If you're wondering what keeps Koreans in such great shape, here's your answer - hiking. The activity is so popular that it thoroughly eclipses taekwondo, the national sport, and there are more than enough national parks to satisfy everyone from keen amateurs to experienced climbers. The parks tend to be busy year-round with a steady trail of locals enjoying a day out, but there are also areas of seclusion where you'll be able to hike in delightful tranquillity.
Where to go
Wherever you are in the country, you're always within walking distance of a hiking trail. There are no fewer than seventeen national parks on the mainland - their names all end with the suffix “-san”, which means mountain or mountains - and these are supplemented by an even greater number of lesser parks, mountains and hills. A list of Korea's most popular hikes is given above. Alternatively, you can escape the hustle and bustle of the mainland entirely and head to one of the four thousand or so islands surrounding the coast. Jeju is the largest - and deservedly most popular, with its own pretty offshore island, Udo - while gorgeous little Ulleungdo sits alone in the East Sea, and literally hundreds more can be accessed by ferry from the main hubs of Mokpo, Incheon and Tongyeong. Many are tiny specks of land where fishing is the only way of life, and time passes at a snail's pace; tantalizingly, some have never played host to a foreign visitor.
What to do
Hiking in Korea is extremely easy. English-language maps are available at all park offices, trails are well marked with dual-language signs, and each national park has a cluster of accommodation and restaurants outside its main entrance. Some are mini-towns bursting with neon signs and karaoke rooms, which dilutes the experience somewhat, but a Korean hike is not complete unless it's finished off with a good meal: pajeon is the most popular post-hike dish, a kind of savoury pancake made with mountain vegetables, while a creamy rice-wine named dongdongju is the drink of choice. Deceptively mild, it can pack a punch, especially the next morning.
What to see
It must be said that none of Korea's parks is huge, and there's very little fauna to see; since all parks are likely to be teeming with budding hikers, you're unlikely to get lost, either. However, they're usually awash with natural spectacles such as gorgeous peaks and waterfalls, and sprinkled with functioning temples and hermitages - some spectacular feasts of intricate architecture and colourful paintwork, others remote hideaways where the monks contemplate existence in near solitude. The beauty of hiking in Korea is not knowing what you will see on the way; the occasional holy grotto, fortress wall or hillside-carved Buddha make it easy to weave a spot of sightseeing into a good walk.
When to visit
Despite the wealth of choice available, many of Korea's trails contrive to be packed to the gills, especially during holidays and warm weekends, when the parks are full with locals enjoying a day out. Many families bring along sizeable picnics to enjoy on their way to the peaks, and lone travellers may be invited to join in - Koreans hate to see people on their own. Special mention must be made of the fascinating ajumma brigade: Korean grandmothers are little short of indestructible, and these elderly women rock up to mountain ranges in huge, bubble-permed packs of up to fifty. Wearing fishing jackets identical but for the choice of red or blue, they laugh, shout and sing all the way up, then all the way down again, and put many a Westerner to shame with their strength and energy. You know when you've been ajumma-ed.
Popular hikes
Day-trips from the city With so much of the country covered by mountains, it's possible to see any Korean city from the vantage point of its surrounding peaks. Even Seoul has a national park.
Bukhansan
is the world's most visited, though occasionally offers surprising serenity.
Multi-day hikes Only a couple of parks have shelters where you can stay the night.
Jirisan
is the largest in the country, and features a three-day, 26km-long spine route, and a small bear population.
Seoraksan
is not quite as expansive, but is considered the most beautiful in the country, with great clumps of rock peeking out from the pines like giant skulls; waking up on its misty peaks provides a top-of-the-world feeling.
Scaling peaks South Korea's highest peak is on Jeju Island. The 1950m-high extinct volcanic cone of
Hallasan
dominates the island, but is surprisingly easy to climb, as long as Jeju's fickle weather agrees. The highest mountain on the whole peninsula is
Paekdusan
(2744m) on the Chinese-North Korean border; its sumptuously blue crater lake, ringed by jagged peaks, is a font of myth and legend.
Getting away from it all Hiking is so popular in Korea that some trails resemble supermarket queues, but there are a few splendid ways to get away from it all.
Taebaeksan
has long been a Shamanist place of worship, while the small park of
Wolchulsan
sees few visitors dash across the vertigo-inducing bridge that connects two of its peaks. Though popular on account of its enormous bronze Buddha,
Songnisan
has a tiny, secluded guesthouse; when the sun goes down, you'll be alone with nature, a trickling stream and a bowl of creamy dongdongju.