Slow-Travel Daegu Road Trip Itinerary

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Looking for a fabulous road trip? Then, our slow-travel Daegu road trip itinerary is just the thing! A detailed look at our relaxing and enjoyable weekend in Daegu. These are the perfect two days for couples or friends looking to spend a day around food, art, and nature.

Traveling To Daegu

We often take road trips rather than trains or busses so that we can enjoy the journey as much as the destination. A little while ago, we took a weekend trip Daegu to celebrate US Labor Day weekend. The trip was one we will not soon forget. Daegu was filled with great food and beautiful spaces. This is a city that should get more attention than it does.

Friday: Leave Late Friday Rather Than Rush on Saturday

We left Friday night and stopped off at Daejeon for dinner and dessert. Pyeongtaek to Daegu is a long drive and if you leave on Friday you won’t have to stress on Saturday. Instead, can stop and enjoy a relaxing meal and coffee on the way to Daegu so that Friday feels like date night. On this trip, we chose to stop off in one of our favorite parts of Daejeon and feast on schnitzel and cake before continuing on to Daegu.

Saturday: Officially Begin Your Slow Daegu Tour

Did some city hiking today. We both love to just wander a city the first day – to get bearing, to take in sights and sounds, to exercise so we can eat all day;). Here are some of our favorite storefronts and signage. My favorites: “It’s okay if it’s not perfect. It’s okay if you’re a bit clumsy.” and “Mayonnaise”. Daegu has a very hip feel that we love.

Our walking destination was the Modern History Museum of Daegu. Along the way, we passed by this cool church and walked through the Gyeongsang Gamyeong Park while we waited for the Museum to open.

The Daegu Modern History Museum had just the right amount of city history and culture. We didn’t expect to see Helen Keller and Marilyn Monroe there, but we did!

After our morning walking tour, we had worked up an appetite. So, we headed for coffee and food after the museum. Since we spent our summer stateside and, oh, how we missed the cafe culture of Korea while away. This trip to Daegu had us taking full advantage. We send a special thanks to Mansion 5 for fresh food with amazing flavor. Will be back for sure. I (Brian) had an amazing salmon bowl, while chad enjoyed a citrus shrimp salad. We then split tteokboki (think spicy tomato soup with rice and fish cakes) and avocado gimbap (think Korean sashimi). So good and not heavy for the walking we were going to do that day.

After Lunch we checked out the Yangnyeongsi Museum of Oriental Medicine. We missed the chance for a medicinal foot bath, but we had fun learning a little about the philosophy of Oriental Medicine.

On the recommendation of our Airbnb host, we stopped by the old house of the poet Sang-hwa Lee. He wrote activist poetry during the Japanese occupation, trying to inspire and give hope to Koreans around the peninsula. This house was his last residence before dying of cancer. A sweet lady approached us and gave us a personal tour of the house as she was a local guide. This has happened at several locations – feel blessed that people are willing to talk and share their passion for their history.

After enjoying our time learning about a local poet, we headed to the traditional market. We love checking out the hustle and bustle of the traditional markets in each city we visit. Great food and eye-popping visuals.

However, we can never go too long without trying a new cafe. Somyeong Coffee Bar enticed us with their Nougat Glacé and we weren’t disappointed. It was a tiny shop and worth the stop.

While walking to see some street art, we spotted this window display and had to check it out. Inside is a stationary store full of various colors and patterns of masking tape. And what this store owner/artist can do with masking tape is amazing! Rolled Paint is able to create beautiful scenes and images of people out of tape – even down to the shading. It blew our minds and inspired us to want to get back to our creative roots. If you are in Daegu, please stop by and check out her store.

Our next stop was an alley full of street art dedicated to the musician Kim Gwangseok. There are streets like this all over Korea: street art with cafes and photo ops; carnival games; arcades; and street food.

Just finding the art around the Daegu made this weekend perfect.

These were some of my favorites from a random Daegu alley.

After all the walking and art, we need to eat so went back to a place we had seen because of its name: Picky Child Dining. We had arancini for apps, bolognese tagliatelle, and a chicken steak truffle risotto. Hit the spot, but we weren’t done – dessert was next!

Finished the evening’s culinary activities with crème brûlée and chocolate hazelnut doughnuts from Black Bear Donuts

Then, we capped off the evening with a Ferris wheel ride over the city and with me overcoming my fear of heights on the ride and the skywalk. We then made it back to our Airbnb and got a 360 view of the city from the rooftop garden.

Sunday: From Mountains to Cafes

We said goodbye to our AirBnB in the morning and headed for the hills. We decided to hike up Apsan and check out the observatory by the cable car. Unfortunately, most of the observatories were under construction and we we going to take the cable car down, but didn’t realize we needed to buy the ticket at the base, so we did a little off road hike back down to our car. There was some stress, but a beautiful hike nonetheless.

We needed to refuel after the hike, so we went to @edl_brunch_house – it was perfect. The croissant sandwich surprised and delighted me: shrimp, arugula, cranberries, scrambled egg, citrus dressing, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Loved it. The seasonal ade was also amazing.

After we ate we couldn’t resist one more visit to Rolled Paint. We are too captivated by the work there. That art, my friends, is all done with various masking tapes. The artist, @rolled_paint , has some amazing art, sells her prints and tape, and even has a book (which we bought) on how to make your own art. Please stop by this shop if you are ever in Daegu!

When on vacation, you can never eat too much. We absolutely had to walk over and stop by Truly Baker as we hadn’t had a fresh bagel in forever. However, we split one bagel, a NY with jalapeño nut cream cheese. LOVED that flavor cream cheese – could have bought a whole tub. The bagels were more Montreal style – flat – instead of the Jersey/NY bagels I grew up with. Still good, though.

We did some adulting and bought a bed frame (not pictured or listed) and then stopped by the Bullodong Ancient Tombs Park that was just down the street. It’s such a beautiful park with over 200 tombs from the 5th and 6th centuries.

Finally, before heading out, we wanted to check out two food places that were recommended by a friend. First up was dinner at Hi Thai where we had the best green papaya salad and chicken panaeng curry in Korea.

Our last stop was Farm Table Cafe for soufflé pancakes. The recommended orange tiramisu pancakes were sold out, so we opted for the chocolate and granola, which had plenty of chocolate and cream to bath our pancakes in before each bite. After savoring the evening we made the trek back home.

After all the adventures, we were happy to get home to our beautiful city of Pyeongtaek.

You Can Follow Us on Instagram

 You can follow our adventures on Instagram @brianandchadsexcellentadventure. We travel all over Korea and share our favorite adventures along the way.

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Article Information & History

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Originally written by Chad Card, MA. SLT and Brian Rich, MSW

Originally published November 2, 2021

Article History

November 2, 2021 Originally published Written by Chad Card, MA. SLT and Brian Rich, MSW

No formal audit has been recorded for this article under the current South of Seoul editorial process.

Historical article: This article has not yet been formally audited under South of Seoul's current editorial process. It remains available as part of our publishing history and may contain information that has changed since publication.

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