Chungju

Chungju (충주, 忠州) is a city in North Chungcheong, South Korea.

Understand
Chungju (not be confused with provincial capital Cheongju) is a handy transport hub for various points in the mountains of central Korea. It is a beautiful town that is abundant with tourist sources and Jungwon (the center of a field in Korea) culture. It is also the hometown of Ban Ki moon, the Secretary General of the U.N.

Tourist office
The helpful tourist information office has a counter inside the bus terminal, but opening hours seem to be a bit unpredictable. English spoken and has a wealth of information on the area.

By plane
Nearby Cheongju has a sizeable international airport.

By train
There is one direct Mugunghwa train per day from Seoul, which takes the better part of three hours to putter its way in. Other options are to take the Gyeongbu Line to Jochiwon and transfer there, or even taking the KTX to Daejeon and continuing from there.

By bus
Chungju's sparkling new bus station is located on the northern side of town in a big complex also housing a Lotte Mart hypermarket. There are hourly departures to Danyang (1:30, ₩6,200).

By boat
In season, you can take a very scenic cruise across Chungju Lake to Danyang (2 hours, ₩18,000), and you can go for a sightseeing spin on the lake throughout the year (unless the lake freezes over entirely in winter). The ferry terminal is served by bus 301 (30 minutes, ₩950), which leaves across the street from the bus terminal, but inquire at the tourist information office for schedules (and whether the boats are running) as there are only 9 buses a day.

Hot springs bathing
Two excellent resort areas exist in Chungju-shi:
 * Angseong-oncheon is to the northwest, and can be reached by local bus No. 365. There are several hotels here, each which have a hot springs bathing area in them.  Some have hot springs water piped into the individual hotel rooms.
 * Suanbo is to the south. Local buses go there from in front of the intercity bus terminal in Chungju.  Suanbo is a compact town, with a plethora of hotels and many excellent restaurants.  Culinary specialties of the area are mountain vegetable feasts and game such as pheasants and rabbits. The Hi-Spa, located on the main street near the bus stop, is the main city oncheon.  Several hotels have their own bath areas open to the public.

Go next

 * Danyang - Caves, mountains and temples, widely renowned as North Chungcheong province's premier tourist attraction.
 * Cheongju - The provincial capital, local airport, and historic town in its own right. Birthplace of jikji, the world's oldest moving metal type print book.
 * Suanbo - Hot spring and ski resort.
 * Woraksan National Park