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P'yongyang Hotels: 176 Reviews - 520 Photos
Kangso Hotels: 0 Reviews - 2 Photos
Yuch'o-do Hotels: 0 Reviews
Wonsan-ni Hotels: 0 Reviews - 1 Photo
Wonsan Hotels: 0 Reviews - 5 Photos
Taesong Hotels: 0 Reviews - 1 Photo
Sariwon Hotels: 0 Reviews - 2 Photos
Samjiyon-up Hotels: 0 Reviews - 2 Photos
P'yongyang-ni Hotels: 0 Reviews - 9 Photos
Pohyon-ni Hotels: 0 Reviews - 2 Photos
Poch'on-ni Hotels: 0 Reviews - 3 Photos
P'anmunjom-ni Hotels: 23 Reviews - 79 Photos
Namp'o Hotels: 11 Reviews - 75 Photos
Myohyang-sanmaek Hotels: 16 Reviews - 58 Photos
Man'gyongdae-ri Hotels: 0 Reviews - 1 Photo

North Korea Things to Do

Local Villages

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Local Villages
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View of Kim Il Sung Square from Juche...
by Willettsworld
Arc of Triumph
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Things to Do
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Things to Do
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Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

Tower of the Juche Idea

by Willettsworld

This 170 metre (560 feet) structure sits on the banks of the Taedong River in Pyongyang. It was erected in 1982 in honour of Kim il Sung's 70th birthday (there are 70 stones in the side for each year of his life). Juch'esong is the essential political philosophy of the DPRK, conceived by Kim il Sung and developed further by General Kim Jong il. Ju (chu) means master or lord and ch'e means the self, or the body. Hence, the literal translation one is likely to encounter is "self-reliance". The design of the tower was overseen by President Kim's son, Kim Jong il. There are 500 tablets laid under the Tower, with respectful words or slogans donated by President Kim's allies and friends from around the world. It is possible to go up to the top and admire the views and this will cost you 5 Euro but it's well worth it (see my next tip for the views). The tower is also lit at night until about...

Pyongyang - Three Revolution Exhibition

by Willettsworld

The Three Revolution Exhibition is located in the northern suburbs of Pyongyang and was opened in April 1993. It's basically six halls outlining the endeavour to implement the line of the three revolutions - ideological, technical and cultural. The six halls include the general introduction hall, heavy industry hall, light industry hall, agriculture hall, electronics hall and new technological development hall. We only visited the electronics hall which features a large globe shape and were the only people on the whole site. A guide took us up into the globe but only when there was some electrical power - remember, this is the electronics hall that we're visiting! Maybe it was part of the tour! Anyway, we got to see a short film about star constellations and planets plus North Korea's one and only satellite launch in 1998.

Ryugyong Hotel

by Willettsworld

I was going to put this in the hotels but thought twice about it! I had seen pictures of this monstrous building on the net before I visited North Korea and always thought it was on the outskirts of the city when in fact it's not from the city centre. You will be able to get very close to the unfinished hotel if you visit the Monument to the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War. Construction began in 1987 but ceased in 1992 due to the government's financial difficulties (it costs a reputed 2% of DPRK’s GDP, or $750 million). Some even say construction ceased because the concrete used was of poor quality. Whatever reason it is, it is one of the worst buildings I've ever seen and being 330m and 105 storey's high doesn't help it from being seen all over the city. I really wanted to ask my guides about it but knowing that I should really keep a fairly good relationship with them, I declined...

Monument to Victorious Fatherland Liberation War

by Willettsworld

This site was constructed in 1993 to mark the end of the active hostilities of the Korean War. It is a white stone park of bronze sculptures depicting various battles of that war. It is dedicated to the "Korean People's Army and Korean people who defeated the US imperialists and its allies during the Fatherland Liberation War." The intended highlight of the monument is a bronze soldier shouting "hurry". This monument is based on Berlin's Victory Tower which was erected following Prussian defeat of the French in 19th Century Europe.

The Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum

by Willettsworld

This was one of the highlights for me whilst in Pyongyang. We got off our bus and were met by a woman dressed in an army uniform carrying a long stick. She took us through a series of rooms that outlined the North Koreans view of the Korean War and how it was started (basically by the "US imperialists", as they call the Americans). She showed us various documents and photographs to back this view up but we all knew otherwise, of course, but kept quiet. Anyway, this museum was opened in August 1953 - just a few weeks after the cease-fire of the Korean War so the North Koreans couldn't wait to show off their booty in the form of captured American military weaponry such as shot down planes, tanks, guns and shells.The museum was expanded in April 1974 and covers a total floor area of 52,000 square metres. It has 30 exhibition halls and over 80 show-rooms as well as a circular cyclorama that...

Propaganda Murals

by Willettsworld

Instead of advertising billboards, you have propaganda murals. These show strength and power to the people, defiance over hardship, working for the better good of the country etc. They're straight out of the "how to be a communist country" manual and are all over the city so that the general public see them every day. If you visit the Stamp shop in Pyongyang, you can buy smaller copies of them as posters or postcards.

Pyongyang - Kwangbok Street buildings

by Willettsworld

We passed along Kwangbok Street in the western district of Pyongyang a few times during our stay in Pyongyang and the apartments here look fairly good and were certainly the best looking ones in the city. The street is 6km long and 100 metres wide and has over 25,000 apartments running either along it or in its vicinity.

Pyongyang - Traffic ladies

by Willettsworld

Some junctions (intersections)in Pyongyang do have traffic lights but these didn't seem to be working when I was there. Instead, Pyongyang is full of rather attractive, young traffic ladies dressed in a blue skirt with a white uniform jacket and hat. They hold out a red and white baton that glows at night and stand in a circle in the middle of the junction. They wave the baton in the direct that the traffic wants to go in. They do almost robotic like movements with their heads to look at what traffic is approaching from each direction and then swivel themselves around to face the oncoming traffic. An Icelandic guy on my tour got quite carried away by taking pictures of them from our bus and we pointed them out to him as we passed.

Street scenes

by Willettsworld

Vehicles are few and far between especially given that Pyongyang is a capital city of around 2 million people. There are some newish looking cars around but they are mostly either old Mercedes or old Volvo's that have come through Russia. Cars, here, have four different coloured registration plates - white for state owned, yellow for private, blue for aid workers and black for military. There are hardly any street signs, buildings signs or advertising billboards. Everything is plain and uncluttered. The streets are very clean and tidy which is due to them being washed down twice a week and large teams picking up any litter. Housing is almost all apartment blocks, some of which don't actually look too bad from the outside. But there are some pretty rough looking ones too. Some of the best lie in the western districts of the city.

Pyongyang - Chollima Statue

by Willettsworld

Erected in 1961 this 46 metre monument depicts a winged, soaring horse of Korean folklore that could gallop a thousand ri (400 km a day) being mounted by a worker and peasant woman. The worker holds the red letter of the Central Committee and the peasant woman clutches a bag of rice. The Chollima movement began during a plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Korean Workers Party. The speedy horse of legend became the symbol of the post-Korean War reconstruction movement ("maximum production with evincing thrift").