Overview
The historic seat of the Joseon royal family’s ancestral line, Jeonju keeps a large quarter of tile-roofed hanok houses in its centre, now filled with tea houses, craft workshops and guesthouses. It is celebrated above all for its food — the birthplace of the mixed-rice dish bibimbap and a wider Korean culinary tradition — and for hanji, the handmade paper made here for centuries. Compact and walkable, it is an easy and rewarding trip from Seoul by fast train.
Highlights
The Jeonju Hanok Village winds through hundreds of traditional houses, with the Gyeonggijeon shrine and a Catholic cathedral at its edges. The food is the main event, from a proper Jeonju bibimbap to the street snacks of the market lanes. Hanji paper workshops, a soju museum and the makgeolli rice-wine houses fill an unhurried stay.