Experience the best of Gyeongju

Gyeongju, in south-eastern South Korea, was the capital of the Silla kingdom for nearly a thousand years, and royal burial mounds, ruins and temples are spread through the modern city, which is often called a museum without walls. The Daereungwon tomb park has large grassy mounds, and one of them, the Heavenly Horse Tomb, has a reconstructed interior.

Cheomseongdae, a bottle-shaped stone observatory from the seventh century, is among the oldest surviving astronomical observatories in East Asia. Anapji Pond, once the garden of a royal palace, is lit up at night. Bulguksa Temple, with its stone pagodas and terraces, and the Seokguram Grotto, holding a granite Buddha high on Mount Toham, are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Namsan, a mountain on the edge of town, has Buddhist carvings and pagodas along its hiking trails, and Yangdong Folk Village, a Joseon-era clan village, lies to the north-east. Gyeongju bread, a small pastry filled with red bean paste, and ssambap, rice wrapped in leaves, are local foods. Cherry blossoms in early April and red maples in autumn draw the crowds around Bomun Lake.