Why this ride
268 km from Seoul to Seoul, about 5 h 07 of riding. On the way it passes Namhansanseong, Hwaseong Fortress, Yeongneung Cluster and back through Hwaseong Fortress. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Jongmyo Shrine and Yeongneung Cluster
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 268 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 07
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Jongmyo Shrine
In the middle of busy central Seoul, behind a gate on Jongno street, lies a forest of trees and a long, low hall that seems to come from another world. Jongmyo is the royal ancestral shrine of the Joseon dynasty, which ruled Korea from 1392 to 1910, and its main hall, the Jeongjeon, houses the spirit tablets of kings and queens in a row of identical rooms behind a single facade of red pillars, stretching for more than a hundred metres. It is one of the longest wooden buildings of its kind in Asia, and its austerity is deeply impressive.
Read the complete Jongmyo Shrine write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Jongmyo Shrine is where the day begins. Next is Namhansanseong.
2. Namhansanseong
Just beyond the south-eastern edge of Seoul, the city stops abruptly against wooded mountains, and on top of them runs a stone wall with gates, watchtowers and command posts. Namhansanseong was built as an emergency capital, a mountain fortress where the king and court could retreat in time of invasion, and in the winter of 1636 to 1637 it was put to the test. King Injo fled here from the invading Qing army and held out for forty-seven days before hunger and the fall of other strongholds forced him to surrender. The fortress became a World Heritage Site in 2014.
Read the complete Namhansanseong write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Namhansanseong comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hwaseong Fortress.
3. Hwaseong Fortress
Hwaseong is a love letter from a son to his father, written in stone. In 1762, Crown Prince Sado was locked in a rice chest by his own father, King Yeongjo, and left to die, one of the darkest episodes in Korean royal history. His son, who became King Jeongjo, never forgot, and he moved his father's tomb to a site near Suwon and built a grand fortress there, completed in 1796, intended perhaps as a new capital. The engineer and scholar Jeong Yak-yong used cranes and pulleys to speed up construction, and the walls, gates, towers and bastions combine Korean, Chinese and Western ideas of fortification. UNESCO listed it in 1997.
Read the complete Hwaseong Fortress write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 68 km into the recorded legs you reach Hwaseong Fortress. Next is Yeongneung Cluster.
4. Yeongneung Cluster
The Yeongneung cluster lies in the countryside of Yeoju, a town on the Namhan River east of Seoul, and it is the resting place of King Sejong the Great, who reigned from 1418 to 1450 and is remembered above all for the creation of the Korean alphabet, hangul, announced in the 1440s. Koreans hold the king in deep affection, and a statue of him sits in the middle of Seoul. His tomb here is a joint one, shared with his queen, and it sits in a beautiful pine-covered setting with stone officials, horses and lanterns lined along the approach. The nearby tomb of King Hyojong, known as Nyeongneung, is part of the same area.
Read the complete Yeongneung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Yeongneung Cluster, about halfway. Next is back through Hwaseong Fortress.
5. back through Hwaseong Fortress
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hwaseong Fortress write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Hwaseong Fortress sits at 180 km, about halfway. Next is back through Namhansanseong.
6. back through Namhansanseong
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Namhansanseong write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Namhansanseong comes up about 238 km into the recorded legs. Next is Jongmyo Shrine.
7. Jongmyo Shrine
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jongmyo Shrine write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Jongmyo Shrine closes the day.
Leg by leg
Jongmyo Shrine to Namhansanseong
Jongmyo Shrine → Namhansanseong is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Namhansanseong to Hwaseong Fortress
Namhansanseong → Hwaseong Fortress is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hwaseong Fortress to Yeongneung Cluster
Hwaseong Fortress → Yeongneung Cluster is 63 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Yeongneung Cluster to back through Hwaseong Fortress
Yeongneung Cluster → back through Hwaseong Fortress is 70 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Hwaseong Fortress to back through Namhansanseong
back through Hwaseong Fortress → back through Namhansanseong is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Namhansanseong to Jongmyo Shrine
back through Namhansanseong → Jongmyo Shrine is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.