Location: Paju
Top Things to do in Paju
The 10 Best Things to do in Paju, Gyeonggi-do
Paju (Korean pronunciation: [pʰa.dʑu]) is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Paju was made a city in 1997; it had previously been a county (gun).
Restaurants in Paju
1. Camp Bonifas
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 70 reviews
The American base at the demilitarized zone.
Reviewed By H75travel - Epsom, United Kingdom
This is the main place on interest for most people wanting to take a DMZ tour - the opportunity to experience first hand the tension between the two Korean forces. It is bizarre and exhillarating at the same time. On arrival you met your serving military guide on the bus (we had an America soldier) and are directed to a large room to be given a safety briefing where you sign a disclaimer recognising that this is a war zone. After having the life scared out of you, you return to the bus to head into the JSA and the famous blue buildings. On the bus you pass through a couple of kilometres of the DMZ, seeing farms and people who live there going about their business. Entering into the South Korean administration building you emerge facing the blue UN buildings which traverse the border. You are reminded only to look forward and to only take photos in the forward direction between two distinct points. It is all very tense. You can photograph the blue buildings and the North Korean buildings. After a photo stop and a few stories of North Korean soldier's antics (which happens while the tour group ahead of you is inside) you are then taken into the blue building itself. Half of the room is soldiered by South Koreans, the other by North Koreans. The N Korean soldiers don't look real, rather they look like wax work models. However, look closer (don't get too close as you will regret it) and you can see them breathing. You can walk over to the North Korean side and officially be in North Korean terroritory right in the middle of the DMZ. A fascinating and slighty unnerving experience, and the closest most people will come to the North. Back on the bus you can breathe a sigh of relief that you survived and back at the main camp buy a few souveniers to mark the occasion.
2. DMZ
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,040 reviews
Reviewed By Granules2013 - Darwin, Australia
Very lucky to have been able to visit the DMZ on a trip to South Korea. Would probably say this is an absolute must see thing to do when visiting Korea. Managed to do a full day tour, an eerie experience and can still see the tension. Coming here helps you understand a lot about the history though.
3. Panmunjom
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 361 reviews
Reviewed By WilliamWillieWilson - Nashville, United States
If you've done your research, then hopefully you've found one of the few tour groups that will actually take you all the way to the buildings of Panmunjom, while the other tours have concluded miles away. And by the time your bus has reached the exterior of Camp Bonifas, you've already been tantalized by a distant North Korean landscape looming on the horizon as viewed from the Dora Observatory. You've probably come from the Third Tunnel, where you saw absolutely nothing of North Korea. After a brief wait, anxious with anticipation, you are finally driven slowly past a sizeable fence into the Demilitarized Zone as you enter the military encampment. After a brief presentation on what not to do, this is the moment you've been waiting for! Tourists are driven out of camp down a narrow road, past, watch towers, barb-wire fences, and minefields. This is the last of South Korea, where a handful of farmers remain, owning land only through inheritance. Otherwise, this is a place strictly off limits to most of the world. Within minutes, you are dropped off in front of a large, unadorned gray complex through which you are escorted. It's a facility fit for presidents and diplomats, yet purely functional and completely undecorated. As you walk through the building in two single-file lines and ride up an escalator, you're suddenly there. Without fanfare, you've exit the upper floor of the structure where those tiny blue huts you've seen photographed and filmed hundreds of times stand right before your very eyes. But your gaze cannot be broken from the North Korean building directly in front of you and the very doors from which Kim Jong-Un occasionally emerges to attend meetings. After brief explanation inside the main blue hut, you step past a table marking the border between the two countries and you're now standing in North Korea. The experience is brief, a whirlwind event to be sure. But the memory of standing in the most mysterious country in the world will stay with you forever.
4. Dorasan Station
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 258 reviews
Reviewed By 624hildar - Dallas, United States
Dorasan Station is a railway station situated on the Gyeongui Line, used to connect North and South Korea, and now is more like a museum, with lots of pictures and history. Very clean inside with air conditioning, there’s a convenient store and buying artesanal local whiskey is recommended as well as your souvenirs. The current purpose of the station is largely symbolic of the hope for eventual Korean reunification.
5. Paju Premium Outlets
6. Imjingak Pyeonghoa-Nuri Park
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 184 reviews
Reviewed By Krishhere - Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), India
This was the first stop of our VIP half day morning tour of DMZ. We can see the Freedom bridge through which prisoners of war returned to South Korea. Also the hundreds of messages of peace and unification posted by South Koreans whose familes and friends have been separated from them and are now living in North Korea. Also on display is a steam locomotive riddled with more than 1,000 bullets, which serves as a grim reminder of the Koreannwar.
7. Odusan Unification Tower
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 99 reviews
Reviewed By Culinary-Consultants - Ferrara, Italy
This special place we visited early in the morning as it shall be. It was a clear day and the tour operator was very nice and informative. From the tower you can see just a few miles away the other side of the River and appreciate North Korea views, housing and other interesting things. Inside the place has a coffee shop and a gift shop. There is also an exhibition where you can see all information related as the past, present and future of this area. there are some interesting and moving pictures as well of deflectors, families, and moments when they were re-united. The tower has an upper roof-floor where you have telescopes and you will be able to appreciate more in detail the other side of the river. Meaning: North Korea. Is exciting in a way as you are looking at history into the making. Highly recommended.
8. Lotte Premium Outlets Paju Branch
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 61 reviews
In Paju Premium Outlet showing LOTTE's scale as it is, you can meet about 250 premium brands (including PRADA, MONTBLANC, Mulberry, Ferragamo, MCM, Tods, Nike Factory, Adidas, and Coach,) at reasonable prices, some of which are brands that can be found only in this outlet in Korea. Reality dinosaur show will be held at Lotte Paju Premium Outlet. Enjoy a show with your dinosaur friends, touch them in front of your eyes, and take photos. Event Schedule: Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays (A Block) Summer 13:00, 15:00, 16:00, 17:00, 18:00 Winter 12:00, 14:00, 15:00, 16:00, 17:00 In addition, this outlet is a good place for families as it has LOTTE CINEMA (7 theaters, 1,518 seats), merry-go-round, premium train and kids facility (Playtime). Also, beautiful natural environment created by Mt. Simhaksan provides peaceful rest space. In nearby Paju Book City and Forest of Wisdom, you can experience a variety of culture and events.
9. The Third Tunnel
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 341 reviews
Reviewed By 624hildar - Dallas, United States
included on your tour trip to DMZ, third tunnel is a unforgettable experience, no photos are allowed inside the tunnel and you can’t bring your cellphone, so be ready for a zero technology walking tour, there are lockers where you can leave your belongings, a souvenir and convenient store, then you go thru a metal detector. Downhill is easy, walking back is the hard part, unless you’re very fit, as it’s very steep. You can use the little train and I personally recommend it as there’s really nothing to see while walking. A hard hat is a must and very helpful, I’m 5’2” and still manage to hit my head with the ceiling a couple of times. It’s humid inside and smells like a mine, if you have asthma I don’t recommend it. At the end of the tunnel you can see the three barricades and go back.
10. Dora Observatory
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 230 reviews
Reviewed By BillNabilah - Sepang, Malaysia
Very interesting place. You can take a look at North Korea land. A lot of informative stuff to learn here. I was part of a guided tour group so we were also taken to a theatre where we watched a short movie about Korean war. Quite sad actually.
