Jeonju is a city in South Korea, and the capital of Jeollabuk-do, or North Jeolla Province. It is an important tourist center famous for Korean food, historic buildings, sports activities and innovative festivals.
Located in the fertile Honam plain, famous for strawberries and exceptional produce, Jeonju has been an important regional center in the province for centuries. Once, the city was capital of Hubaekje, which was founded by Gyeon Hwon. The city was regarded as the spiritual capital of the Joseon Dynasty because the Yi royal family originated there.
The town was occupied by the Donghak peasants' movement in 1894. Jeonju was given metropolitan status in 1935, and the city was founded in 1949.
Jeonju bibimbap, a traditional local food, is well-known across South Korea. There are also several very popular vegetarian restaurants serving Jeonju style food and pine wine. The National Jeonju Museum exhibits ancient relics from the Baekje days. There are extensive royal museums, temples, a castle fortress on a hillside, and a well-known paper museum, as well as an annual paper fashion show highlighting both the latest style and traditional Korean clothing made of paper. The Jeonju International Film Festival draws about 50,000 visitors annually.
PLACE TO VISIT
Traditional Korean Wine Museum
Hanok (tradditional) Village, where the wine museum is located, features a guest house and other businesses and museums. At the "experiece traditional life" park, lessons are given in traditional food, games, crafts...
The Gaeksa building, located in the city centre, date from around 1471 and were used used to accommodate important visitors. Rituals to honour the king were also held here. It's a meeting place for many as well as a hangout location for many old men. The downtown area sourrounding is also referred to as Gaeksa. To get downtown most people will simply tell the taxi driver to take them to Gaeksa
The Hansol Paper Museum records the history of paper making and usages since the age of the Egyptians. There is an interesting movie shown in English upon request. Most of the signs are in korean only, but I found the museum quite interesting. There are some displays on traditional Korean paper making. You also have a chance to make a piece of paper there as well. On weekends and holidays, there are various workshops available.
WHAT TO DO
Take a walk through Wolseong Park where the locals take their well-deserved Sunday break with kites, horse-coach riding or just walking through the beautiful park setting.
Take a hike in the Namsan-area ('South Mountain' area), a scenic natural park with beautiful hikes through beautiful wood with lots of Buddhist remains like pagodes and Buddha images carved into the wood, at least one of them being 7 meters high.
HOW TO REACH
Take the KTX to Iksan, and then you can take a bus or taxi from there. This is the fastest but most expensive option, taking about 2 hours from Seoul. Express buses are available for as little as 8,000W and take 3 hours and 20 minutes.
From the airport, there are Limousine buses that run every halfhour that will take you near city hall in Jeonju.
