Chungcheongnam-do

This excellent museum exhibits treasures discovered in the tomb of King Muryeong, including the distinctive gold diadem ornaments that you’ll see images of all over Gongju. While only a few hundred of the 2906 tomb artefacts are on display here, together with some videos (with English subtitles) they paint a vivid picture of Baekje culture. The museum is a 15-minute, signposted walk north from the royal tombs.

Beautiful Taeanhaean National Marine Park (태안해안국립공원) is an extraordinary preserve offering expansive beaches and a panoply of twisting hiking trails alongside remote villages, lush rice paddies and rugged coastlines so inspiring that even the most dedicated curmudgeon will pause to wonder at the beauty of it all. The park covers 327 sq km of land and sea, with 130 islands and islets, and more than 30 beaches.

Taean-gun is the biggest municipality in the area and a major transport hub. Mallipo Beach, a fun resort town with a small surf scene, is 17km to the west. To the south is Anmyeondo, the park's largest island (and Korea's sixth largest). Here you'll find popular Kkotki Beach. Yeongmok-hang, the island's main harbour with ferries connecting with Daecheon, is on the southern tip of the island.

Buyeo (부여) is a pretty, countryside town with a slower pace of life and terrific historical sights; it's compact and walkable, with no buildings taller than five floors high. Stroll green parks, enjoy top-notch food and you'll quickly notice Korea's urban tussle doesn't exist here.

Buyeo is home to several Baekje-era sites and relics. King Seong, a statue of whom presides over the roundabout in the town centre, moved the capital here in AD 538, when it was known as Sabi. This lasted till AD 660, when the combined Silla-Tang army destroyed the town. Though Buyeo was considered a better site for the capital, today it is more of a backwater than Gongju.

This popular strip of almost golden-hued sand runs for 3.5km and is about 100m wide during low tide. The main hub of activity is at its southern end, near the Citizen's Tower Plaza, but in summer the entire stretch gets overrun with beachgoers, especially during the bacchanalian Boryeong Mud Festival. There's also waterskiing, canoeing, windsurfing, horse-and-carriage rides and speedboat, banana-boat and jet-ski rides.

The Cheollipo Arboretum is among Asia's top botanical institutions, with a collection of more than 13,000 species from over 60 countries, laid out with diligent care across 64 hectares of lush coastal property. Only a fraction of it is open to the public, but even that is spectacular – particularly in spring when the magnolias bloom.

If you like undeveloped beaches and the salty smell of fish, skip out to Sapisdo (삽시도), 13km from Daecheon. There isn’t much to do here except hit the sand, wander the roads, hike a coastal trail and admire the sunset if you stay the night. You’ll see residents mending nets, collecting shellfish at low tide or working in rice paddies. The pace speeds up in summer with more than 50 minbak (private homes with rooms for rent) and pensions drawing visitors from the mainland.

A good three-hour hike, about 8km, runs along the south-western coast, roughly from Jinneomeo Beach to the Bamseom ferry terminal. Some English-language signage is on the trail. The large island map at each ferry terminal shows some trail details.

One of Korea's smallest parks, Gyeryongsan means ‘Rooster Dragon Mountain’ because locals thought the mountain resembled a dragon with a rooster’s head. At the eastern entrance is the temple Donghak-sa; at the western entrance, Gap-sa. A trail between the two temples runs along streams and small waterfalls (and a few peaks if you wish). The total hike takes between four and six hours, depending on the route. There is excellent English-language signage throughout.