Where after Seoul? Choose Gangneung, Gyeongju or Jeonju by what you love

There are still restaurants saved from your last trip to Seoul. Yet this time, you want a day somewhere else. Start with what you would happily spend time doing: sitting by the sea, exploring unfamiliar streets or discussing dinner over lunch. Gangneung, Gyeongju and Jeonju offer three different reasons to leave room in your itinerary.

For a long coffee with a sea view: Gangneung

If the view matters as much as the coffee menu, consider Gangneung. At Anmok Beach, plan an afternoon around a café and the shore. Choose a place, take a walk and sit down again when you feel like it.

For food, look towards Chodang, where shops make their own tofu. If sundubu has always meant a red, spicy stew to you, seek out a restaurant serving the white version of soft tofu. A gentler meal can be a reason to make the trip.

Do not treat the station, the beach and Chodang as one walkable neighbourhood. Without a car, choose one beach and one meal first, then check buses or taxis between them. Leave the gaps in your day for the sea rather than another journey.

For walks with something to look at: Gyeongju

The rounded green hills in photographs of Daereungwon are ancient tombs from the Silla period. You need not arrive with an extensive knowledge of Korean history. Looking at the shape and scale of the burial mounds is a place to start.

Combine the Daereungwon area with Hwangnidan-gil for food and café stops between sights. It gives a history lover and a companion who prefers browsing cafés something to share.

An overnight stay also leaves time for illuminated sights such as Cheomseongdae, the old astronomical observatory. Treat a city-centre walk and a trip out to Bulguksa Temple as different planning decisions. Choose your range before filling the day with every famous name.

For people who save restaurants first: Jeonju

In Jeonju, choose meals first and put walks between them. Have bibimbap, explore the Hanok Village and perhaps skip one snack to leave room for dinner. This is a city to consider when food is the point of the day.

Start with the tiled roofs and lanes of the Hanok Village. Another reason to stay overnight is breakfast: bean sprout soup with rice around Nambu Market. If your previous trips revolved around dinner reservations, give the next morning a meal of its own.

With a group that enjoys a drink, you could look into a makgeolli meal with dishes for the table. Travelling solo or without alcohol, build the day around soup and bibimbap instead. Choose for the people actually coming with you.

One city is enough for this trip

Choose Gangneung for the sea and cafés, Gyeongju for historic sights, streets and evening views, or Jeonju for a day organised around meals. The useful question is what kind of day you want, rather than which city wins.

You do not have to connect all three. Coffee and tofu in Gangneung; Daereungwon and evening Cheomseongdae in Gyeongju; the Hanok Village and breakfast soup in Jeonju. Make time for the two things that appeal most, then choose transport and accommodation.