The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, together with the Korean Tourism Organization (KTO), published this year the 100 best tourist destinations in Korea for 2025-2026.
In its seventh edition, this biennial selection has highlighted the main tourist attractions of the country since 2012.
The list includes 61 cultural resources, such as historical sites, buildings, interactive facilities and leisure spaces, in addition to 39 natural and ecological resources, such as forests, beaches and wetlands.
By regions, the metropolitan area of Seoul leads with 22 selected places, followed by the provinces of Gangwon-do with 11, Chungcheong-do with 15, Jeolla-do with 18, Gyeongsang-do with 28 and Jeju Island – one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature in the world – with six.
This year, a total of 27 new destinations were added to the list. Among them are unique experiences to enjoy “like a local”, such as eating ramyeon (instant noodles) in a park on the Hangang River, shopping at the central Sokcho market in Gangwon-do, exploring the island of Gyodongdo near Incheon, where scenes of the popular Netflix series “The Squid Game” were recorded, and finding serenity in Daegu’s Sayuwon garden.
In addition, 14 iconic sites have been selected on a recurring basis, such as the five palaces of Seoul, included in the list for the seventh time in a row, the Bulguksa temple and the Seokguram grotto in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do province, and the traditional Jeonju village in Jeollabuk-do province.
In the first half of this year, a “traveler’s passport” will be published with the 100 destinations, accompanied by a tour to collect stamps in the different selected places.
For more details about these activities, you can visit the official website of the Visit Korea tourist campaign and the list’s official Instagram account.