Suwon

Finished in 1796, a little over 5.7km round, and World Heritage since 1997. Korean War damage was heavy, but the building record Hwaseong Seongyeok Uigwe survived, so it was rebuilt to plan. A full circuit takes about three hours; the Paldalsan part is steep.

The temporary palace where King Jeongjo stayed when visiting the tomb of his father, Crown Prince Sado. In 1795 he threw his mother Lady Hyegyeong's 60th birthday feast in its Bongsudang hall. Mostly razed under Japanese rule and rebuilt, it looks new.

A pavilion set on the north-east corner of the wall, and its reflection in the Yongyeon pond below is the best-known picture of Hwaseong. After sunset the pavilion is floodlit and people settle on mats on the pond's grassy bank.

The northern sluice gate where the Suwoncheon stream enters the fortress, with seven rainbow arches opened beneath. In the monsoon, people come on purpose to watch water pour through all seven openings at once.

A command post on the summit of Paldalsan, taking in the whole fortress and the city in one view. It is about 20 minutes up the steps behind the palace. King Jeongjo directed drills from here, and it is the highest point on the wall walk.

In the yard of Dongjangdae, also called Yeonmudae, where troops once trained, you can loose a few arrows from a traditional bow. The target is set close, so even first-timers sometimes hit it. Tickets are sold by the handful of arrows, at set session times.

The nickname for the low-roofed lanes of Haenggung-dong east of the palace, now full of cafes and small shops. Height limits inside the walls keep the fortress in view from every lane. Parking is hopeless at weekends, so come by bus from the station.

Two royal tombs share one forest: Yungneung for Crown Prince Sado and Lady Hyegyeong, Geolleung for King Jeongjo. The tale of a son who built Hwaseong to lie by his father ends here. Closed Mondays; the forest path linking the tombs takes about an hour.

An open-air folk museum opened in 1974 in Yongin, next to Suwon, with a village of late Joseon houses moved and rebuilt. Actors dressed as magistrates or beggars roam about bantering with visitors, its best-known draw. Seeing it all needs a whole day.

A Cantonese garden built inside Hyowon Park by Guangdong province, Suwon's sister region in China. Its galleries, pond and moon gate follow the southern Chinese pattern exactly, a foil for Korean gardens. Admission is free, and few find it, so it is quiet.

Hwaseong's south gate, cut off from its walls and now an island in a roundabout. A half-moon outer wall wraps the entrance so attackers could not reach the doors head-on. The Nammun markets and the chicken alley surround it, so sightseeing slides into dinner.

Hwaseong's north and main gate, often said to be larger than Seoul's Sungnyemun. King Jeongjo entered by it when coming from the capital. Its tower burned in the Korean War and was rebuilt in the 1970s from royal records; the wall-top path runs past it.

Beside the west gate rises Seobuk Gongsimdon, a hollow three-storey watchtower. Defenders climbed ladders inside and fired through holes in the walls, a design counted unique to Hwaseong. The broad lawn in front suits sunset shots of the walls.

Two reservoirs beside Gwanggyo new town, Woncheon and Sindae, joined into one big lake park in 2013. The lakeside path is long; a full lap takes close to two hours. At night the decks and bridges light up and residents of nearby flats come out in numbers.

A festival of about three days around Hwaseong each early October, first held in 1964. Its centrepiece recreates King Jeongjo's procession from Seoul to Hwaseong with his mother, thousands in period dress. Roads inside the walls close as it passes.

Former Suwon mayor Sim Jae-duck, who campaigned for better public toilets, built a house shaped like a toilet; after his death it became a toilet museum. The name borrows haeuso, the temple word for where worries are relieved. Kids love the cheeky sculptures.

Nine markets press against each other around Paldalmun, together called the Nammun markets. The Jidong sundae town and the Tongdak lane lie inside the cluster. At night some lanes fill with food carts, and traders sometimes lend mats for the lawns by the wall.

Rebuilt in 1790 near the royal tomb by King Jeongjo to console the soul of Sado, the father he lost as a boy. It keeps woodblocks of the sutra on repaying parental love, so it is known as a temple of filial devotion. Yunggeolleung is five minutes away by car.

Opened in Yongin in 1976 as a farm park, now Korea's largest theme park. T Express, a wooden roller coaster, and Panda World draw the longest lines; to see the panda family, head there straight from the gate. From Suwon it is about an hour by bus.

Chukmanje, the reservoir King Jeongjo had built in 1799 to water Hwaseong's farmland, is today's Seoho Lake. Sunset behind Yeogisan on its west shore has long ranked among Suwon's eight views. The circuit is flat, with old farm research buildings beside it.