Jeonju – The Hanok City
Jeonju is a city in the west of South Korea known for its sprawling Hanok village. Gyeongju often gets all the limelight if you want to visit a Hanok village and experience traditional Korean culture, but I think Jeonju is a much better place to visit to experience these. The Hanok village in Jeonju is a sprawling area of traditional houses, shops, and fantastic food stalls. This city is also home to bibimbap, a dish of rice topped with vegetables and gochujang, as well other great foods to try. Jeonju makes a great addition to a trip to Korea for a more traditional feel away from the larger cities.
Things to do in Jeonju
- Jeonju Hanok Village
- Gyeonggijeon Shrine and Royal Portrait Museum
- Jeondong Cathedral
- Jeolla Gamyeong
- Pungpaejigwan Guesthouse
- Jaman Mural Village
- Jeonju Confucious School
- Omokdae
- Namcheongyo Bridge
- Hanbyeokdang Pavilion
- Pungnammun Gate
- Nambu Night Market
- Youth Culture Street
- Eat Bibimbap
- Try Traditional Korean Sweets
Jeonju Hanok Village
The Jeonju Hanok Village covers a large area of the city and is filled with traditional houses, guesthouses, crafts and tourist shops, and lots of cafes, restaurants and food stalls. It’s one of the best examples of Hanok villages in Korea and has lots of pedestrianised streets that you can spend all day wandering.
It’s a great place to come for food, including bibimbap, bulgogi, and the amazing street food.
When visiting Jeonju, wandering these streets is likely how you’ll spend most of your time. Many of the other things to see and do are inside the Hanok village or adjacent to it.
Gyeonggijeon Shrine and Royal Portrait Museum
On the west side of the Jeonju Hanok Village is the Gyeonggijeon Shrine. This shrine was founded in 1410 to honour King Taejo, the founder of the Joseon dynasty. The main building of the shrine houses the portrait of King Taejo, while the Royal Portrait Museum within the grounds of the shrine contains replicas of the surviving royal portraits.
The shrine contains many traditional buildings and information about the Joseon dynasty, including the Annals of the Josen dynasty. A copy of these were stored in Jeonju and were the only copy to survive the Japanese invasion of the late 1500s.
The Gyeonggijeon Shrine and Royal Portrait Museum are worth visiting, and you can easily spend an hour or two looking around.
Jeondong Cathedral
Opposite the Gyeonggijeon Shrine you’ll find the Jeondong Cathedral. This cathedral was built between 1908 and 1914 and resembles the Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful Catholic churches in Korea.
The church grounds are closed for much of the day, meaning you have to take a photo over the gate, but if you come between 12 and 4pm (check with the tourist information staff around the gate) you can enter and wander around the grounds.
You can also go inside the cathedral, though they do emphasise you should only do so if you plan to stay for at least a few minutes to pray. They’ll also insist you cover up if you’re wearing short sleaves or shorts. I think the outside is more impressive, however.
Jeolla Gamyeong
During the Joseon dynasty, Jeonju served as the administrative, judicial and military capital of Jeolla province. The Jeolla Gamyeong was where the local governor resided. The buildings there now are reconstructions as most were repurposed during the Japanese occupation or burned down during the Korean War.
What is there now covers just a small area of the former Gamyeong, but you can get a sense for what it would be like in the past. You can step inside the main building and see some traditional art.
Pungpaejigwan Guesthouse
Just north of Jeolla Gamyeong is the Pungpaejigwan Guesthouse. This long building served as a place for visiting officials and envoys to stay while visiting Jeonju during the Joseon dynasty. Nowadays it is open for everyone to visit or take a break while exploring Jeonju.
Jaman Mural Village
The Jaman Mural Village is on the east side of the Jeonju Hanok Village, perched on a steep hillside. The streets of this small village are lined with murals, with some featuring traditional art, while others show art from children’s movies, and yet more have new creations and even more recent artwork, such as the mural depicting the characters from 2025’s Kpop Demon Hunters. There are also some cafes within the village if you need a break from its steep streets.
Jeonju Confucius School
Not far from the Jaman Mural Village is the Jeonju Confucius School, or Jeonju Hyanggyo. This Confucian school was founded during the Joseon dynasty and like others in the country its aim was to promote Confucian education and train local elites.
The school consists of a main hall for veneration of Confucius, as well as lecture halls and dormitories. There is also a 400 year old Ginko tree which is apparently best seen in autumn.
Omokdae
Omokdae is on a hill overlooking the Jeonju Hanok Village, so walking up to it offers a pretty good view over the village. This site marks where Yi Seong-gye, who later became King Taejo, stopped to have a banquet to celebrate his victory over the Japanese.
There’s not a whole lot to see here but the walk up is quiet and gives a good view across Jeonju.
Namcheongyo Bridge
Namcheongyo Bridge marks the southern extent of the Jeonju Hanok Village. It crosses the Jeonjucheon stream and in the centre there is a large pavilion where you can take a rest, or if you happen to visit at the right time you might catch a live performance. When I visited Jeonju Korean folk percussionists were playing in this pavilion, with many people sat inside to listen.
Hanbyeokdang pavilion
The Hanbyeokdang Pavilion is situated just down the river from Namcheongyo Bridge. This pavilion was built in 1404 by a civil official of the Joseon period so he could enjoy the surrounding nature. The view from the pavilion is considered one of the best in Jeonju, and apparently many writers came here to find inspiration.
Pungnammun Gate
The Pungnammun Gate is located to the west of the Jeonju Hanok Village and was built during the Joseon dynasty in 1734. It was the southernmost gate of the four that were present in Jeonju. The gate has taken some damage over the years and has been restored. You may be able to go inside the gate building but unfortunately when I visited it was closed for maintenance. Still, it’s an impressive gate structure similar to those found in Seoul that you can’t miss when wandering around Jeonju.
Nambu Night Market
The Nambu Market is located next to the Pungnammun Gate and is best visited at night. Double check before you go, because the night market may only run on Fridays and Saturdays.
Inside, the narrow lanes of the market are packed with food vendors cooking all kinds of snacks and food, with different meats, traditional dishes, and desserts on offer.
Youth Culture Street
The Youth Culture Street, or the area around Gaengnidan Street, is a more modern area of Jeonju featuring lots of shops, cafes and restaurants. Here you’ll find large international brands as well as the usual Korean stores such as the Kyobo bookstore, Artbox and Daiso. If you’re looking to do a bit of shopping in Jeonju that isn’t just souvenirs, this is the area to come to.
Eat Bibimbap
Bibimbap is believed to have originated in Jeonju, and so there are many restaurants in the city selling varieties of the popular dish. Bibimbap is a rice dish typically topped with vegetables and gochujang. Egg and meat (bulgogi) are common additions. Each ingredient is served separated on top of the rice, with the idea being you mix it all together before eating.
I had really good bulgogi bibimbap at Gogung Suragan in the Jeonju Hanok Village, but there are loads of options to choose from if this restaurant is busy.
try traditional Korean Sweats
If you would like to try some traditional Korean sweats then there is a great cafe on the west side of the Gyeonggijeon Shrine called Cafe Masirange, offering a great view over the shrine to enjoy along with the sweats. Their drink sets all come with a selection of traditional sweets including yakgwa and seongpyeon (little rice cakes). You can choose from the matcha set, a tea set, or like me go for the moju set. It turns out moju is a traditional alcoholic drink similar to makgeolli, which is probably why the staff gave me a funny look when I ordered it at 11am! In my defence it looked like coffee in the photo!
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