A taste of Europe in Gapyeong unique experience | Travel Course | K-Travel Mate

The Garden of Morning Calm is a horticultural arboretum designed to harmonize gardens filled with abundant Korean beauty against the stunning natural scenery of Chukryeongsan. It features various distinctive gardens and provides city dwellers a resting place where they can enjoy forest bathing under dense pine nut trees. Named by the designer (Han Sang-kyung, professor of horticulture at Samyook University), it opened in May 1996. The gardens, themed around 20 topics, are connected by beautifully maintained lawns, flower beds, and natural walking paths. Especially notable is the Hakyeong Garden (Sunken Garden), which recreates the Korean Peninsula’s terrain in form and expresses it with top-quality flowers, attracting the most tourists. The site houses over 5,000 species of plants, including about 300 species from Baekdusan. It is also known as a filming location for movies such as Letter, Detective K: Secret of the Virtuous Widow, Addiction, and dramas including The Golden Life, Hold Me Tight and Watch the Sunset, Jugglers, Monarch, Black, School 2017, The King in Love, Introverted Boss, Love in the Moonlight, Smile Donghae, You're Beautiful, That Fool's Love, variety shows like Infinite Challenge, and documentaries such as Success Documentary Best. ◎ Travel info to encounter Korean Wave charm: The Garden of Morning Calm, a filming site for numerous historical dramas including Tale of Nokdu and Love in the Moonlight as well as variety shows, is a botanical garden exhibiting around 5,000 diverse plant species. Spring, summer, and autumn show colorful garden scenery by season, while winter features an elaborate illuminated Five-Color Star Light Garden Exhibition. This place has long been a beloved tourist destination among Koreans. It is recommended to spend time falling in love with nature in this beautiful botanical garden with its changing seasonal appearances.

Located near the Garden of Morning Calm, Ppuri Garden is a tofu specialty restaurant using pine nuts, a local specialty of Gapyeong. The wooden interior of the restaurant is clean and quiet, providing a comfortable atmosphere. You can enjoy various dishes made with pine nut tofu, which is freshly made on the same day using Gapyeong's famous pine nuts. They serve pine nut tofu set meals, pine nut tofu mushroom hot pot, tofu bossam, as well as pine nut potato pancakes and pine nut makgeolli.

Cheongpyeong Lake is an artificial lake created by the construction of Cheongpyeong Dam blocking the Bukhan River. The scenery, made by the surrounding mountains and the clear water of the lake, is very beautiful, and because it is only 50 km away from Seoul, it has started to develop as a day-trip tourist destination. Cheongpyeong Lakeside refers to the area around Cheongpyeong Lake and is named for the beauty of Cheongpyeong Lake and its surrounding mountain landscape. It is one of the eight scenic spots of Gapyeong. Near the lake, there are various types of accommodations and leisure facilities, making it convenient to enjoy its different appearances throughout the four seasons. The Cheongpyeong Lake Trail is a deck path created by installing iron pillars on the rocky cliffs of Ul-eobsan Mountain so that travelers can walk while appreciating the views of the rocky mountains and Cheongpyeong Lakeside. Amid the pouring rocks and the open view of the Bukhan River, you can feel both beauty and thrill in the sight of Cheongpyeong Lakeside. It is a lesser-known hidden gem, boasting even more beautiful scenery when visited on sunny days and is also a good trekking course as part of the Sinseonbong Circular Trail.

About 10km along the lakeside road from Cheongpyeong Dam toward Nami Island, on the left hillside, there is a cluster of exotic buildings. The buildings resemble a Mediterranean village, and combined with the beautiful surrounding landscape of Homyeongsan, it feels like a pastoral village at the foot of the Alps. This place is Petite France, a French cultural village. Petite France's concept is 'flowers, stars, and The Little Prince.' It serves as a youth training center (Goseong Youth Training Center) and is located in the Goseong-ri area of Cheongpyeong-myeon, Gapyeong-gun. Petite France consists of French-style buildings where visitors can stay and experience French food, clothing, and housing culture. Attractions include the Saint-Exupéry Memorial Hall explaining the life and works of Saint-Exupéry and The Little Prince, the Music Box House where you can hear sweet melodies from 200-year-old music boxes, the French Traditional House Exhibition Hall built by importing French old houses, and a collection of antiques and artworks including French symbolic 'rooster' sculptures and European antiques in the Antique Exhibition Hall. ◎ Travel info featuring the allure of Hallyu - The main character Yeon Ji-young (Im Yoon-ah) in the drama "Tyrant's Chef" has her modern flashback room shot in Petite France's 'Marie's Room.' Besides "Tyrant's Chef," Petite France is known as a filming location for many popular Hallyu dramas such as "My Love from the Star," "Secret Garden," "Beethoven Virus," "Vincenzo," "Money Heist," and "Iduna." Visitors who have watched these works will find additional enjoyment during their visit.

Located in Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, Cheongpyeong Natural Recreation Forest is a great place to leisurely walk while drinking clean mineral water and spend a tranquil and relaxing time in nature. Pines, Korean nut pines, and oak trees overlook the clear and blue Cheongpyeong lakeside, with spectacular seasonal views including the dense summer greenery, autumn foliage, and winter snow scenes. The sound of flowing water and birdsong around the land allows visitors to fully enjoy the purity of nature. The observatory with a view of Bukhansan Mountain has tables and chairs, making it a comfortable spot for a snack and relaxing break. Most of the nature remains as is, and the shaded dirt paths offer cool walks even in summer. In the Korean nut pine forest trail, wooden beds are prepared for forest bathing while lying down. The wooded hillside path has a deck trail installed, making walking comfortable. Registered as a provider of forest welfare services, it offers various programs suitable for forest welfare service users, including corporate training programs. It is an ideal place for families as well as for educational, training, and retreat events by various groups, kindergarten and academy nature observation classes, church retreats, and outdoor worship.

Edelweiss Swiss Theme Park is located in a pristine natural environment spanning about 55,000 pyeong. It boasts scenery like entering a small Swiss mountain village, where visitors can feed sheep freely grazing in a large sheep ranch, experience traditional Swiss food such as fondue and raclette, cheese making while wearing traditional costumes, and watch traditional music performances, offering a variety of Swiss cultural experiences that make you feel as if you visited Switzerland. Also, near the summit, various activities provide another source of enjoyment, making it a beautiful place for the whole family to spend a day.