Route 03 · Five provinces
Korean Temple Monasteries (Sansa) Route
Nine mountain temples across five provinces, seven of which UNESCO listed together in 2018 as Sansa. It is the most spread out route on the passport, so it takes the longest to finish.
Taken in the published order the route covers about 1127 km, and its two furthest stops sit 337 km apart. Both are straight-line figures, so real driving is longer.
It passes through eight towns: Gongju, Boeun, Suncheon, Andong, Yangsan, Yeongju, Hapcheon, Haenam.
Magoksa Temple and Bongjeongsa Temple appear on another route too, so each stamp fills a page on both.
The longest single hop is Songgwangsa Temple to Bongjeongsa Temple at 222 km. The shortest is Seonamsa Temple to Songgwangsa Temple, 5.1 km apart.
Grouped so that nearby stops share a day, it works out at roughly five days of driving.
Every stop on this route charges admission.
On six of the nine stops the stamp sits in a museum or information centre rather than at the heritage site, which matters if you turn up outside opening hours.
Stamp points in order
- Magoksa TempleGongju
In front of the five-story stone pagoda at Magoksa Temple, in front of the temple stay office
- Beopjusa TempleBoeun
Tourist information center inside Beopjusa Temple
- Seonamsa TempleSuncheon
Administrative office at Seonamsa Temple
- Songgwangsa TempleSuncheon
Ticket office at Songgwangsa Temple
- Bongjeongsa TempleAndong
Cultural commentator office at the tourist information center
- Tongdosa TempleYangsan
Inside the tourist information center at Tongdosa Temple
- Buseoksa TempleYeongju
Inside the tourist information center at Buseoksa Temple
- Haeinsa TempleHapcheon
Haeinsa Temple Tourist Information Center
- Daeheungsa TempleHaenam
Inside the tourist information center at Daeheungsa Temple