Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is one of the largest cities in the world. It is bustling with excitement, light and color yet, not far from it’s loud city center, pockets of tranquility can be found. I’ve loved exploring the hiking trails and beautiful temples in Seoul, but one day I decided to venture away from the tourist center to Anyang (안양): a city just south of Seoul and easy to access via the subway or bus. It is here I found Anyang Art Park ( 안양예술공원 ): an outdoor sculpture garden and a great nearby day trip from Seoul.
It’s easy to get to Anyang Art Park via the subway line 1 (the Blue line) to Gwanak station: just over an hour ride from Seoul Station. From there it’s a rather pleasant 20 minute walk a bit further south of the station and then eastward along a beautiful stream.
The stream will lead you to a quaint little neighborhood surrounded by lovely forested mountains. The park’s “entrance” so to speak, is marked by a large parking lot but the sculptures are simply scattered throughout the forest. There are some helpful maps to find particular works so it makes for some fun outdoor exploration.
Rather than figurines to simply observe, the sculptures of this park are large quirky structures that you can stand in or amongst to provide cool photo ops. This has made Anyang Art Park a popular instagrammable spot in Korea.
These large sculptures make for a fun interactive experience in nature. Also, because the sculptures are spread out in the forest, the experience (at least when I went) wasn’t at all crowded or too “touristy”.
Anyang Art Park is such a nice, wholesome activity out in nature, and completely free. There are so many fun free things to do in South Korea, and the country generally seems to have a love of playful art installations.
This area’s position amongst the mountains also makes for a great base for hiking. The Korean peninsula is at least 70% mountainous and there is no shortage of great trails and views to explore.
There’s a great view in Anyang Art Park at the top of a large observation tower. I must say, this little neighborhood in Anyang was just as much of a delight to explore as the Art Park itself. There were some lovely cafes, shops and galleries to enjoy.
Anyang Art Park is a decent spot to see cherry blossoms in Korea. I was there at the tail end of the season (Cherry Blossom season in Korea runs from about mid March to mid April) and there were still so many lovely pink blossoms lining the stream and dotting the forest. I imagine the foliage is even more lively earlier in the season.
South Korea is a diverse and beautiful country with great scenery, amazing food, and a love for art and music. I hope travelers don’t isolate their experience to just Seoul. Some visitors fit in more distant excursions such as to the southern city of Busan but it’s nice to find such peaceful, easy day trips so close to the exciting capital.
