Remember the tram rattling past the Glory Hotel, and Go Ae-shin slipping through lantern-lit alleys in a hanbok with a rifle under her arm? That whole 1900s city still exists. It sits in a quiet farming town about two hours south of Seoul, and you can rent a costume and walk straight into it.
Nonsan rarely makes a first-timer’s Korea itinerary, which is exactly the appeal. Here’s how to visit the Mr. Sunshine set, plus what else is worth your time once you’re there.
Nonsan at a Glance (TL;DR)
- Where: Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province (Chungnam), roughly 1 hour 40 minutes to 2 hours south of Seoul by KTX
- Why K-drama fans go: Sunshine Studio, the purpose-built 1900s Hanseong set from Mr. Sunshine (tvN/Netflix, 2018), later reused for Pachinko and Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938
- Sunshine Studio tickets: ₩10,000 adults, ₩8,000 teens, ₩6,000 children and seniors
- Hours: 10:00 to 18:00, last entry 17:30
- Closed: Wednesdays, per the official site. A few tourism listings say Thursday, so Friday to Tuesday is the safe window
- Costume rental: About ₩25,000 for 2 hours
- Also in Nonsan: a 600 m lake suspension bridge, an 18 m stone Buddha, a UNESCO-listed Confucian academy, the Our Beloved Summer forest, and Korea’s strawberry capital
- Good for: A day trip from Seoul or Daejeon, or a slow 2-day loop
Was Mr. Sunshine Really Filmed in Nonsan?
Yes. Mr. Sunshine aired on tvN from July 7 to September 30, 2018, with Lee Byung-hun as Eugene Choi and Kim Tae-ri as Go Ae-shin, written by Kim Eun-sook and directed by Lee Eung-bok. The production shot around the country, but its early-1900s Hanseong streets were a dedicated set of about 20,000 m² built in Nonsan, according to Wikipedia’s production summary.
After filming wrapped, the set opened to the public as Sunshine Studio. Chungnam’s tourism board describes it as Korea’s first public-private drama theme park, and productions kept coming back. VisitKorea lists Pachinko and Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938 among the period titles that have used it since.
1. Sunshine Studio: The Mr. Sunshine Set
This is the main event. The Korea Tourism Organization counts 5 Western-style buildings, 19 hanok, 4 thatched cottages, 9 Japanese-style houses, and a replica of the 1899 streetcar inside the gates. It’s compact enough to cover in an hour or two, but most people linger for photos.
What to look for:
- Glory Hotel. Kudo Hina’s hotel, modeled on the Sontag Hotel, one of the earliest Western-style hotels in Korea, which opened in Seoul in 1902. There’s a cafe on the second floor, so yes, you can have coffee where Eugene Choi did, per the Korean Culture and Information Service.
- Hanseong Electric Company. The red-brick building now holds a small exhibition and souvenir shop, including material on Hwang Ki-hwan, the independence activist and U.S. Army veteran whose life inspired Eugene Choi. His remains were brought home from New York in April 2023, a century after his death.
- The Hanseong tram and stone arch bridge. The two most photographed spots on the lot.
- Ae-shin’s house. The hanok residence now hosts an exhibition comparing drama scenes with the actual history.
- The side streets. A two-story Japanese-style house with a pub downstairs, Gu Dong-mae’s house, a French-style bakery, the Haedrio pawnshop, a tailor shop, and a Bosingak bell pavilion replica.
Costume rental: The on-site costume shop, in one of the red-brick Western buildings, rents early-1900s outfits, including hanbok, Western dresses and suits, and Righteous Army uniforms. Chungnam tourism lists it at ₩25,000 for 2 hours.
Tickets and hours: ₩10,000 for adults, ₩8,000 for teens, ₩6,000 for children and seniors. Open 10:00 to 18:00 with last entry at 17:30.
One thing to double-check: the official Sunshine Studio site says it closes every Wednesday (and stays open when Wednesday is a public holiday). VisitKorea’s English page and Chungnam tourism list Thursday instead, and the free 1950 Studio next door is also listed as closed Thursdays. Go with the official site, but visiting Friday through Tuesday avoids the question entirely.
Tip: From late October to mid-February, stay until closing. Dusk falls before 18:00, the period streetlamps come on, and the whole street looks like a night scene from the show.
Can you visit? Yes. It’s a ticketed attraction open year-round, with free parking. Address: 90 Bonghwang-ro, Yeonmu-eup, Nonsan.
Planning a full K-drama route? Start with the K-Drama Filming Locations hub.
2. 1950 Studio: A Free Retro Street Next Door
Right beside Sunshine Studio, the wider Sunshine Land complex has a second set that recreates a Korean town in the 1950s, just after the war. Think barbershop, pharmacy, bank, theater, and schoolroom, all with hand-painted signs. Entry is free, according to Chungnam tourism, and it’s far less crowded than the 1900s side.
Can you visit? Yes, free of charge. It keeps slightly shorter hours than Sunshine Studio and also closes one weekday.
3. Military Experience Center
Why is there an army theme park next to a drama set? Because Yeonmu-eup is home to the Korea Army Training Center, where a large share of Korean men start their military service. BTS’s RM and V both enlisted here on December 11, 2023, with the other members coming to see them off.
Sunshine Land leans into that with a survival game field, VR combat, and screen shooting ranges. VisitKorea lists the survival game at ₩14,000 and smaller activities from ₩2,000 to ₩15,000.
Can you visit? Yes. The center is free to enter and each activity is paid on site. The actual army base is not open to tourists.
4. Tapjeongho Lake Suspension Bridge
Nonsan’s other big photo spot is a 600 m pedestrian suspension bridge across Tapjeongho, the second-largest lake in Chungnam. There are glass-floor sections, a lakeside boardwalk, and a music fountain and light show after dark.
Admission has been free since January 2023, and spring and autumn hours run 09:00 to 18:00, per a Korean travel report updated in June 2026. Older guides still quote a ₩3,000 fee, so don’t be surprised if you see that number online.
Can you visit? Yes. Go about an hour before sunset for the best light, and note the bridge can close in strong wind or rain.
5. Onbit Natural Recreation Forest (the Our Beloved Summer Villa)
If you watched Our Beloved Summer, you’ll recognize this one: the lakeside villa in the woods where the PD drags Choi Woong and Kook Yeon-su off to film. Creatrip places it at Onbit Natural Recreation Forest in Beolgok-myeon, a privately owned metasequoia forest about 30 minutes by car from Sunshine Land.
The loop walk takes 60 to 90 minutes on flat dirt paths, and the yellow wooden house reflected in the pond is the shot everyone wants. It’s free, with free parking, and there are no shops, so bring water and take your trash out.
Timing matters here. The metasequoias turn rust-orange late. In 2025, the same report caught peak color on November 23.
Can you visit? Yes, free and open year-round. The forest is private land, so stay on the marked paths.
6. Gwanchoksa Temple and the Eunjin Mireuk
A short taxi ride from central Nonsan stands the largest historic stone Buddha in Korea. The standing Maitreya at Gwanchoksa is 18.12 m tall, built between 968 and 1006, and was upgraded to National Treasure No. 323 in 2018. Its oversized head and crown look almost cartoonish in photos and oddly moving in person.
Can you visit? Yes. A taxi from Nonsan Intercity Bus Terminal takes about seven minutes.
7. Donamseowon and Myeongjae Gotaek
Two stops for anyone who loved the hanok scenes more than the gunfights.
Donamseowon is a Confucian academy founded in 1634 and one of the nine seowon inscribed together on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2019. Admission is free.
Myeongjae Gotaek is the 300-year-old home of the scholar Yun Jeung (1629 to 1714), famous for the rows of earthenware jars lined up beside the house. Rooms are available for overnight stays, along with tea ceremonies and natural dyeing workshops, as Korea JoongAng Daily reported in September 2026.
Can you visit? Yes to both. Myeongjae Gotaek is still a family home, so keep to the open courtyards unless you’ve booked a stay.
8. Ganggyeong: Retro Streets and Salted Seafood
Ganggyeong, a riverside town inside Nonsan, was once one of the three great markets of late Joseon alongside Daegu and Pyongyang. What’s left is a walkable strip of early modern brick buildings, an old photo studio and cinema, and the red-roofed Ganggyeong Catholic Church (built in 1961), as WassupKorea describes. If Sunshine Studio is the film-set version of that era, Ganggyeong is the real one.
It’s also Korea’s best-known market for jeotgal (salted, fermented seafood). The Ganggyeong Salted Seafood Festival runs October 15 to 18, 2026, with free entry, per VisitKorea.
Can you visit? Yes. Ganggyeong has its own train station on the same line as Nonsan.
9. Strawberries (Winter and Spring Only)
Nonsan is Korea’s strawberry capital, and the season runs through the cold months. The Nonsan Strawberry Festival was named one of 27 national Culture and Tourism Festivals for 2026 to 2027 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the 2026 edition ran March 26 to 29.
The bigger news for trip planners: the Nonsan World Strawberry Industry Expo is scheduled for February 26 to March 21, 2027, with organizers targeting about 1.54 million visitors, according to New Daily. If you want Sunshine Studio without crowds, avoid those weeks. If you want strawberry picking, that’s your window.
With Extra Time
- Banyasa Temple. A modern temple built on a former limestone mine, with a cave shrine hall lit in color and stained glass on the main hall, per Dale’s Korean Temple Adventures. It’s out of the way: about 22 minutes by taxi from the bus terminal.
- Baekje Military Museum. Just north of Tapjeongho, covering the last stand of the Baekje kingdom with reconstructed armor, weapons, and a defense wall. Easy to pair with the bridge.
How to Get to Nonsan
From Seoul by train: KTX and regular trains run from Yongsan Station to Nonsan Station. The KTO puts the KTX ride at about 1 hour 40 minutes, and Rome2Rio lists just under 2 hours.
From Seoul by bus: Express buses from Seoul Central City Terminal take a little over 2 hours. Some run to Yeonmudae Terminal, which is closer to Sunshine Land than central Nonsan.
From Nonsan Station to Sunshine Studio: A taxi takes 15 to 20 minutes. City buses toward Yeonmudae exist, but older trip reports describe a ride of around 45 minutes plus a walk, so a taxi is the practical choice for a day trip.
Getting around: The sights are spread out across farmland. A rental car (from Daejeon or Nonsan) or a taxi for the day makes a huge difference. Organized day tours from Seoul also run on selected dates. Trazy’s Nonsan tour covers Sunshine Studio, the 1950 Studio, and the Tapjeongho bridge, though it was closed for bookings at the time of writing.
Sample Nonsan Itineraries
One day (from Seoul or Daejeon):
- Morning train to Nonsan, taxi to Sunshine Studio for opening at 10:00
- Costume rental and photos, then the free 1950 Studio
- Lunch in Yeonmu-eup
- Gwanchoksa Temple
- Tapjeongho bridge for sunset, then back to the station (the bridge closes at 18:00 in autumn, and fountain show times change by season, so check on the day)
This loop works by taxi, but the three stops sit in different corners of the city, so expect several fares.
Two days (with a car): Add Onbit Forest and Myeongjae Gotaek on the first afternoon, sleep in a hanok room or a lakeside pension, and spend day two at Donamseowon and Ganggyeong.
Tips Before You Go
- Best time: Late October to late November for foliage (Onbit peaks late), and February to April for strawberries. Summer is hot with little shade on the set.
- Avoid Wednesday and Thursday until the closing-day confusion is settled.
- Wear flat shoes. The set streets are dirt and gravel.
- Bring cash or a Korean-friendly card for taxis and small activity fees.
- Stay connected. English signage outside Sunshine Land is thin, so you’ll lean on Naver Map and Papago. An eSIM set up before landing (Gohub has Korea plans) saves hunting for a SIM counter.
- Combine it. Nonsan pairs naturally with Daejeon, Buyeo and Gongju (Baekje history), or Jeonju’s K-drama spots.
FAQ
Where was Mr. Sunshine filmed?
The early-1900s Hanseong streets, including the Glory Hotel and the tram, were filmed on a purpose-built set in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province, now open as Sunshine Studio. Other scenes were shot on location around Korea.
Can you visit the Mr. Sunshine set?
Yes. Sunshine Studio is a ticketed attraction at 90 Bonghwang-ro, Yeonmu-eup, Nonsan. Adult tickets are ₩10,000.
Is the Glory Hotel a real hotel?
No. It’s a set building modeled on the historical Sontag Hotel. You can’t stay overnight, but there’s a cafe on the second floor.
How far is Nonsan from Seoul?
About 1 hour 40 minutes to 2 hours by KTX from Yongsan Station, or a little over 2 hours by express bus.
Is Nonsan worth visiting?
If you like K-drama locations, quiet countryside, and places that aren’t overrun, yes. One full day covers Sunshine Studio, Gwanchoksa, and the Tapjeongho bridge.
What else was filmed at Sunshine Studio?
Pachinko and Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938 both used the set, and the variety show The Great Escape 3 filmed there too.
When is the Nonsan Strawberry Festival?
The 2026 festival ran March 26 to 29. For 2027, the headline event is the Nonsan World Strawberry Industry Expo, scheduled for February 26 to March 21. Whether the regular festival also runs that spring hasn’t been confirmed.
Related Reading
- K-Drama Filming Locations You Can Visit in Real Life
- Jeonju K-Drama Filming Locations
- Where to Rent Hanbok in Seoul
- Things to Do in Pohang for K-Drama Fans
- 9 K-Drama Filming Locations in Suwon
