Visit February 2020 - I managed to visit all components of the Baekje Historic Areas on my Korea trip.

Gongju cluster
I started in Gongju, visiting the Gongsanseong fortress upon arrival in the afternoon. It is not a spectacular, but still a nice fortress, with reconstructed gates and earthen walls. You need at least an hour to visit. It’s quite big. After spending the night in this underwhelming town, I visited the royal tombs in the morning. In hind side I should have pushed my schedule the day before for 15 minutes as this was roughly the time I needed for the visit. The tombs are not accessible all you can do is visit the museum with the replicas. Nice, but not the real deal.

Buyeo cluster
I started with Busosanseong fortress and the attached archeological site. Both very underwhelming. Only fractions of the buildings are left and the fortress is rather a forested hill that serves as a town park. It is really hard to spot the elements that once created the fortress.

Jeongnimsa temple is also not a great site. The temple is basically gone and all that is left is a pagoda and the layout of where the buildings used to stand. I first intended to walk from the parking lot close to the fortress, but due to the entrance being located on the other side of a huge compound, went back to take my car.

The royal tombs and the city wall were by far the best components in Buyeo. Unfortunately I was not able to enter the tomb, like Clyde did, but the remains of the enormous ceremonial place and the tombs are still nice to visit. Unlike marked in our map, the city wall is not on the other side of the road but rather next to the royal tombs park. You are able to walk the wall, even climbing up a hill.

Iksan cluster
If you don’t have the time or endurance to visit all components, I would strongly suggest to visit the Iksan cluster. Mireuksa was just renovated and shines in white stone. There are two pagodas, one of the partially remaining and the other complete. Apart from the pagodas, the usual layouts of where the buildings used to be is left. But the pagoda itself and the fact they needed such a long time to reconstruct it already justifies the drive there.

The archeological zone of Wanggung-ri, a few minutes by car from the temple, is also well worth a visit. Apart from a pagoda and the layouts of some buildings, the irrigation system was the highlight for me in this rather large area. It’s a beautiful and relaxing site to spend an hour or two.