What to do and see in North Korea, North Korea: The Best Free Things to do

May 9, 2022 Darleen Reid

Discover the best top things to do in North Korea, North Korea including Geumsusan Memorial Palace, Mount Myohyang, Mansudae Grand Monument, Triumphal Arch, Monument to the Korean Workers Party, Kim Il-sung Square, Arch of Reunification, Mansudae Art Studio Gallery, Grand People's Study House, Korean Department Store in Pyongyang.
Restaurants in North Korea

1. Geumsusan Memorial Palace

Miam-dong, Pyongyang 999093 North Korea
Excellent
69%
Good
20%
Satisfactory
10%
Poor
0%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 87 reviews

Geumsusan Memorial Palace

Reviewed By Neil_and_Family_5 - Kelowna, Canada

Definitely, one of the highlights of our tour of North Korea. The palace is more than the mausoleum where the two previous Kims lie in state. It is a museum of Kim paraphernalia; their personal train cars, Mercedes Benz', golf cart; maps of their official tours, all of their awards, certificates, and honorary degrees and much more. First, it is quite the effort just to get in. Dress properly, arrive, wait in a building, be summoned to line up in rows of four, walk down a walkway into another building, go through security, arrive at the cloakroom where you deposit your recording devices and jackets, line up in rows of four, go up an escalator, then stand on numerous very long moving walkways (no walking on the walkways but don't worry; there are many portraits to look at while abiding your time), and then, finally arrive at the palace. And what a palace; opulent, grandiose, serene, truly out of this world. It's understandable that pictures are not allowed in the mausoleum but it sure would have been nice to be able to memorialize the palace in a visual sense. And be sure to mind your manners; quiet whispers at all times and hands in front or at your side; never in your pockets or behind your back. The tour of the interior was excellent as was the walk outside in the grounds. Truly a must do. 5 stars.

2. Mount Myohyang

Hyangsan North Korea http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=45456&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
Excellent
50%
Good
40%
Satisfactory
10%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 10 reviews

Mount Myohyang

Reviewed By garrickwright - Perth, Australia

Stay at the hotel overnight in the area (very isolated and looks like it belongs in a 1970's film with Jack Nicholson) - and make the effort to hike the beautiful mountain - plenty to see - views are amazing - and you also have the Buddhist temple and the People's Friendship Exhibition Hall down the road. I'm so glad we did it. Hike to the top and back is approx 3hrs give or take for an average person

3. Mansudae Grand Monument

Pyongyang North Korea
Excellent
58%
Good
29%
Satisfactory
13%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 106 reviews

Mansudae Grand Monument

Reviewed By LynsFrostee - London, United Kingdom

These statues are huge and are a big deal to the people of Pyongyang. We drove past these statues numerous times on our trip and each time we passed by our driver slowed down dramatically out of respect, as all the locals do. That is just a taste of how much the leaders and thus their statues are revered. When you get to the statues you are required to bow in an organised line up as a group style. The other significant rule is if you take photos you need to ensure you don’t cut off any part of the leader statues. That is a huge no no. This is obviously a really weird event for any tourist but really interesting culturally. Definitely a must see part of any trip.

4. Triumphal Arch

Pyongyang North Korea
Excellent
26%
Good
37%
Satisfactory
32%
Poor
3%
Terrible
2%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 154 reviews

Triumphal Arch

Reviewed By phinfogg

Modelled after the Parisian Arc de Triomphe, the North Koreans naturally had to ensure that theirs was bigger. An impressive monument at the centre of downtown Pyongyang.

5. Monument to the Korean Workers Party

Pyongyang North Korea
Excellent
26%
Good
42%
Satisfactory
29%
Poor
4%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 101 reviews

Monument to the Korean Workers Party

Reviewed By Road402110 - Markham, Canada

This 50 meter high monument has 3 hand holding up 3 tools. the sickle (for the peasant), the hammer (for the worker), and the calligraphy brush (for the working intellectual). If you are there at the right time, you can buy a North korean "Passport" that contains pages with all the visitor sites, where you can get it stamped at each site you visit. A pretty good souvenir.,

6. Kim Il-sung Square

Pyongyang North Korea
Excellent
44%
Good
35%
Satisfactory
19%
Poor
0%
Terrible
2%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 159 reviews

Kim Il-sung Square

Reviewed By Grace86London

You’ll see this famous square in any DPRK propaganda footage, complete with thousands of soldiers goose-stepping past the Dear Leader in flawless synchronisation. I wasn’t expecting to see all of the markings permanently painted on the floor - I suppose I had never thought about how they get such a perfect formation. Definitely a must as part of your tour. We stopped past here whilst on a walk to a ‘foreigners bookshop’ in Pyongyang.

7. Arch of Reunification

Pyongyang North Korea
Excellent
26%
Good
39%
Satisfactory
30%
Poor
4%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 122 reviews

Arch of Reunification

Reviewed By Grace86London

It was one of the first things we stopped off at on our way from the airport to Pyongyang and gave me chills to see it in real life. The Reunification Highway stretches from Pyongyang all the way down to the DMZ on the South Korean border. The monument was built in 2001 to commemorate the ongoing peace proposals between the two Koreas. The roads are virtually empty so you can get out and stand in the road to take your photos.

Pyongyang North Korea http://www.mansudaeartstudio.com/
Excellent
33%
Good
46%
Satisfactory
17%
Poor
4%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 24 reviews

Mansudae Art Studio Gallery

9. Grand People's Study House

Pyongyang North Korea
Excellent
28%
Good
49%
Satisfactory
23%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 69 reviews

Grand People's Study House

Reviewed By bronwynrev - Toronto, Canada

Had a lovely guide here who spoke French and English and showed me around the English collections and took out copies of Jane Eyre, a Shakespeare reader, some science books, and Harry Potter for me. Spoke to a very friendly English class here, and saw other classes and lecture halls. The balcony has great views of Kim Il-Sung square, the Juche Tower, and the Mansudae Grand Monument. Also has a great and well-stocked gift shop, especially if you're into DPRK music!

10. Korean Department Store in Pyongyang

GuangFu Street, Pyongyang North Korea +86 159 4154 5676 http://www.explorenorthkorea.com
Excellent
42%
Good
33%
Satisfactory
25%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 12 reviews

Korean Department Store in Pyongyang

Reviewed By gyanfernando - Exeter, United Kingdom

This is a centrally situated Supermarket in Pyongyang and probably the only supermarket that visitors can do their shopping apart from hotel based shops that only deal in hard currency. Firstly, this is the only chance to get your hands on the local currency, the Won. As a collector of banknotes of the countries that I have visited, this was a great opportunity get my hands on them. Secondly, this was an opportunity to shop with the locals and communicate with them in sign language! We did as advised and changed a little bit of hard currency into Wons. Thereafter, we shopped looking at the vast array of unusual alcoholic drinks and food. I bought several bottles of local spirits after consulting the shelf-stacking girls. Most of the stuff were of Chinese origin but we did not care. BTW, nice toilets. Great place for people watching. At the end of our shopping spree we could convert the Wons back to hard currency. I kept a few clean banknotes and asked our guides if I could take them back to me. The answer was that if my local banknotes were to get mixed up with my Dollars, no body would care on the way out. This I did! It is not a good idea to take them out in "Industrial Quantities" but a few Won banknotes would not cause much problems. A happy day!

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