Suanbo Hot Springs

Suanbo is a small spa town in the hills of North Chungcheong, one of the longest-established hot-spring resorts in the country, where the water rises hot enough that it has to be cooled before it reaches the baths. The town is a cluster of hotels and public bathhouses along one main road, most with indoor pools and some with outdoor tubs facing the wooded slopes, and the routine is the standard Korean one: wash and scrub thoroughly first, then soak, cool down and repeat. It sits between Woraksan national park and the old Mungyeong Saejae pass, which makes it a good evening after a day on the hills rather than a destination in itself.

What you actually see

• The bathhouses - the public baths and hotel pools fed by the hot spring.
• The outdoor tubs - the open-air pools at some hotels, best on a cold night.
• The foot bath - the free public foot spa in the middle of the town.
• The surrounding hills - the wooded ridges and walking country around the valley.

When to go

Cold weather is the point, and a soak outdoors with snow on the ground is the best version of this. Autumn suits it too, after walking in the nearby hills. Summer is far less appealing. Weekends fill the hotels with family groups; midweek is quiet, though a few places then keep shorter hours.

Honest expectations

The town is plain and a little worn, a strip of ageing hotels rather than anything picturesque, and there is nothing to do beyond bathing and eating. Baths are segregated by sex and entered naked, with a thorough wash required first, which some visitors are not prepared for. Tattoos are still refused at some establishments. Without a car, the bus connections are slow.

Nearby

Woraksan national park, Chungju lake and the old Mungyeong Saejae pass are all within reach.