A Guide To the Gyeongju Expo Park
Are you looking for things to do in Gyeongju? Gyeongju is a really beautiful place to discover more about the history of Korea. It was the capital of the ancient Silla dynasty, so there are a lot of historical sites to see. If you’re planning a trip to Gyeongju, check out this guide to Gyeongju for a full picture of all there is to do.
In this post, we’ll be focusing on the Gyeongju Expo Park (경주엑스포공원) where there are musicals about Korean history and there are exhibits in the park tower. There’s also a night walk with a story about Silla. You could spend the whole day here. Keep reading to find out what you can do at the Gyeongju Expo Park.
Get ready to plan a trip to the Gyeongju Expo Park:
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How To Get There
Address: 614 Gyeonggam-ro, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do (경북 경주시 경감로 614)
From Seoul
By Train: If you’re traveling by train, look into purchasing the foreigner discount train pass to save money and get around to numerous cities via train (One stop you could make is at Gimcheon Station to take a ride on the longest and tallest zip wire in Korea!).
From Seoul the easiest and most convenient way to get to Gyeongju is via the KTX. Direct trains are available from Seoul Station every hour and take between two hours and two and a half hours. The KTX train station in Gyeongju is actually located outside of the city center so you’ll have to catch a taxi or take a bus to your local stay most likely. We opted for the taxi and it took just 20 minutes and cost about W15,000.
From Busan
By Train: If you’re in the central Busan area, then it would make the most sense to travel by train. You can choose between the KTX or the slow train. The KTX option runs every 30 minutes and takes about a half hour and costs around W12,000.
By Bus: If you’re in the northern Busan area, it would make more sense to travel via bus from Nopo Bus Terminal. There are buses that run every hour and they take about 45 minutes and cost around W5,000.
Basic Info
Hours: Vary by season so make sure you check before you go.
- January – April: 10:00am ~ 6:00pm
- June – August: 10:00am ~ 8:00pm
- October – December: 10:00am ~ 6:00pm
- May and September: 10:00am ~ 7:00pm
Admission: Adults: W12,000; Children: W10,000; Free for children 36 months and younger
Website: www.cultureexpo.or.kr
What To Know
The Gyeongju World Culture Expo Park, located within Bomun Tourist Complex, was built in 1996. The purpose of the park is to celebrate the cultural heritage of Korea and how Korean culture has interacted with other cultures throughout history. While it was originally opened for a specific event, now it’s open year round. It’s had special expos in the past about Istanbul, Ho Chi Minh City, and the Silk Road. The park is quite large and there are many things to see and do to explore Korean culture.
*Note: Everything in the park has the same hours as the park itself unless stated otherwise below.
What To Do
Lumina Night Walk
Take a walk through Hwarang Forest and listen to a story told about a warrior saving the kingdom of Silla. Do note that the course is approximately 2 kilometers long. By day, this path is a healing road with those awesome rocky paths where you should take off your shoes to feel the healing effects. By night, it’s lit to inspire.
At every stop, there are interactive exhibits so that guests can help carry on the story if they want to, or just enjoy what you see. A highlight of the night walk is the part where there are big drums that can be hit in order to help the army from Silly fight a dragon. There are also plenty of opportunities to take photos. During the day, the path becomes a barefoot Healing Trail.
- When: From sunset to 11:00pm
- Admisison: W6,000 per person
- Notes: This is a great family friendly experience and the kids would love it.
Performances
The Expo Park Cultural Center hosts performances throughout the week. See what is playing when you visit and get tickets in advance if you can so you can enjoy a great show.
- When: Performances run every Wednesday through Sunday. Times vary depending on the show.
- Currently Showing: Infinity Flying is a really fun performance that is nice to bring kids to see. It includes comedy, acrobatics, gymnastics, and a great story. Tickets for the show are actually bundled with park access, so it’s W30,000 for adults and W26,000 for children.
What To See
Gyeongju Tower (경주타워)
The landmark of the park and what you won’t miss as soon as you walk into the park is the Gyeongju Tower. This tower is built so that it has the cutout of a pagoda in it, specifically the pagoda of Hwangnyongsa Temple. By day you see the cutout and by night, you just see the interior of the cutout that is lit for great effect. The pagoda is nine stories, making it the tallest structure during the reign of Queen Seondeok of Silla.
There’s even a place to stand in the Expo Park where the pagoda will line up with the cutout from the tower. Within the tower, there are displays of cultural artifacts from the Silla period. There is also a cafe, which I’ve mentioned below, where you can get some great views of the park so go up into the tower after you’ve enjoyed the exterior thoroughly.
by Gyeongju Expo Grand Park Gyeongju Expo Grand Park Solgeo Art Museum
Solgeo Art Museum (솔거미술관)
The art museum at the Expo Park is home to the works of famous Korean painters, including Park Dae-seong, who goes by the name of Sosan. He is well known for his ink paintings and has given more than 840 pieces to the museum. His paintings gained relevance in the 1960s and won 8 national exhibition awards in the 1970s. He has cemented a legacy for painting natural landscapes.
- Website: https://www.gjsam.or.kr/ko/
Gyeongju Expo Memorial Center (경주세계문화엑스포화엑스포기녑관)
The Memorial Center, which we didn’t have time to check out but looks really cool online, is a place that highlights the 20 year history of the Gyeongju World Expo through art. The building itself was designed by Japanese architect Kuma Kengo, who also designed the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Main Stadium.
The exterior walls covered in basalt, curve and create a beautiful thing to see from the minute you see it outside. Enter and in the lobby of the pavilion, check out The Forest of Letters. An excerpt from a speech by King Seongdeok the Great is translated into 25 different languages and put on mirrors. This is meant to welcome visitors from all over the world into the memorial center.
Also in the lobby is the 108 Passions exhibit by famous Korean artist Nam June Paik. The 108 Passions is a Buddhist concept that represents the number of earthly desires that one must overcome to reach Nirvana. This exhibit takes that concept and makes it more modern by displaying Korean history over the past 75 years on 108 monitors. There’s also a special exhibition hall that has folk art of imaginary creatures. These paintings can be brought to life using AR technology, which just means looking at them through your phone. If you have time, definitely check this space out.
Timeless Media Art (차란한빛의 신라타임리스 미디어 아트)
If you like immersive art experiences, then this one is for you. Timeless Media Art is free to explore. This is an art exhibition that is made up of lights and screens, but each room gives off a completely different vibe. The first room is called Cheomseongdae Observatory. It has an archway with revolving light patterns that serves as a kind of portal to the rest of the exhibit.
In some of the rooms, the lights will move with you based on how you choose to interact with them. For example, in the next room, Gold Crown from Cheonmachong Tomb, it shows different symbols from Silla in gold on the walls and on the floor. As you walk around the room, the gold parts will scatter. This also works on the walls if you move your arms.
The next room, Seokguram, has mirrors covering all the walls so that the light patterns on the floor look like they go on forever. There’s even a warning before you step into the room telling you to be careful not to walk into the mirrors because the illusion is so strong, which was pretty funny to me. The coolest room of the exhibition, Samguk Sagi Samguk Yusa, has flowers bloom at your feet when you walk. It’s an amazing piece of technology. This is a great experience. Definitely don’t miss it.
Natural History Museum (자연사박물관)
The National History Museum is the place to see super ancient history. They have dinosaur fossils from 100 million years ago. There are over 4500 fossils from the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras. This is a great museum to check out especially if you have kids tagging along.
Saemaeul Exhibition Hall (새마을관)
The Saemaeul Exhibition Hall is meant to show off the Saemaeul New Village Movement that modernized rural economies in Korea in the 1970s. Learn about Korean diligence to overcome adversity here.
What To Eat
There are two cafes in the Expo Park but not substantial food so be prepared to visit between major meal times so no one is hungry. The cafes inside of the park are called Cafe Seondeok located in Gyeongju tower which offers great views of the surrounding area and the other is Cafe Solgeorang which is located closer to the art museum part of the park.
Are you going to Gyeongju soon? Will the Gyeongju Expo Park be on your list of things to see?
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