Explore the cultural treasures of Gyeongju on a private day trip from Busan. Travel to the coastal city by air-conditioned coach and tour UNESCO-listed Bulguksa Temple and its hermitage, Seokguram Grotto, with an informative guide. Discover artifacts of the Silla Dynasty at the Gyeongju National Museum and visit the Cheomseongdae astronomical observatory. Your tour includes a restaurant lunch and hotel pickup and drop-off in Busan.

Private Gyeongju day trip by coach from Busan
Visit the UNESCO-listed Bulguksa Temple and its Seokguram Grotto, both dating back to the ancient Silla Kingdom
Stop by Tumuli Park for a glimpse of Silla tombs like Cheonmachong and hear fascinating commentary from a guide
Search for Silla treasures at the Gyeongju National Museum
Climb the astronomical observatory of Cheomseongdae
Enjoy a Korean lunch at a local restaurant
Hotel pickup and drop-off included

What's Included

Professional English-speaking guide
Hotel pickup and drop-off
Air-conditioned vehicle
All taxes, fees and handling charges
WiFi on board
Bottled water

Food and drinks, unless specified
Gratuities
Lunch

Meeting And Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

08:00 am

Pickup details

We can pick tourists up at Busan and Gyeongju KTX station as well

What To Expect

Visit the coastal city of Gyeongju, starting with hotel pickup in Busan. Learn about the Silla Kingdom of 668–935 AD en route to your first stop at Seokguram Grotto, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Disembark to explore the hermitage, which houses a Buddha statue facing the East Sea. Your guide also escorts you to the UNESCO-listed Bulguksa, meaning ‘Temple of the Buddha Land,’ built on the slope of Mt. Toham in the 8th century. Learn why it’s one of Korea’s most revered temples while your guide points out stone pagodas and other Silla features at the impressive complex.

Stop at a local restaurant for lunch before re-boarding the coach for the tombs of Tumuli Park. Imagine the gold crown and other royal ornaments buried with an unknown Silla king at Cheonmachong, meaning ‘Heavenly Horse Tomb,' excavated in 1971.

After a quick stop at an amethyst factory for a look at Korea’s treasured gemstones, your full-day tour continues to the Gyeongju National Museum. Browse the exhibits which display archaeological and historical artifacts from the Silla period.

The Cheomseongdae Observatory, is your final stop, where studies of the constellations were once used to forecast the weather.

Your day trip ends with a return to your hotel in Busan.

Seokguram

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Bulguksa Temple

1 hour 10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Cheonmachong Tomb

50 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Gyeongju National Museum

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Cheomseongdae Observatory

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
A moderate amount of walking is involved. Please wear a comfortable pair of shoes
Tour is subject to change without notice due to local conditions
Wheelchair accessible

Stroller accessible
Infant seats available
Most travellers can participate
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveller Photos

Reviews

5.0

11 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travellers.

Showing 1-7 of 11 reviews

Lovely and memorable...

Penny_L, Dec 2022

Lovely and memorable experience of Gyeongju with our tour guide, Mrs. Jay Song and driver, Alan. A worthwhile tour to go for!

Response from Host, Dec 2022

It's great to hear that you had a good memory of Gyeongju tour with our guide Jay . Wish you a Happy New Year !

Excellent and unforgettable experience!!!

Victoria_N, Aug 2022

This tour is definitely a “must do” while visiting Busan! Our tour guide - Jade Kim was very knowledgeable, accommodating and added extras like stopping at a highway rest stop for us to customize our Korean experience. The sights and history of Korea along with Jade’s fluency in English enhanced our tour. The tour was as advertised and more - we would highly recommend this tour and endorse Mr Kim as an excellent Korean tour guide that made our visit most memorable!!

Response from Host, Aug 2022

It’s glad that you’ve had such a nice memories in Korea. Thank you so much

The tour guide Mr. Jade Kim was...

Amelia C, Apr 2018

The tour guide Mr. Jade Kim was punctual, accommodating, knowledgeable and a good conversationalist in English. He took a lot of good photos for us. The car was comfortable and WiFi was provided. The trip was well planned and paced out. Well worth the value, Gyeongju is beautiful and not crowded.

This was an amazing experience and...

Kristiina P, Aug 2017

This was an amazing experience and provided a terrific overview of the Shilla kingdom. Definitely want to return to Gyeongju again. Mr. Hong our guide was knowledgeable and professional.

We were only in Korea for 3 days/2...

Ken_L, June 2016

We were only in Korea for 3 days/2 nights so this was an excellent day trip from Busan to discover the culturally significant Gyeongju area and learn about Korea. Our guide Cooper was kind, friendly and knowledgeable. The sites visited were interesting and well explained by the guide. Lunch was a highlight.

Two friends of mine and I took this...

Neil C, Mar 2016

Two friends of mine and I took this tour the second week of March and really enjoyed it. Our tour guide was Mina and she did a fantastic job. I think the highlights were Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple. There were minimal crowds everywhere we went which made for a very pleasant experience. It was about two weeks before most of the blossoms start, but you could tell there was a tremendous, natural beauty to everything. We ate lunch at a small restaurant near the Cheonmachong Tombs with Mina handling all the ordering. She even prepared the dish for us! The fried octopus with shrimp and ox innards was fantastic. The entire tour itself was a little lighter on historical facts than I was expecting, but we did learn a lot about Korean culture, both ancient and modern. I would also not recommend booking on a Monday as the museum we would have visited is closed on Mondays. This shortened our trip considerably I think as the billed time is about 10hrs and we were back in about 7. Also, try to hang out at Anapji Pond until sunset when they light it up.

Great tour! We visited many...

Marinnette M, Dec 2015

Great tour! We visited many interesting sites in Gyenogju and learn a lot about Silla dynasty and buddhism in South Korea. Our tour guide, Min Suk, was really accommodating, which made our tour even more enjoyable. We had a great time!