Top Free Activities In Daegu, South Korea
South Korea has been described by many backpackers as one of Asia’s hidden gems. It is affordable, the people are great, and there is a lot to see and do. However, people rarely get themselves out of the capital (Seoul) when they visit the country. Like many backpackers, we typically want to visit several different parts of a country in order to get a feel for the place. While visiting South Korea in July 2017, that desire to see more brought us to the city of Daegu (after Seoul of course.) We went on to visit several other cities as well, but I wanted to write about what a cool place Daegu is and about some of the neat and inexpensive things to do we found there.
Seomun Market
The Seonum Market is a famous market in Daegu. It is a both an outdoor open air market and an indoor market. There are so many shops and booths that the market seems to spill out onto the sidewalks and streets surrounding it. Here you can find every type of Korean street food, as well as various types of other market goods. Fruits, vegetables, dried fish, live seafood and oriental medicines only scratch the surface of what you can find at this market.
The Seonum Market is a great way to learn about the Korean cuisine and see many of the ingredients used in Korean cooking before they are prepared. The real treat of this market comes at night though. Every evening at about 7:30 pm, some 50 or so small food carts roll out onto the main strip of the market and start selling all kinds of unique Korean fusion dishes. My personal favorite was the sushigasna (basically red meat sushi). They put out plenty of tables to eat at and many of the booths sell ice cold beer and other beverages. There is even a stage that gets set up for live music that goes on until late.
My recommendation for Seonum market is to show up at around 5pm and spend some time walking through the market before selecting a booth to sit down and have some noodles at for dinner. Keep an eye out as 7:30 pm rolls around for all the little food carts to come out and then you can walk around and enjoy the festivities for the rest of the evening.
Suseong Pond
Suseong Pond is another great activity to start before the sun sets and let it lead you into the night. The pond has a nice walking path that goes all the way around it with plenty of benches to sit back on and watch the duck boats paddle around. When the sun goes down the fountains in the middle of the pond are lit up and spray different patterns into the air. There are small stages that get set up all around the pond where local musicians perform all types of music from jazz to rock, to a quintet of saxophone players. Off to the far end of the pond there is a small carnival with rides and games, as well as a Christmas light forest to walk through. There are plenty of restaurants on the other end of the pond too for dinner and a convenience store close by for getting iced coffees. Suseong Pond is a great free activity in an area that really comes to life at night.
Hiking In Apsan Park
There are a number of great hiking trails around the Apsan park area in Daegu. You can get there easily by taking the metro and then walking a little bit. There is no entrance fee and the trails take you to a number of great temples in the mountains as well as several activity parks. Some of the trails start right off the highway. You can skip the cable car and walk up a longer way to get to the observation point, which offers a stunning view of the city of Daegu. You would never guess that the city is as big as it looks from the observation point when you are down in it. The trails are all nicely kept and well maintained and you will of course find the occasional fitness park along the way if you want to get your pump on. Pack a lunch and bring plenty of water because you can easily spend your entire day here.
Dongseongno Street
Dongseongno Street is about what you would expect for any shopping district in Korea. There are about 1,000 stores in every direction, including up and down. There are lots of BBQ restaurants and overpriced chicken and beer places. Even if you aren’t there spending money though, it is still a cool place to hangout and soak up the youth culture. There are plenty of street food vendors around and some of them sell tall soft serve ice-cream cones that make your wife happy like this.