Cheongju travel guide: Jikji, Sangdangsanseong and where to stay

Cheongju or Daejeon: which base, and where in Cheongju

The two cities are close and linked: VisitKorea gives about 50 minutes from Cheongju Station or Cheongju Airport Station to Daejeon Station by ITX or Mugunghwa train on the Chungbuk Line. The choice depends on how you arrive. Daejeon Station is on the main Gyeongbu Line between Seoul and Busan, and Daejeon is the better base for KTX journeys and for Gongju and Buyeo. Cheongju's own KTX stop is Osong, on the high-speed lines but outside the city centre, and not every KTX stops there. Cheongju wins if you fly into Cheongju International Airport, if the printing museum and the fortress are the point of your trip, or if you want Cheongnamdae and Chojeong, which are on this side.

Within Cheongju, stay downtown around Seongan-gil. VisitKorea describes it as the city's car-free shopping street, with Jungang Park and restaurants beside it; Yukgeori Market, Seomun Market's pork-belly street and the Suamgol café hillside are all in the same district of Sangdang-gu, and the airport's 747 bus runs here. Osong is only worth it for a very early high-speed train. For something slower, the Chojeong Haenggung hanok stay near the mineral spring has 12 rooms, according to VisitKorea, and is a short drive from the airport; check how you will get back into the city before you book.

Jikji and the Early Printing Museum on the Heungdeoksa site

The temple site came to light in 1985, when a land development project turned up relics and the Cheongju University Museum excavated the site. The colophon of Jikji (Buljo Jikji Simche Yojeol, an anthology of Zen teachings) records that it was printed with metal type at Heungdeoksa in 1377; VisitKorea notes this is 78 years before Gutenberg. Only the second volume of the metal-printed edition survives, and it is in the National Library of France, not in Cheongju. UNESCO inscribed it on the Memory of the World Register in 2001, and the city awards the UNESCO/Jikji Memory of the World Prize with UNESCO.

The Cheongju Early Printing Museum opened on the temple site on 17 March 1992, at 713 Jikji-daero in Heungdeok-gu. VisitKorea says it shows about 650 artefacts, including Goryeo and Joseon books printed with metal and wooden type, finds from the Heungdeoksa site and printing tools; a separate Exhibition Center for Modern and Contemporary Printing follows the story from lead type at the end of the 19th century to today, and printing classes are offered for children, families and adults. Allow two hours for both, and walk the excavated temple site outside.

When we checked on 3 October 2026, VisitKorea's current listing gave hours of 9:00 to 18:00, closed on Mondays and 1 January, with guided tours between 10:00 and 17:00 booked at the information desk or by phone, and free admission. An older VisitKorea page for the same museum lists adult admission at 800 won, last entry an hour before closing, and closures over Seollal and Chuseok, while the newer one says the museum closes at 14:00 on those holiday days. Check before you go on a holiday.

Sangdangsanseong: an afternoon on the walls

Sangdangsanseong is built along the natural slopes of the hills just outside downtown Cheongju. VisitKorea describes a wall 4.2 kilometres long and 3 to 4 metres high, overhauled in 1596 during the Japanese invasions and rebuilt in stone in the reign of King Sukjong. All three gates, east, west and south, survive with their gate towers: the south gate, Gongnammun, is crescent-shaped, the other two square. East and West command posts stand inside, and the fortress has been Historic Site No. 212 since 1970.

The full loop on top of the wall gives views back over the city; the 2026 VisitKorea feature calls it an easy walk and notes that historical dramas, including The King's Affection, have been filmed here. When we checked, VisitKorea listed the fortress as open 24 hours and free, at 70 Seongnae-ro in Sangdang-gu. Inside the walls is a small village where, VisitKorea says, you can try local dishes and jujube wine. Go in the afternoon, start at Gongnammun, and wear walking shoes.

Back in the centre, Jungang Park is the quick heritage stop: VisitKorea describes a ginkgo tree about 30 metres high and close to a thousand years old, and Mangseollu, a Goryeo-period pavilion that is the oldest wooden building in Cheongju.

Culture Factory, MMCA Cheongju and Unbo's House

Cheongju calls itself a craft city, and the clearest place to see why is Culture Factory at 314 Sangdang-ro. VisitKorea says it was a tobacco factory from 1946 to 2004 and reopened as a cultural complex in 2021, keeping the original columns, frame and chimney. The Korean Craft Museum on the third and fourth floors runs free craft exhibitions, and the Cheongju Open Library is on the fifth floor. The Craft Biennale uses the building in its years.

In the same complex, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Cheongju (MMCA Cheongju) is Korea's first open-storage art museum: storage rooms normally closed to visitors are open, so you walk among the national collection's works rather than past a hang. When we checked, VisitKorea listed it as free, open 10:00 to 18:00 and closed on Mondays.

Unbo's House, in Naesu-eup on the airport side of the city, is the hanok home where the painter Kim Ki-chang spent his later years; he painted the King Sejong portrait on the 10,000-won note. The museum on site shows his work and that of his wife, Park Rehyun, and the garden is a K-drama filming location (Mr. Sunshine). When we checked, VisitKorea listed adult admission at 6,000 won, closure on Mondays, and April to October hours of 9:30 to 17:30 on weekdays and to 18:00 at weekends, with last entry an hour before closing. It pairs well with Chojeong on an arrival or departure day: VisitKorea places both within a 20-minute drive of a villa ten minutes from the airport.

Markets, Suamgol and the pork-belly street

Cheongju Yukgeori Market began in the Joseon period beside the Musimcheon stream and has carried its present name since 1973. VisitKorea's 2026 feature counts more than 1,200 shops and stalls and calls it one of Korea's five largest traditional markets; it is open daily, with an early-morning farmers' market and a larger five-day market on dates ending in 2 and 7. When we checked, VisitKorea's listing gave hours of 9:00 to 22:00 and an arcade over the lanes.

Seomun Market Samgyeopsal Street, opened in 2012 in Seomun Market, west of the Seomun-dong intersection, is the dinner stop: VisitKorea describes Cheongju-style pork belly that is dipped in soy sauce before grilling and served with spicy seasoned green onions. Hours vary by restaurant.

Suamgol, on the slopes of Uamsan above the centre, began as a hillside village settled by refugees after the Korean War. Its lanes are now painted with murals, and a row of large cafés with terraces on the road above looks over downtown, which is the reason to come at dusk. It is a residential area: VisitKorea asks visitors not to come after 21:00.

Further out: Cheongnamdae and the Chojeong mineral spring

Cheongnamdae, near Daecheong Dam in Cheongju's Sangdang-gu, was a private retreat for Korea's presidents from 1983 until it opened to the public on 18 April 2003. VisitKorea's 2026 feature mentions a Presidential Memorial Hall built at 60 percent of the size of Cheong Wa Dae and six forest trails. When we checked, VisitKorea listed February to November hours of 9:00 to 18:00, last admission an hour and a half before closing, closure on Mondays and over the Seollal and Chuseok holidays, and adult admission at 5,000 won. It is well outside the centre, so give it half a day and check transport before you set off.

Chojeong Mineral Spring, about 16 kilometres north-east of Cheongju, produces naturally carbonated water; VisitKorea says King Sejong came here in 1444 to treat an eye condition. Drinking from the spring is free, and VisitKorea listed drinking hours of 8:00 to 21:00. The neighbouring Chojeong Haenggung, opened in June 2020 on the site of the king's temporary palace, is a hanok stay with an outdoor foot bath that uses the mineral water; the 2026 feature describes the foot bath as free.

A workable Cheongju stay

This is an editorial suggestion, not a timetable. Most museums close on Mondays, so do not plan the printing museum, MMCA or Cheongnamdae for that day.

• Arrival: from the airport, Unbo's House and the Chojeong spring if you land early; otherwise the 747 bus downtown, Seongan-gil and Jungang Park, then pork belly at Seomun Market.
• Day 1 morning: the Early Printing Museum and the Heungdeoksa site; Culture Factory and MMCA Cheongju after lunch if you have energy for both.
• Day 1 late afternoon: the walls of Sangdangsanseong from Gongnammun, then Suamgol's café terraces at dusk.
• Day 2 (optional): Cheongnamdae, or Yukgeori Market in the morning before moving on.
• Moving on: the Chungbuk Line to Daejeon, the KTX from Osong, or the C-Tour Bus from the airport to Gongju and Buyeo.