok Village an hour by bus.
