Gyeongju World Amusement Park & Main Spots Day Tour from Busan

Dony was a wonderful guide from start to finish—kind, attentive, interesting, intelligent, and very compassionate. We loved this day spent with family, and we highly recommend it to all travelers eager to discover beautiful things and enjoy quality time with their loved ones.

overall experience is good. please take note that this a SELF GUIDED tour. the driver will drive you around and a brief explanation for the place you go.

A full day from Busan to Gyeongju to see all the wonderful unesco world heritage sites. This is a fabulous way to maximise your time with great explanations and history from our guide YB, and then guidance of where to go in free time at each location. A great day and way to see this historical township! Super comfy vehicle and safe driving too!

I am satisfied with the places visited on the tour. It would have been even better if there was a guide in Japanese. The driver/guide took care of me and talked to me. It was a place that I couldn't go around on my own, so I'm glad I was able to participate in the tour. thank you for helping me.

I'm grateful for the guide's polite service. The car was comfortable and we had a lot of fun going there safely. Thank you very much.

There was no problem with the itinerary. There was plenty of time to play and eat. The Chinese tour guide was very enthusiastic. There was no problem with communication. I managed my time well.

A very culture enriching tour, seeing the historical sites of Korea. Tour guide is very knowledgeable, sufficient time is allocated on the free n easy portions to walk around. Definitely worth a day trip to immerse in the rich history of Gyeongju

We (2 adults and 2 teenage daughters) went on this cultural tour to learn more about Korean culture and history. It was nice to see that there were only 10 of us on this tour. Our tour guide Youngbok spoke to us in English and the other 6 in Mandarin (as they were from Taiwan). It was good for my daughters to listen and practice their Mandarin speaking and listening skills as well! A map was given to us straight away in the beginning of the tour, so then we would know in which order we were seeing the cultural sites and the distance/time in which we would be travelling in the van. Our first stop was at the Daereungwon Ancient Tombs, where we were told the reason why there weren’t any clear tombstone heads etc. apparently during the Silla dynasty, they still hadn’t learnt how to make the headstone stand vertically…. So they made elaborate tomb mountains instead. Starting with a base of different size rocks and then wood to build the chamber. After this, then the wood was covered in clay to waterproof the wooden chamber. Then covered completely in rocks to make a mini mountain. Which in time got covered in grass and sometimes a tree would also organically grow. The ancient burial site that we visited was for the Silla Royalty and the elite noblemen. The largest one there was for a king and his queen! We also saw the observatory tower that was built for Queen Seondeok. The first official female head of the Royal family to rule! After that we went and had lunch at the Hwangliden street, where we enjoyed a beef rib (Galbi) stew with a rice/seaweed/egg bowl! We also purchased some local breads and cheese breads! There is also a Starbucks there that is the only one built in one of the old style Korean houses. We also enjoyed a coffee at Skunkhouse roasters! Our second stop was at the Gyochon Traditional Village and the Woljeong Bridge. Here we were told about how children at the age of 7 were separated. Boys playing with boys and girls with girls. It didn’t matter if they were siblings! We were also told about the distinction between normal villages and high ranking elites and royalty. A lot can be told by how a man had his hair done and the type of hat worn. We also saw a chilli field, where green and red chillies are grown in the little village. The smaller ones being the most spicy! Woljeong Bridge was designed only for royalty and elite to pass from one side of the river to the other side. We had the privilege of being able to walk on this beautiful bridge and it was truely very impressive. It was freezing cold and windy, so the experience was even better, as the wind blowing through the bridge/tunnel made it good! The river underneath had completely frozen, and so many kids and adults went on it to do little seat sliding games and also simply walk on it as well! We don’t go on the ice, as we didn’t want to risk falling in, as we didn’t have a change of clothing with us! However, we did go in the rock steps to cross the frozen river… the ones that the common locals would have used in the olden days as well. On the other side of the river in the village is a true find! We ran into this cafe called 1779 EYSE! OMG! The food here is amazing! The architectural design inside is so beautiful and elegant! The Icecream sandwich was next level and the coffee was the best that I’ve had in Korea so far! Bear in mind though, that there is an age limit. Kids 12 and below are not welcome, and we actually saw people with young kids, get asked to leave. Our 3rd stop was the the Bulguksa Temple. Our guide told us about the different types of Buddha’s. We also saw many hanging lanterns that people have hung to pray for the souls of their dead relatives. It was truely beautiful to see! There were many temples in this one site, and we were there for about 1.5hours. I have to admit, my 2 teenage daughters were quite over seeing temples by the end of this portion of the tour! 4th and final stop was the UNESCO Heritage site of the Donggung Palace & Wolji Pond. We arrived just as the sun was setting, so we were able to get great photos at sunset. Once 5.40pm came, the lights came on, and the beautiful palace really came to life and with the icy pond, it just looked amazing! I am so glad that we got to visit it in the evening! Overall we had a good day and it was made better by the fact that our tour guide was able to converse with us in English. However, I think our first stop could have been given a little less time, as 3.5 hours was a little long for a first stop, and many of the shops didn’t open until 11am (we arrived there at 10am). Thanks again for a good tour!

Thoroughly enjoyed this tour! It allowed us to cover the main historical places of interest in Gyeongju conveniently. And our guide YB was very knowledgeable, patient and kind 👍🏻 Finding the tour bus at the meet-up location was easy too.

Our guide, Yeongbok has done an excellent job in leading us to the historical sites of Gyeongju. He explained very well in both Mandarin and English, and we had a deeper impression of Korea's origin Do ask him what food is recommended in those areas too.