Andong 안동

Is Andong worth it?

Andong, in the hills of North Gyeongsang, calls itself the capital of Korean spiritual culture. It earns the claim through its Confucian clan villages and academies, which survive here better than anywhere else in Korea. Most visitors come for one place: Hahoe Folk Village, a riverside clan village where about 150 households still live among 127 old houses.

Facts checked 24 October 2026. A day trip from Seoul is long. One night lets you see Hahoe without rushing and catch the town in the evening.

Hahoe Folk Village: what to see and how long

Hahoe was listed by UNESCO in 2010, together with Gyeongju’s Yangdong, as one of the Historic Villages of Korea. The Nakdong River loops almost all the way round it, which gives the village its name (ha-hoe, “river turning”). The Ryu clan houses Yangjindang and Chunghyodang are the grandest buildings. The old zelkova at the Samsindang shrine stands in the middle of the lanes, and the Mansongjeong pine forest runs along the sandy bank.

Allow 2–4 hours for the village, and longer with the mask dance. Buy your ticket at the office by the car park and take the free shuttle to the village entrance. There are no restaurants inside the village, so eat near the car park. Families live in many of the houses, so keep out of closed gates and courtyards.

From the Hahoe Village, Byeongsanseowon and Andong tourism sites, checked 24 October 2026. Hahoe youths (13–18) pay ₩2,500 and children (7–12) ₩1,500. The mask dance hall was being renovated from June 2025, with shows moved to a temporary hall, so ask at the ticket office where the 14:00 show is held.

The Hahoe Byeolsingut Talnori is a masked dance-drama that once formed part of a village shamanic rite. Its characters mock aristocrats and monks, and the wooden Hahoe masks used in it are national treasures. It is part of the Korean mask dance (talchum) tradition that UNESCO added to its intangible heritage list in 2022. Across the river, Buyongdae cliff gives the view over the whole loop; it is reached by road via Gwangdeok Bridge. On a few evenings a year the village holds Seonyu Julbul, a fire show of burning rope lines and floating lanterns, with tickets sold in advance only.

The Gyeongbuk wildfires of March 2025 came within about 10 km of Hahoe. News reports the next day confirmed that neither Hahoe nor Byeongsanseowon was damaged.

The Confucian academies: Byeongsanseowon and Dosanseowon

Seowon were private Confucian academies where scholars taught and honoured a revered teacher. Nine were inscribed together by UNESCO in 2019, and two of them are in Andong. Visit one if you have a spare half day. Visit both only if Joseon history is the point of your trip.

Byeongsanseowon, down the river from Hahoe, is the more striking of the two. Its long open pavilion, Mandaeru, looks straight across the water to a cliff, and the academy is free. City bus 210 reaches it only a few times a day. Most people take a taxi from Hahoe, or join the private day tour. The access road was paved in spring 2026.

Dosanseowon, north of the city above the Andong Lake, grew out of the school of Toegye Yi Hwang, the 16th-century scholar on Korea’s ₩1,000 note. Toegye built his study here in 1561, and his disciples completed the academy after his death. Take bus Express 3 from the station and terminal.

Andong in town: Woryeonggyo, museums and jjimdak

In the evening, head to the city. Woryeonggyo, a 387 m wooden footbridge below the Andong Dam, is free, lit at night and has a pavilion halfway across. Next to it, the Andong Folk Village holds houses moved from the land flooded by the dam. The Andong Folk Museum nearby is free and open on Mondays, 09:00–18:00 with last entry at 17:30.

Dinner means jjimdak in the jjimdak alley of the old market, Gu-sijang, where about 30 restaurants serve braised chicken by the platter for two or more. Near Woryeonggyo, restaurants serve heotjesabap; salted mackerel set meals are on menus across the city. Andong soju is a clear distilled spirit of around 45 percent, far stronger than ordinary soju. The free Soju and Traditional Food Museum explains it, and it also shows the 73rd birthday table prepared for Queen Elizabeth II during her 1999 visit to Andong. The city lists the museum as closed on Mondays. For more on regional dishes, see the Korean food guide.

Bongjeongsa, a small temple in the hills north of the city, is free to enter. Its Geungnakjeon hall is the oldest wooden building in Korea, and the temple is one of the seven mountain monasteries on the UNESCO list. Take bus Express 2 or 310. See the temples guide for the other six.

Getting there and around without a car

The fastest way from Seoul is the KTX-Eum from Cheongnyangni, at about 1 h 50 min to 2 h 5 min. The same line continues south to Busan’s Bujeon Station in about 2 hours, so Andong fits between Seoul and Busan without backtracking. Express buses from Seoul take about 2 h 40 min from the Express Bus Terminal, or about 3 hours from Dong Seoul.

Andong Station and the bus terminal stand side by side west of the city, and buses to Hahoe leave from there. Bus Express 2 or 210 goes to Hahoe. A taxi is the practical way to reach Byeongsanseowon from Hahoe, or to see Dosanseowon and Bongjeongsa in a morning. Ask the driver to wait, as taxis are scarce at the outlying sites. If you have a rail pass, see the Korail Pass guide.

When to go

Spring and autumn are the best seasons for walking Hahoe and the academies. The Andong Maskdance Festival fills the city and Hahoe for about 11 days around the turn of September and October; in 2026 it ran from 24 September to 4 October. The 2027 dates have not been announced. For the other big events through the year, see the festival calendar for Korea.

Summer is hot inland and there is little shade in Hahoe’s lanes. Winter is cold and quiet, and the mask dance drops to weekends in January and February. For the rest of the region, including Gyeongju, Daegu and Haeinsa, see the Gyeongsang guide. For another traditional town, compare Jeonju.