Gongju to Buyeo in two days, following Baekje's capital down the Geum River

From the middle of Geumgang Bridge (금강교), the old steel span into Gongju (공주), the fortress shows itself before the town does: a stone wall climbing a wooded hill straight out of the water, yellow flags moving along the top. Baekje (백제), the kingdom of Korea's south-west, retreated here after losing the Han River, then moved its court once more, downstream to Buyeo (부여). Two days is enough to follow it.

Arrive on the north bank and walk across

Express buses from Seoul pull into Gongju Bus Terminal (공주종합버스터미널) in Singwan-dong (신관동), the newer half of the city. The old town lies across the Geum River (금강). A taxi crosses in minutes, but the walk over the bridge is the better introduction, and it sets you down near the foot of Gongsanseong (공산성).

Buy a ticket at the booth below Geumseoru (금서루), the west gate, and follow the wall. The circuit runs a couple of kilometres along the ridge and is steeper than it looks from below: long flights of stone steps, stretches without handrails, a drop on the river side. Halfway round, the path falls to Gongbungnu (공북루), a wooden pavilion at the water's edge, where the river runs wide and slow.

The tomb is sealed, so give the museum your time

A twenty-minute walk west of the fortress, grassy mounds sit on a low hill, signposted as the Tomb of King Muryeong and Royal Tombs (무령왕릉과 왕릉원). Workmen fixing drainage on the neighbouring mounds found the king's brick chamber unopened, with a stone tablet at the entrance naming him. The real chambers stay closed; what you enter is a full-size replica in the exhibition hall, where the lotus-stamped bricks and flame-shaped lamp niches are at arm's length.

The objects themselves are at Gongju National Museum (국립공주박물관), reached by a signed footpath over the hill. The stone guardian that stood in the tomb passage, the jinmyosu (진묘수), is squat, horned and oddly friendly. Next door, Gongju Hanok Village (공주한옥마을) rents ondol (온돌) rooms, heated through the floor.

Beef soup, chestnuts and a stream after dark

The town's named dish is Gongju gukbap (공주국밥), a red beef broth heavy with long-simmered green onion, served in old dining rooms near the fortress gate and around Sanseong Market (공주산성시장). The market is a working one, with knife-cut noodle stalls, side-dish shops and bundles of greens sold from the kerb.

The other local word is bam (밤), chestnut. The surrounding hills grow them, and the town bakes them into bam-ppang (밤빵) and brews them into a pale, faintly sweet chestnut makgeolli (밤막걸리). Afterwards, walk Jemincheon (제민천), the narrow stream running south from the market, where the path sits below street level and the banks have filled with small cafés and guesthouses.

Buyeo, a capital you can cross on foot

Buses for Buyeo leave the Gongju terminal and take around an hour down the river valley. No railway reaches Buyeo, and the town is quieter for it. The Buyeo Intercity Bus Terminal (부여시외버스터미널) stands in the middle of a low, flat grid whose roundabouts carry bronze statues of King Seong (성왕) and General Gyebaek (계백), and most of what you came for is within a walk.

Start at Jeongnimsa-ji (정림사지), a few blocks away. The temple is gone. On the levelled ground stands a five-storey stone pagoda (오층석탑) in pale granite, its thin roof slabs lifting at the corners as though they were timber. A phrase from the chronicle Samguk Sagi (삼국사기), written of a Baekje palace, is often quoted on signboards here: geom-i-bullu, hwa-i-bulchi.

검소하되 누추하지 않고, 화려하되 사치스럽지 않다.

Modest but not shabby, splendid but not extravagant. Buyeo National Museum (국립부여박물관), a short walk on, holds the splendid half. The Baekje gilt-bronze incense burner (백제금동대향로) was lifted from a waterlogged pit at a temple site beside the Neungsan-ri tombs (능산리 고분군), east of town. A dragon holds up a lotus bud, the lid is a mountain crowded with animals, hermits and five musicians, and a phoenix stands on top.

The cliff, the boat and the lotus pond

Busosanseong (부소산성), the wooded hill behind the town, was the rear defence of the palace at Sabi (사비), as Baekje called this capital. Broad, shaded paths lead to Nakhwaam (낙화암), a rock bluff over the river, which here takes the name Baengmagang (백마강). The signboards tell the legend that the women of the court threw themselves from it when the capital fell.

Steps drop to Goransa (고란사), a temple pressed against the cliff with a spring behind the main hall, and below it a ferry landing. The boats, styled after old yellow-sailed river craft called hwangpo dotbae (황포돛배), run past the foot of the bluff to Gudurae (구드래). Sailings can depend on river level and on enough passengers gathering, so treat the boat as a possibility and the footpath back as the plan.

Gudurae's restaurant street is the place for yeonnip-bap (연잎밥), sticky rice with beans and jujube steamed in a lotus leaf; some kitchens cook it only for two or more, so ask before sitting. The lotus itself grows at Gungnamji (궁남지), at the south end of town, a pond dug for a Baekje king, with a wooden footbridge out to the pavilion Poryongjeong (포룡정). Its lotus beds flower in midsummer; in winter they are brown stalks and reflected sky.

Getting there, and what to confirm first

From Seoul, the simple shape is an express bus to Gongju from Seoul Express Bus Terminal (서울고속버스터미널), on subway Lines 3, 7 and 9, and a return from Buyeo to Seoul Nambu Terminal (서울남부터미널) on Line 3. Timetables and fares are on the national bus booking sites. The mistake to avoid is the train. A KTX stop named Gongju Station (공주역) exists, but it stands in farmland well south of the city, and the onward bus or taxi eats what the fast train saved.

Expect the fortresses, the tomb site and the temple site to sell their own modest tickets at gate booths, the ferry to be a separate fare paid at the landing, and the two national museums to keep their own hours with a regular weekly closing day. Confirm all of it on the Gongju city and Buyeo county tourism pages and on each museum's site. Lotus at Gungnamji peaks in July heat; chestnuts and clear air suit the Gongsanseong wall in October. The Baekje Cultural Festival (백제문화제) fills both towns in early autumn, so check its dates before booking a room.