Gunpo Day Trip: Azalea Hill, Suri-san & Banwol Lake

Gunpo is really two towns. The old one grew up around Gunpo Station on the Gyeongbu Line, the Seoul–Busan railway, and its back streets still hold a seolleongtang shop that opened in 1959. The new one is Sanbon, a planned apartment town built around 1990 at the foot of Suri-san, the small mountain that wraps around the west of the city.

Most foreign visitors have never heard of either. Then, for about ten days each April, a hillside next to Suri-san Station turns solid pink. It was a bare slope under a power pylon until city officials and residents planted azalea seedlings there; today about 230,000 azaleas cover it, and the free festival drew roughly 540,000 people in 2025.

How do you get to Gunpo from Seoul?

Line 4, without changing trains. Board any southbound Line 4 train toward Oido at Sadang (or anywhere north of it) and stay on. Stations south of Namtaeryeong are run by Korail, so the train keeps going into Gyeonggi. For the old Gunpo Station area you need Line 1; the two lines meet at Geumjeong, one stop before Sanbon.

🚇 Getting to Gunpo (stop counts from the Line 1 and Line 4 route maps)

From	Line	Get off at	Stops	Notes
Sadang	Line 4	Sanbon	11	Sanbon town centre, market and restaurants
Sadang	Line 4	Suri-san	12	Azalea Hill, Exit 3
Sadang	Line 4	Daeyami	13	Nearest station to Banwol Lake
Geumjeong	Line 1	Gunpo	1	Old town, Gunpo Sikdang and Jeil Hwangso

Line 4 trains stop roughly every two minutes, so Sadang to Sanbon is in the region of 25 minutes. During the festival some roads near the hill close to cars, and the organizers ask visitors to come by subway.

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What is Gunpo known for?

Flowers in April, a mountain all year, and being one of the planned towns that took Seoul’s overflow. Gunpo became a city only in January 1989, after decades as part of Siheung County. Sanbon Station opened in 1992 as the new apartment blocks filled up, and the city’s identity still splits along that line: Sanbon for shopping streets and chain restaurants, the Gunpo Station area for older, family-run places.

The flower is 철쭉 cheoljjuk, the azaleas that bloom a few weeks after the cherry blossoms; on the hill they are mostly deep-pink garden and mountain varieties. The city says about one million azalea shrubs are planted across Gunpo, and the festival uses it as a brand: the slogan for 2026 was “citizens’ everyday life becomes a festival.”

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What should you see in Gunpo?

Azalea Hill (Cheoljjuk Dongsan) — The reason to come. During the festival the road between the hill and the neighbouring Azalea Park becomes a car-free street with a stage, a craft market, food trucks and photo spots. In 2026 there were night lights and digital displays for the first time. The best colour is usually in the last ten days of April; outside the season it is an ordinary green hill in a park.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Suri-san Provincial Park — A low, rocky mountain that rises straight out of the apartment blocks. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture gives its height as 475 m and its park area as about 6.96 km². The name is usually linked either to its eagle-like shape or to Susa, a temple in Sokdal-dong said to date to the Silla period. Also in Sokdal-dong is Deokgogae Dangsup, a village grove of about 60 oaks and other trees aged 100 to 300 years, where residents still hold a village rite on the first day of the tenth lunar month. Several trails start from the western edge of Sanbon; pick one on the park map and turn back whenever you like.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Chomakgol Ecological Park — A long park in a valley below Suri-san, with wetlands for salamanders and narrow-mouthed toads, pine stands, a waterfall feature and, in early summer, a lot of hydrangeas. Cars and motorbikes are kept out, so it is quiet. A 2026 visitor post lists it as free and always open, with a paid car park; a loop takes about 30 minutes.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Banwol Lake — Built in 1957 to water farmland, now ringed by wooden decks, small parks and lakeside cafés and restaurants. According to Kyeongin Ilbo, the loop is 3.4 km in two sections, and its sunset was named one of Gunpo’s scenic views in 2004. It sits on the Ansan border south-west of Daeyami Station; most visitors drive, which is why a parking tower opened in 2024. Without a car, a short taxi ride from Daeyami is the easy option.

📍 Open in Naver Map

🎫 Visitor basics (Gunpo City via Newsis, Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, Kyeongin Ilbo)

Place	Cost	When	Nearest station
Azalea Hill	Free	Peak late April; 2026 festival April 18–26	Suri-san (Line 4), Exit 3
Suri-san Provincial Park	Free	All year	Sanbon / Suri-san (Line 4)
Chomakgol Ecological Park	Free (paid parking)	All year	Suri-san (Line 4)
Banwol Lake	Free	All year; sunset is the draw	Daeyami (Line 4), then taxi

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Where do locals eat in Gunpo?

Go to the old station area for the long-running places, and to Sanbon for everything else. Prices and hours below are from Naver blog posts written in 2026; check before you go.

Gunpo Sikdang (Gunpo-ro 556beon-gil 6) — The restaurant people mean when they say “old Gunpo.” It has served seolleongtang since 1959, built on Korean-beef brisket rather than just bone, and it serves the rice already soaked in the broth, the old 토렴 toryeom way (ask if you want it on the side). Order a plate of brisket suyuk to share. October 2026 posts list the standard bowl at 14,000 won, with a larger “teuk” size. Recent posts give hours of 10:00–20:00 on weekdays and from 08:00 on Saturdays, with a 14:30–16:00 break, closed Sundays.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Jeil Hwangso (Gunpo-ro 534beon-gil 16) — A two-generation barbecue house by Gunpo Station Exit 1, opened in 1987 and featured by Gyeonggi-do as a Baeknyeon Gage, the SME ministry’s “century store” label for long-running small businesses. Beef and pork are cooked on heavy stone griddles; locals order sirloin, pork neck or pork belly and finish with the gochujang-marinated 주물럭 jumulleok. Dinner only: 2026 posts give 16:00 opening, closed Sundays.

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Binghwa Mandujip (Sanbon-ro 323beon-gil 7-1) — A small Chinese-style dumpling shop in the Sanbon shopping district, about five minutes from Sanbon Station Exit 3. It was featured on SBS’s Master of Living (episode 667). Order the binghwa dumplings, pan-fried with a lacy crisp skirt, plus soup dumplings and the cold corn noodles. 2026 posts list Monday–Saturday 11:00–20:30 with a 15:00–16:00 break, closed Sundays.

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Surisan Dukkeobi (Sokdal-ro 286-2) — A Korean set-meal restaurant on the Sokdal-dong side of Suri-san, on the way to Banwol Lake. The order is the charcoal-grilled gochujang pork set, which comes with a bean soup; families add fresh tofu. Easiest by car or taxi. A 2026 post lists daily hours of 10:30–20:00 and free parking.

📍 Open in Naver Map

🍽️ Gunpo local eats at a glance (Naver blog posts, accessed 2026-10)

Place	Area	Order	Why locals go	Map
Gunpo Sikdang	Gunpo Station	Brisket seolleongtang, suyuk	Open since 1959	📍 Open in Naver Map
Jeil Hwangso	Gunpo Station	Stone-griddle beef and pork	Since 1987, century-store label	📍 Open in Naver Map
Binghwa Mandujip	Sanbon	Crisp-skirt dumplings	TV-featured dumpling maker	📍 Open in Naver Map
Surisan Dukkeobi	Sokdal-dong	Charcoal gochujang pork set	After a hike or the lake	📍 Open in Naver Map
Haochi Wantangmyeon	Sanbon Market	Shrimp wonton noodles	Cheap market lunch	📍 Open in Naver Map

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What does a day in Gunpo look like?

• 09:30 — Suri-san Station, Exit 3. Azalea Hill before the crowds (in April), or straight onto the trail the rest of the year.
• 10:30 — Suri-san. A morning on the mountain trails, or a gentler loop through Chomakgol Ecological Park.
• 13:00 — Lunch in Sanbon. Dumplings at Binghwa Mandujip, then a wander through Sanbon Market.
• 15:00 — Banwol Lake. Taxi from Daeyami Station and walk the 3.4 km loop; stay for sunset.
• 18:00 — Dinner by Gunpo Station. Jeil Hwangso for barbecue. Gunpo Sikdang is the lunch option (it closes at 20:00).