Daejeon

Daejeon is Korea's research capital, about an hour south of Seoul by KTX. For travellers it is a light half-day stop: soak your feet in hot-spring water, queue at a legendary bakery, move on. It suits rail-pass travellers; skip it on a first, short Korea trip.

• Free public hot-spring foot baths on Yuseong's spa street — bring a small towel
• Sungsimdang bakery — the fried soboro bun is the order, around ₩2,000 ($1.30)
• Expo Science Park and the Hanbit Tower, legacy of the 1993 Expo — good for science-minded kids
• Jangtaesan Recreational Forest's metasequoia skywalk, about 40 minutes out by bus or taxi

Daejeon is a KTX hub: nearly every train between Seoul and Busan stops here. The ride from Seoul takes about an hour and costs around ₩24,000 ($16) one way. Sungsimdang's main branch is a short walk from Daejeon station, which is exactly what makes the bakery stop so easy.

Use Daejeon as a leg-stretch on the way south rather than a base. Arrive mid-morning, do the bakery and the Yuseong foot baths, and catch an afternoon train on to Daegu or Busan. Travelling with kids, add an hour at Expo Science Park before you go. See our full South Korea guide for how the KTX cities fit together.