The perfect 1 day trip to Suwon from Seoul, South Korea

If you’re looking for the best day trips from Seoul, Suwon is an easy option with plenty of things to do.

From the incredible Suwon fortress to a stunning library and charming neighbourhoods, a day trip to Suwon from Seoul is a great addition to your Seoul itinerary.

I’m sharing a Suwon day trip itinerary that you can follow in the same order that I did it, plus how to get to Suwon from Seoul, the best things to do in Suwon and how to get around Suwon.

A large old stone fortress with ornate roofs. You cans see many large modern city buildings in the distance — Hwaseong Fortress

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How to get to Suwon from Seoul?

The train to Suwon from Seoul is actually incredibly easy and there are 3 options depending on your budget and how much time you have.

The fastest way to get to Suwon from Seoul is on the KTX train from Seoul Station which takes 30 minutes. However this is also the most expensive option at 4,800 won for a one-way ticket (9,600 won return).

Alternatively, if you’re on a budget or not on a time crunch then you can take the Seoul Subway Line 1 out to Suwon which takes 1 hour and 4 minutes. This only costs 2,150 won.

If Seoul Station isn’t your nearest station in Seoul, make sure you use Naver Maps or Kakao Map to help you navigate the best route - if you choose to take Line 1 to Suwon, you might find that you have a subway stop serving Line 1 closer to where your hotel is.

Not sure about organising your own Suwon day trip? This Suwon day tour from Seoul organises your transport for you and takes you to the main Suwon sights.

A large train station with one red train and one blue train stopped along the train station platform — Seoul Station taking the train to Suwon

Best things to do in Suwon on a day trip from Seoul

I would recommend following this route mostly in the order I’ve written it as every stop (apart from the last one) is walkable and easy to navigate on foot in a day.

As you’re likely already aware, Google Maps does not work in South Korea. I would recommend using one of the local Korean navigation apps to get around Suwon. Either Naver Map or Kakao Maps both work well.

Suwon Hwaseong Fortress - walk the Fortress walls for free

This is the most famous thing to do in Suwon for a reason. And even better: the fortress walls are free to visit.

I’d recommend starting at the Hwaseomun gate and heading up to walk along the Fortress walls which date back to 1794.

The walls are stunning, almost like a mini Great Wall of China! With amazing views of the city.

It’s a great way to get your bearings in the city and to start the route I’m about to share with you.

To reach this point, we took a bus from outside Suwon Station that cost 3,200 won. There are several buses that serve this route so I’d suggest using Naver Maps or Kakao Maps to take the next bus that’s available. You can pay using your T-Money card that you were using in Seoul (available from convenience stores).

Paldalsan Viewpoint - Suwon balloon

Continue following the walls and follow the trail through the park area - this is a popular spot for locals too and you’ll see many people out walking and running and socialising to take advantage of the tree cover.

Follow the wall until it becomes a trail and a road, you’ll see the large, gold King Jeongjo’s Statue if you want to stop and take a look.

Then you’ll reach the Paldalsan Mountain Viewpoint. This is another great viewpoint of the city and from here you can see the Suwon Balloon - a great way to see it if you don’t actually fancy going up in it, like me!

A high up view of a city with many buildings stretching into the distance — Paldalsan Viewpoint

Daeseungwon Temple

Almost right next to the viewpoint is a set of stairs which leads you down from the wall and park into a neighbourhood.

From here it’s just a short walk to Daeseungwon Temple - use your Korea navigation app for this.

This is a lovely, small neighbourhood temple that’s free to visit and very picturesque. It also has a large gold Buddha statue.

Workshop Street

Continue through the neighbourhood and down the hill until you reach Workshop street. This is also named on Naver Maps as Workshop Street.

This is such a charming, creative and artisan neighbourhood with local craft shops, artisans, coffee brewers and cafes, local florists, music stores, trinket shops and more.

A good place for a souvenir from Suwon maybe?!

Hwaseong Haenggung Palace

Walking up Workshop Street as if you’re going back towards the fortress walls, you’ll reach Hwaseong Haenggung Palace.

The palace dates back to 1789 and was built within the fortress walls. You can explore the large palace complex including the exhibition hall and even a theatre.

Tickets to visit cost just 1,600 won.

A large fortress gate with an ornate roof and large pained wooden gate door — Hwaseong Haenggung Palace

Haenggung-dong Mural Village

This is an 8 minute walk from the palace and the streets that I walked through to get there felt very local and community focused.

Although I love Seoul, I loved Suwon because it’s much more local and less touristy than the capital.

The mural village is a small area of winding streets, stone walls and narrow alleyways.

Here you’ll find streets, alleyways and house walls covered in colourful murals. From tiny intricate paintings, funny quirky images or huge colourful murals.

It really reminded me of some of the small local villages and neighbourhoods in Busan.

Definitely worth taking a walk through at least to reach your next stop.

River walk and Hwahongmun Gate

Continuing on you’ll reach the river and if you look to your left you’ll see the Hwahongmun Gate over the river which is incredibly picturesque.

You’ll have reached the opposite site of the fortress here and can continue on the walls or visit Hwahongmun Gate.

A large stone fortress wall sitting on top of a wide flowing river. — Suwon River Fortress

Explore the coffee shops

In this area close to the fortress wall again, you’ll find several coffee shops that have rooftop views of Janganmun Gate.

We went to Paletscent cafe which has an indoor and outdoor area with classic drinks as well as colourful, seasonal specials.

We took ours up onto the rooftop and enjoyed them with a view of the fortress walls and gate.

Another couple of cafe options to check out are: Heol Coffee Roasters and L’after coffeebar.

Suwon Starfield Library

This next stop is the only one that you can’t walk to, so if you’re not interested in visiting the library or mall, you can take a bus back to the station if you’re heading back to Seoul.

To reach Suwon Starfield Library from the cafes at Janganmun Gate, if you walk under the fortress walls bridge, you’ll reach Jeongjo-ro street, it’s only a 5 minute walk from the cafe to the bus stop.

We took the bus from the bus stop outside Paris Baguette bakery towards Suwon Starfield Library.

Most people know the Starfield Coex Library in Seoul’s Gangnam neighbourhood, but a lot of people don’t know that there’s another stunning and unique library in Suwon’s Starfield Shopping Centre.

The Suwon library is probably my favourite of the two, with a stunning area over 4 floors and including a cafe and record store.

To get to the library in the shopping centre, you need to go in the main entrance and take the escalators up to the 4th floor then follow the signs.

A very large library with many brown bookshelves filled with books which reach the ceiling. There's a large skylight in the ceiling with many colourful balls hanging from it. — Starfield Library Suwon

Go shopping in the Starfield Mall

Of course fashion and beauty are huge in Korea and the shopping centre in Suwon is massive with both high street and designer stores.

If you’ve got some time to kill before your train back to Seoul, doing a bit of shopping is a great option and prices in Korea aren’t too bad either!

From Starfield Mall, if you’re taking the Subway Line 1 back to Seoul, it’s only a short 7 minute walk from the mall to the Hwaseo subway station. We ended up doing this as it was so easy to walk there and cheaper than KTX since we weren’t in a time crunch to get back to Seoul.

Otherwise you have to go back on yourself a bit to get to Suwon Station.Which is an 8 minute walk then 6 minute bus ride to get back to Suwon main station for the KTX line. Or you could walk to the nearby subway station that I just mentioned and ride Line 1 for one stop to Suwon Station and take the KTX.

Again, using Naver Maps or Kakao is the easiest way to plan this journey and find the best option for you.

A large curved modern building covered in glass windows in the middle of a city — Ssuwon Starfield Mall

Eat Dakgalbi (it's from Suwon)

If you’re in Korea, you need to eat Dakgalbi at some point and did you know that dakgalbi is originally from Suwon?

Dakgalbi is a spicy chicken, vegetable and rice cake mix that’s popular in Korea and definitely worth trying.

There are loads of Dakgalbi restaurants in Suwon to choose from. Just search for “dakgalbi” on Naver Maps or Kakao Map to find a restaurant during the day. Or there are several options near the station if you want to grab a bite before your train back to Seoul.