Hanok Village, Hanbok Costume, Bibimbap, Nambu Market, Jeondong Catholic Church are all here
Jeonju is famous for the Hanok Village which is a nice display of the old traditional Korean homes. The village was built during the Joseon period (1392-1910), so it would be about the last 100- 600 years ago!
The best landmark to find this Hanok village is to look for Starbucks or the Kakao Friend Shop at the roundabout, the road behind the Kakao shop is where the Hanok village and The Catholic Church are!
The Nambu Market is just on the other side of the roundabout – across from the Starbucks/Kakao Friend Shop.
To get in the Hanok Village the fee is 3000won admission for adults, NO PETS ALLOWED!
There is an English tour guide available, you can ask at the ticket office.
If you have visited Buchon Hanok Village in Seoul, it’s quite different here in Jeonju. The one in Seoul, there are people still living in the house. But over here the houses are empty, so it’s more like a MUSEUM VILLAGE.
It’s informative to walk around and read all the information at each house.
The village is just OK to walk in, it’s MORE FUN if you dress in Hanbok (the traditional costume) for some great memories and pictures!
During the pandemic, the road around the Hanok Village is still lively and pretty crowded, more than I expected! Especially at night!
We like to walk here at night! There are many shops that you can try different food and snacks.
And many shops with Hanbok for rent…
Normally, there will be a parade for Jeonju Hanok Village, they will dress in old traditional costumes and play music. The parade was on every Saturday in the afternoon. But they don’t do it during covid-19!
More info: https://jeonjucity.kr/traditional-yunhee-parade-jeonju-hanok-village/
Opposit of the Hanok Village is Jeondong Catholic Church. This church is huge and many tourists like to visit and take photos. Unfortunately, the church was under construction during our visit.
There are 2 shops for BIBIMBAP that are on my list in this area. One was on the Michelin guide and one is very famous and recommended by Mark Wien.
I did try the one with Michellin guide, it’s off the Hanok village just walk a little bit more down the road.
It’s a big Bibimbap house, and open 24hrs!!!
Bibimbap is a big bowl of rice at the bottom and top with a variety of vegetables. They serve 3 menus for Bibimbap here, raw beef, cook beef, spicy beef!
I tried the raw beef because it said BEST on it! Tim ordered pork bone soup. I don’t think I like Bibimbap, but we all like pork bone soup. it’s only hard to work on the bone, and Tim did throw one bone to the other table by accident!
Nambu Market, is less than 5 mins walk from Hanok Village. If you have been around South Korea enough before, this market is similar.
But…there are many shops to eat in here!
We were looking for Bean Sprout soup as it’s listed as the Number 1 what to do in Jeonju on TripAdvisor. But we missed it! The shop is open from 6 am-2 pm!
We did try SUNDAE GUGBAP, rice soup with streaming blood sausage (Sundae). The shop is very famous, it’s a long line during a busy time!
You have a choice of Spicy or Non-Spicy of the Sundae Gukbap soup, once you walked in they will take the order before you get seated (so be ready)!
We came back to this area a couple of times during our 3 night trip to Jeonju. Our hotel is 10-15 mins drive and we parked right next to the Nambu Market.
Traveled Date: 23-26 October 2020
Read more about our trip to Jeonju: https://www.somethingjam.com/jeonju-city-south-korea
