Hampyeong Butterfly Festival The Hampyeong Butterfly Festival runs through May 8 in Hampyeong, South Jeolla Province, including Hampyeong Expo Park. The annual festival seeks to provide the opportunity to learn about the Korean nature, including flowers, insects and more. The event seeks to entertain the visitors and tourists with VR and hands-on experiences with butterflies, insects, local ar...

Theme parks in South Korea are crammed with visitors as the country marks Children’s Day on Thursday, buoyed by relaxed COVID-19 containment measures. On this special holiday for kids, parents play a guessing game in picking places to go to entertain their children, as theme parks and other kid-friendly venues usually get massive crowds. Those who chose Everland as their destination this year s...

With barbed wire fences and stone walls, the Bugaksan trail presents its rich history to trekkers

Beartree Park’s Royal Azalea Festival The Beartree Park’s Royal Azalea Festival, which started from April 14, will run through May 8 at Beartree Park in Sejong. After the cherry blossoms and plum blossoms fell off, the azaleas are dressed in red, white and purple, creating some colorful sceneries across the park. The park welcomes the flower-loving visitors of all ages from 9 a.m. Tickets for...

In the nature and forest category are Geochang Hangnohwa Healing Land, an anti-aging wellness center located in Geochang County, South Gyeongsang Province, and Jeju’s Hwansang Forest Gotjawal Park. Both locations, surrounded by nature, have the potential to promote the physical and mental health of visitors, according to the KTO. Added to the Asian medicine category list is Lee Moon Won Medical ...

According to the UK social enterprise Treeconomics and The Royal Parks, a charity for parks in London, 4,000 trees in Hyde Park remove a total of 2.7 tons of pollutants each year. Other popular parks ranked among the top 20 of the world’s most picturesque green spaces were the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden in Tokyo, the Englischer Garten in Munich and the Sempione Park in Milan.

Cheongnamdae Spring Flower Festival The Cheongnamdae Spring Flower Festival will run through May 8 at Cheongnamdae in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. Once a private villa used by former presidents of South Korea, Cheongnamdae opened to the public in 2003. Surrounded by spring flowers, the festival welcomes visitors of all ages with various sculptures, art paintings and wild flowers. Che...

Lotus Lantern Festival The Lotus Lantern Festival, known as Yeon Deung Hoe, is set to start on April 29 and run through May 1 at various places in Seoul, including the streets of Jongno, along the stream Cheonggyecheon and at temples Bongeunsa and Jogyesa. The lighting of the lanterns conveys wishes for peace and happiness. Various programs are offered during the three-day festival free of cha...

A day trip to Suwon requires quite a bit of walking. When you are tired and hungry, the famous Suwon galbi is just the thing to restore your energy levels. The name Suwon galbi traces its origin to the days when Suwon had the largest cattle market in the country, up until the early 1940s. Although there are countless galbi places throughout the city, Gabojeong Galbi, located in Ingye-dong is a ...

Another attraction is the well-preserved 6,000-meter stone walls surrounding the village. The side streets between the walls and the neighboring dense forest completes the charm of the village scenery. Photos by Park Hyun-koo Written by Lee Ji-yoon

Gyeongju Cherry Blossom Festival The Gyeongju Cherry Blossom Festival has returned after a two-year break due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival, which started on March 25, is scheduled to run through April 16 at various sites in Gyeongju, including Gyeongju Expo Grand Park, the park of royal tombs, or also known as Daereungwon, and more. Celebrating the return of in-person festivities, vi...

Just in time for spring and the downward slope of the omicron variant peak, two new theme parks opened in South Korea offering a bunch of new thrill rides and attractions. One in Busan is a Lotte World franchise and the other in Chuncheon, a city in the mountainous Gangwon Province, is part of the global Legoland chain. Here’s a quick look at the new amusement parks and their most anticipated at...

Flowers expected to be at peak bloom mid-April and remain through May

“The completion date is yet to be announced, but we hope to finish the installation by autumn,” the official added. By Lee Si-jin ( sj_lee@heraldcorp.com )

Blossom Picnic at E-World The Blossom Picnic is scheduled to kick off on March 19 and run through April 3 at E-World in Daegu. Visitors can catch the earliest-blooming cherry blossoms at the venue and it is one of the best spots to see the pink and white blooms at night. The areas around the 83 Tower, a famous Daegu landmark, are divided into zones with unique themes -- healing zone, camping z...