Cycling’s new super-spot? 

The unmissable sections of South Korea’s new cycling super-highways.

Say it quietly, but there’s another revolution underway on the Korean peninsula. Truman can relax and MacArthur can stay on his Phillipino beach though, because this is a cycling revolution. A grand infrastructure project on a scale almost unprecedented in cycling history, since 2015 South Korea has successfully laid 1700 km of dedicated bike paths to connect the four corners of the country. 

Back in 2018 we took our first group of Pedalists to explore this new cycling set-up, and despite the fabulous paths, we were surprised to find the routes strangely underutilised. Returning earlier this year with another group of Pedalists, we found that while exploring South Korea by bike is still sadly neglected by foreign riders, these paths are now providing succour for a booming domestic cycling scene. Whether running along the Han river in central Seoul, or curving through the mountain passes north of Gyeongju, we found a country teeming with roadies and an incredible support network to back it up. 

For first time visitors to Korea, while you could follow the basic Seoul to Busan route that intrepid tourers have been following for the past 20 years, there’s now a huge opportunity to get out into some more far-flung places and really see the best of the country. With this in mind, we’ve put together some tips on the best sections of a South Korea itinerary that we think are not to be missed. 

Seoul 

The nation’s capital and almost certainly the starting point of visitors to the country, using the extensive network of bike paths is actually one of the most efficient and nicest ways to get around and explore the city. If you’re basing yourself up near the old town in Insadong (we’d recommend that you do) then there’s a very convenient bike path that runs east all the way along the Cheonggyecheon stream and out on to the Han network. 

From getting onto the Han network, really the city’s your oyster. The wide, smooth bike lanes start to octopus out all over the metropolis, and are a great way to get across to the tourist hotspots of Hapjeong or Gangnam, or even head out on a longer ride towards Chuncheon, Yoeju or Suwon. 

Fun fact: The Cheonggyecheon stream is a natural spring that is the main reason why old Seoul is built where it was. After the Korean War, when the city was being reconstructed, the by now heavily polluted stream was covered by an 8 lane highway to bring high-speed traffic into the city. 

Tired of the noise and pollution, an up-and-coming politician, Lee Myung-bak, decided to embark on a major construction project to remove the highway, clean up the stream, and convert it into a stunning green way in the centre of the city. 

Everybody said that the project was over ambitious and couldn’t be done. Myung-bak completed it a year before schedule, and used it as a spring-board to run for the presidency in 2007. His next big infrastructure project? The national cycle path network of course. 

Suwon

Away from the typical Seoul – Busan cycle route there are actually two fantastic bike paths which connect the capital with the ancient stronghold of Suwon. An important fortress location during the Joseon dynasty, Suwon castle and palace are a UNESCO World Heritage site. 

There is a 120km circular bike route from Seoul which follows two of the Han’s tributaries, making Suwon a very feasible day ride from Seoul, or a more relaxed 2 day journey if you’d like to spend an afternoon in Suwon to soak up the history and the culture. 

Suanbo Hot Springs

Whilst the river path sections of the various routes in South Korea are lovely, we’ve found that often the stretches which really stand out are when you climb up into the mountains away from the more popular flat sections. 

Suanbo sits at the apex of a small range which divides the Han and Nakdong rivers. As well as being perfectly placed as for an overnight stop between Yeoju to the north and Hahoe to the south, it also has incredible natural hot springs….proof if ever more was needed that god loves cyclists. 

The ride up to Suanbo from the Han river is a very gentle climb that slowly takes you away from the fairly intensive farming of the floodplains and up into forested woodland…a taste of how this area of Korea has looked and felt for thousands of years. Continuing south the following day there are a couple of more significant climbs, up switchback roads which have been widened and resurfaced for the sole benefit of the local cyclists.  

Juwangsan National Park

Well off the usual cycling trail, Juwangsan National Park is almost always overlooked by foreign visitors, and it really shouldn’t be. The serene roads, stunning lakes and forested mountains don’t just make for phenomenal riding, but it’s also an eminently sensible way to connect two of the major tourist attractions that often get skipped on the riding: Hahoe and Gyongju. 

Both, in our opinion, are must visits for any trip to Korea. Both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and are crucial parts of understanding the history and culture of the country. However, the problem is that they both sit at the ends of two separate river bike networks. Since most riders are loathe to spend days retracing routes, they often end up skipping one or both of them in favour of (the fairly dull) route straight south. 

Instead, riders should take the two to three days away from the rivers to explore the wilder eastern highlands, heading first east from Andong towards Juwangsan, and then south over the mountains the Gyeongju. 

Top-tip: Hahoe Village can be done in an afternoon, and you can even ride your bikes around the site to do it in extra quick time. We’d recommend though to take a rest day in Gyeongju in order to properly explore all the sites. Make sure not to miss Bulguksa Temple and Woljeonggyo Bridge.

Bugok-ri

Around 100km north of Busan you get into a really remote area of the cycling network. Accommodation can be pretty tough to find around here (even our awesome local team struggled in April!) but there are a couple of spots that are well worth visiting. 

Bugok-ri (or sometimes just know as Bugok) is certainly one of them. Another hot-spring destination, it was once one of the most popular locations for South Koreans to spend their holidays. However, as South Korea has become more affluent and the locals have increasingly travelled abroad for their holidays, Bugok has settled back to being a fairly sleepy mountain town. 

What made Bugok-ri so popular in the first place though remains; stunning views, beautiful rivers and exceptional food. Combined with fantastic access to the river bike network via a brand new raised bike path (this was so new in April ‘24 that it still hadn’t even been mapped!) it makes a ride around this area a fantastic way to experience rural Gyeongsamnam-do. 

Yeoju, Chuncheon & all the others!

Although the sections above stand out in our memory, we can honestly say that we loved every pedal of the most recent group we lead through Korea and it’s hard to leave places out. The converted train-tunnel-come-bike-tunnel cutting through the mountain pass outside of Daegu, the floating bike path gliding over a tranquil lake by Chuncheon, or the setting sun reflecting off the river as it set gently behind the hills around Yeoju. Korea is a place of incredible, ancient beauty, and in our opinion should be right up there on anyone’s cycling bucket list. We worked with some amazing local people to help bring our trip together (and know one or two things ourselves!) so if you have any questions about a trip out to Korea, or just want to chat about cycling, please do drop us a note through one of the methods below!

Rough route we took: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/43105105