Tongdosa

Tongdosa is one of the three biggest and most famous temples in Korea.  It shares the honors with Hae'insa, which is also easily accessible from Daegu and Soenggwangsa, which is definitely not so easy for use Daegu-ites to go visit.   

There is a direct bus to Tongdosa leaving from the express bus terminal, (the one nearest the subway enterance and Dongdaegu train station) about 20 times a day, from 7 a.m. or so.  The stops frequently, and it's final destination is Pusan.   It stops about two times before Gyeongju, then continues on to Tongdosa with about 5 stops between Gyeongju and Tongdosa.  However, each stop is only for a minute or two, and the trip only takes about an hour and 40 minutes.  

At the Tongdosa stop you are actually still about 1.5 kilometers from the temple, on the side of the road.  Head into the town you can see (the man at the bus stop ticket booth can direct you) and follow the large road signs indicating the road to Tongdosa.  If you don't want to walk, a taxi will take you there for about 2-3,000 won.  

The temple is really fantastic, quite old and with a large population of monks, and 17 or so hermitages spread above it on the mountainsides, you can visit as many as you want.  

The last bus to Daegu leaves at 8:30 pm and the second to last at 7:50 pm.  There is no ticket booth on the side of the road where you catch the bus to Daegu, but there is a covered bench and a bathroom.  Don't worry, the bus will stop.