pyongyang tourist

12 Things to Do in Pyongyang, North Korea

View from the top of Arch of Triumph, Pyongyang, North Korea

You don’t get a moment’s rest when you travel in North Korea – be ready for an intense trip of endless sightseeing and activities!

North Korea is not your typical travel destination. Everything is strictly controlled and you’ll be ushered from place to place by two tour guides who you must stick with at all times. You’ll have your entire itinerary planned out for you, often starting each day at 8 am and returning to the hotel late at night. Travelling in North Korea is certainly not a holiday as your itinerary will be totally jampacked.

Your time in North Korea will most likely be centred around its showcase capital, Pyongyang. You’ll do a lot of sightseeing here, with the occasional morning or afternoon trip out to places like the DMZ or Mount Myohyang.

Contrary to popular belief, there are actually a lot of things to do in Pyongyang. From monuments to museums, and funfairs to talent shows, this blog post will show you what you can expect to see during your time in North Korea’s capital city.

The key thing to bear in mind is that you won’t get to see the real North Korea. You’ll be ferried from place to place with zero opportunity for independent exploration. You’ll only see what they allow you to see, in what I believe is a very tightly controlled tourist route. These are, what I would call, showpieces of the regime.

Things to do in Pyongyang, North Korea

Visit kim il sung square.

Kim Il Sung Square is the main square of Pyongyang and is a sight not to be missed. When parades are on, it’s the place to be, otherwise, it’s the least busy city square in the world. We were there when wasn’t a parade; it was quite strange to visit an empty square and it felt a little post-apocalyptic.

Things to do in Pyongyang - Kim Il Sung Square

Ride the Pyongyang Metro

At 110 metres underground, the Pyongyang metro is the deepest metro station in the world. Covered in propaganda, images of the Kim family, and with station names such as ‘Comrade’, ‘Glory’ and ‘Reunification’, riding Pyongyang’s metro is really quite an experience.

Before 2010, tourists in North Korea were only allowed to ride between two stations, giving rise to a conspiracy theory that the metro was purely for show and that the passengers were actors. We rode for 5 of the 16 stops during rush hour, where there were hundreds of citizens boarding the train. It seems unlikely that this rumour is true.

Tourists on the Pyongyang Metro, North Korea

Go to the top of the Arch of Triumph

Pyongyang’s very own Arch of Triumph greeted us as we came out of the metro at Kaeson Station. It closely resembles the Arc De Triomphe in Paris, but, as our guide kept repeating, it’s the tallest Arch of Triumph in the world and is 11 metres taller than the Parisian one. I told her I was impressed.

There is an observation deck at the top of the Arch which you can go up to for 15RMB (about 2USD). At the top, you’ll be treated to impressive views of the surrounding area including Kim Il Sung Stadium, Moran Hill and the Ryugyong Hotel.

Visit Kaeson Funfair

The Kaeson Funfair – located near the Arch of Triumph – provided what I felt was the most genuine insight into life in North Korea. The funfair was the only place where we were allowed to wander around somewhat freely. Our guides let us mingle with the locals a little and stood guard along the pathways leading to the entry and exit points.

We were, however, told that we should skip all the queues and go straight onto any ride we wanted, because “we’re Western.” This annoyed me, as I didn’t feel that this presented a good view of us as Westerners to the citizens of North Korea. Perhaps they didn’t mind, but as a Brit, orderly queues are an essential part of my culture!

Visit Kumsusan Palace of the Sun

Kumsusan Palace of the Sun used to serve as the official residence of former Supreme Leader Kim Il Sung. His son, Kim Jong-Il, converted it into a huge mausoleum, where Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il are laid to rest. Their embalmed bodies are preserved inside climate-controlled glass sarcophagi for public viewing.

My visit to Kumsusan Palace of the Sun made me feel very tense, as we had to walk the hall in lines of four and were not to speak.

We had to bow three times to each leader, once at their feet, once at their left side, and once at their right. It was surreal to see real bodies laid on display in this way, and the number of guards watching our every move was extremely intimidating.

Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, Pyongyang, North Korea

Check out Kim Il Sung’s family home

Nestled privately inside a tranquil park you’ll find Mangyondae Native House. This modest straw-thatched home is Kim Il Sung’s official birthplace and where he spent his childhood. He was born on April 15th, 1912, but in North Korea, this year is better known as Juche 1. Yes, the North Korean calendar year starts from Kim Il Sung’s birth.

Your visit to Mangyondae Native House will likely be shared with school groups eager to catch a glimpse inside the early years of their Eternal President. It is customary to lay flowers at the Kim Il Sung memorial plaque outside.

Kim Il Sung Family Home, Pyongyang, North Korea

Visit Mansudae Hill

On top of Mansudae Hill sits two giant bronze statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. It’s one of the most sacred sites in North Korea, and visitors must march solemnly toward the statues and bow to them to show respect.

Kim Il-sung – the one with his arm outstretched – was the original monument, unveiled in 1972 to celebrate the leader’s 60th birthday. Kim Jong-il’s statue was added after his death in 2011.

Visit the Monument to Party Founding

Utterly simple design yet undeniably socialist, Pyongyang’s version of the hammer and sickle comes with an extra paintbrush! Built to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Worker’s Party of Korea (I wonder if there are any other political parties?), it is also flanked by two buildings on either side of the monument with communist slogans written in Korean.

The North Koreans have by now become such experts in building monuments that this has become one of their exports to the world. North Korean monument makers have been shipped to places like Angola to build structures in concrete or marble.

Monument to Party Founder, Pyongyang, North Korea

Explore the National Library

When we were told we were to be visiting the National Libary, I expected it to be quite boring, but it was actually extremely interesting. It gave us an insight into what Western literature North Koreans are exposed to, which turns out isn’t a lot, but they did have Harry Potter, Shakespeare’s works and Sherlock Holmes.

One of our tour guides who had been really quite stilted and unwilling to talk about her personal interests throughout most of the trip started to open up when I asked her if she’d read Harry Potter. Her face lit up and she said “it’s my favourite! In Chamber of Secrets where Harry sings Happy Birthday to himself – that makes me sad. And Hermione is so brave!” From then on, she was a lot more willing to answer my questions about life in North Korea – it seems that a good book brings people together everywhere in the world.

National Library, Pyongyang, North Korea

Watch a school talent show

Your North Korea tour will most likely take you to a local school in Pyongyang, where you’ll watch a talent show. The talent show was very impressive, where the kids put on performances with dance, singing and musical instruments. Apparently, many people in North Korea are very talented as they’re taught singing and dancing during primary school.

School talent show, Pyongyang, North Korea

Eat a lot of kimchi

I couldn’t not include kimchi in this list – you’re in Korea! You’ll be served it with almost every meal so you don’t really have a choice.

In case you’re not sure, kimchi is a staple food in Korea. It’s a traditional dish of salted and fermented vegetables, usually cabbage or radish, seasoned with spring onions, garlic, ginger and more. I promise it’s much tastier than it sounds!

If you’re not a fan of kimchi, don’t worry – you’ll be very well-fed in North Korea and will have lots of choices.

Explore the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum

The Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum is a large museum and exhibit dedicated to artefacts from the war. On arrival, you’ll be assigned a female military guide who will show you around the museum and present North Korea’s version of history.

The museum is filled with historical photography and video, expansive dioramas, remnant displays and otherwise incredible attention to detail. Before entering, you’ll see captured US Army helicopters, shot down US Army planes and even the infamous USS Pueblo, America’s ‘Spy Ship’ still held hostage by North Korea that you can board and inspect for yourself.

Further North Korea reading :

How to visit North Korea as a tourist
Read about my personal experience in North Korea
Is it ethical to visit North Korea?

About The Author

Lauren Pears is a freelance travel writer and blogger based in London. She writes about active adventure travel, aiming to encourage and inspire travellers to make the most of the great outdoors.

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