Updated: 01/29/2025
Jeju was by far one of the most beautiful places I have visited in Korea and I loved it so much, but I’ll try my best to spare you boring details.
Jeju-do is an island in South Korea known for its tangerines, beautiful views, and iconic tourist landmarks like the Snoopy Garden. my friends and i spent two full days on the island and did about everything we could. we took taxis to travel around but i would recommend obtaining an international license and renting a car.
the first night we spent there was off to a good start. we wanted a coming-of-age moment so we decided to go to a beach, buy fireworks and sparklers from a nearby CU (convenience store), and light them while running around and taking pictures. the weather was perfect too. it was chilly but not unbearably chilly. some of us were a bit unprepared to go to the beach and didn’t bring shoes for the sand. we almost didn’t walk on the sand but after some thought, we just decided to take off our shoes and socks. the sand was so cold so our feet were numb but it was still fun.
the first day started with great weather. we dedicated the entire first day to visiting the west side of Jeju. we visited 9.81 Park (go-karting), the Arte Museum, the pink flower fields at Cafe Saebil, Innisfree Jeju House, Osulloc, Gamttanam Cafe, Gyul Gyul and Hyeopjae Beach. 9.81 Park was exciting because i like go-kart racing and this location was where one of my fav boy groups, Enhypen raced. i didn’t realize until we arrived because i recognized the location from their video. after racing we visited the Arte Museum, one of the locations in Korea. this museum was one of my favorites of the day because they had so many cool installations. i noticed that Korea does not play around with its museums and art and the Jeju Arte Museum was no exception. my favorite installation was called Romantic Thunder and i liked it because it gave me a sense of nostalgia and peace. it also triggered the hopeless romantic in me.
at Saebil Cafe the flower fields were not as pink as i would have liked, but they were still pretty and we took cute pics. the cafe desserts and drinks were really good but they were a bit expensive. we didn’t explore the Innisfree Jeju House fully because we were on a time crunch but it was directly next to Osulloc. although Osulloc is a famous matcha tea house, they had a whole bunch of different things to offer from merch to varieties of flavors, and different types of treats like cookies and wafers, as well as ice cream and shakes. i bought a whole bunch of stuff for friends and family back home and we ate delicious ice cream and shakes at the cafe.
toward the end of the day, we went to one of the Gyul Gyul locations on the island and purchased souvenirs that we didn’t find at the first location we visited the night before. there were other stores where we bought cute Miffy (bunny cartoon) plushies and other merch. after Gyul Gyul we went to the iconic Gamttanam Cafe where the cute tangerine truck is that everyone takes pictures with. our last stop of the day was Hyeopjae Beach where we sat on rocks and watched the sunset while listening to music and vibing.
the second and last day was gloomy and started a bit disappointing but it became more promising later on. this day consisted entirely of exploring the east side of Jeju. firstly, the weather was gloomy so we were worried that it was going to rain. when we arrived at our first stop, a flower field, we were met with disappointment when we were told the place was closed and that the flowers were not even in bloom even though we read online that they would be in bloom even though it was October…. to make matters worse, it also started pouring so that sucked.
after that, we left for our next stop, Snoopy Garden. BE PREPARED TO SPEND MULTIPLE HOURS AT SNOOPY GARDEN IF YOU DECIDE TO GO!!!!! i wouldn’t go so far as to say Snoopy Garden is an all-day thing but it could be, depending on the type of person you are. i knew in advance that we would be spending a lot of our time there but i didn’t realize it would be 3-4 hours (we messed up our schedule). i really loved Snoopy Garden and it was my favorite part of the second day. even though it was raining a bit, it was a vibe and we were able to see the cute Halloween decorations.
our last tourist stop of the day was the JejuRail Bike ride. honestly, i am still…. to this day… not sure what that was supposed to be but it was nice and made me sleepy. before the ride started we visited the petting zoo outside and fed some cute bunnies. the ride wasn’t even a ride…. it was like a really slow mini train cart thing where you only had control of the brakes. i think it is meant to be ridden in the spring when flowers are in bloom because we rode through a field of weeds and saw some cows but that was it. it was still cute though.
overall, this trip was a very healing experience and i WILL be returning to Jeju one day.
can i go with you next time to Jeju...