A Summer Trip to Gwangju and Damyang, Korea (Bamboo Forests, Serene Cafes)
Gwangju is an easy overnight trip from Seoul that I can’t recommend enough. Filled with history, amazing food, friendly people, and lush nature around every corner, this region is one of my favorites in the country.
This time, we took the SRT from Suseo Station to Gwangju Songjeong Station rather than the KTX and it was a smooth and easy ride. It took about 2 hours and by the time we arrived we were more than ready for lunch.
While you can take a direct bus easily enough, we hopped in a taxi to get us to Damyang as fast as possible because those spicy noodles were calling our name! Our first destination was Damyang’s noodle street where you can eat spicy (or non spicy!) noodles and other delicious things on picnic benches overlooking the stream. It was pretty empty when we arrived at 11:30am but by the time we left people were squeezing into the last available seats.
We crossed the bridge to visit the bamboo forest and spent an hour or so getting lost among the giant trees. A coffee and dessert (or two) later, we were ready to head back to Gwangju.
We spent the night wandering the area around the Gwangju Culture Park or 5.18 Democracy Square. I’ve talked about the historical aspect of this city before and again want to recommend the free museum here to learn about it! Now it is an area filled with cafe, fun lifestyle shops, drinking places and restaurants. We ended up getting pizza at La Grosso and went back home for some much needed sleep.
We started our morning with a walk in the park and a coffee and cinnamon bun. We both remarked that a cafe this beautiful would be PACKED in Seoul, but here in Gwangju we were the only customers for a bit and were able to have a nice chat with the barista (he was happy to hear Hennie is from Sweden where his favorite coffee roaster is from!)
We had a late morning train which left us just enough time to get lunch (noodles again) and grab soem snacks to bring home. I stopped at Gaengsonyeon, a yanggaeng cafe, and the owner was kind enough to give us some freebies because I had visited 6 years prior and loved them so much!
If you’re looking for a new place to visit via train from Seoul, please put the vibrant and inviting Gwangju at the top of your list.