Yuseong Hot Springs

Yuseong has been a hot spring district for centuries - the local tradition puts its discovery in the Baekje period, and it was developed in earnest under Japanese administration and again in the post-war decades, so it is now a proper urban spa quarter of hotels, bathhouses and spa complexes rather than a rural onsen village. The water comes up at around forty degrees, weakly alkaline, and it feeds everything from large hotel bath floors to the small neighbourhood bathhouses that locals actually use. What makes it worth a stop even without paying for anything is the free public footbath: an open pavilion on the street where anyone can sit, roll up their trousers and put their feet in hot spring water, with a towel from the vending machine. There is a spring festival in spring. Daejeon is otherwise a business and research city, and this is its most distinctive district.

What you actually see

• The free street footbath - open pavilion, hot spring water, no charge.
• The bathhouse quarter - hotel bath floors and neighbourhood baths.
• The spa complexes - larger ticketed facilities in the district.
• The spring festival - the district's annual event.

When to go

Any season, and best when it is cold. The footbath is open through the day; mornings are quieter. Bathhouses follow standard Korean etiquette - wash before entering, segregated by sex, no photography.

Honest expectations

It is an urban district, not a scenic hot spring - concrete, hotels and traffic. The footbath is the free part; everything else is ticketed. Daejeon has little else for a visitor.

Nearby

Gyeryongsan and its temples are west; Daejeon's science district is close.