If you follow these 3 tips that I followed prior to visiting Jejudo Island, you should be all set, too!
Korea is a country full of kpop music, fashion, beauty, coffee shops, and the list goes on and on. But what a lot of people forget is that South Korea is also full of beautiful nature, located within it’s only island off the coast, Jejudo Island.
Jejudo is a little island off the mainland and a lot of people from Seoul fly over to Jejudo to ‘clear’ their minds from the business of the big city. Flying from Seoul to Jeju Island is a very popular route, so if you’re visiting South Korea for some time and want to experience some of the best hikes, plan a short weekend trip over to Jeju Island. And although I fell in love with Seoul, that’s exactly what I did. I flew from Seoul to Jeju Island through T’Way Air from Gimpo International Airport to Jeju International Airport. The flight took about an hour and my one way ticket cost me $65.66 USD. Totally worth the short getaway from your original trip if you ask me!
When I finally arrived in Jejudo, there were nothing but big crowds. Note that a lot of people take group trips over to Jejudo Island, so if you are late for a flight, make sure that you go earlier than you usually do to make sure you make it on time for your flight.
The moment I landed in Jejudo Island, I met up with one of my friends who was temporarily in Jejudo to teach English. She showed me around the island, knew all the local spots and recommendations that range from the best food, trails, views and hikes. And luckily, I was in contact before my trip and she followed up with me to follow these important tips before arriving to Jejudo Island:
3 Important Tips Before Arriving to Jejudo Island:
1. Get an international driving license
Before flying over to the island, go to the closest AAA and get an international driving license. It’s $20 to make and it will save your life on the island. Without a rental car, it is almost impossible to get half of what you’d probably like to get done during your trip. I did half of the island in 2 days, and the other half in another 1.5 days.
The drivers wheel is on the left side, so keep that in mind!
Another tip before going to AAA – bring a picture of you or have it on your mobile phone. Make sure the background is white and your whole face is showing. If you bring this picture, you can avoid the $15 picture-taking fee. Also, make sure that your international driving license is stamped on Section B. This cardboard piece of paper is valid for 1 year and I have used it to drive in other countries as well.
2. Bring hiking or tennis shoes
I’d like to assume that if you are traveling over to the island, you are a nature-y person. Jeju is full of Oreums, trails, mountains, and other outdoor activities. I participated in strenuous activities 2 out of 3 days I was there and my tennis shoes were enough. However, I do wish I brought hiking shoes – my feet were full of blisters 🙂
Remember that along your hiking or tennis shoes, bring long socks. I was surprised that I didn’t get any bug bites during my hikes, BUT you definitely want to cover your ankles.
3. Check sunrise and sunset times
You came to the most beautiful island in Korea. If you don’t catch at least one sunset or sunrise, there is an issue.
All angles of the island are beautiful, but since you are on an island, the sun rises and sets quicker than your eyes can blink. I always had to be on the lookout for the sun since it’s window is literally no more than 30 minutes.
Dependent on when you go, the sunrise & sunset times will change. I visited around the end of October & these were the times:
Sunrise is around 5:20AM – 5:40AM
Sunset is around 5:45PM – 6:00PM.
If you visit the island during the summer time, you may catch the sun for longer hours. Good luck!
Although I was super jet lagged and didn’t sleep for 30 hours when arriving to Jeju, I couldn’t help but admire how beautifully vibrant and colorful the entire island was. Every corner and street had a different vibe to it as there were countless number of districts on the island itself. Turn one corner and you would be hit with mural drawings on the walls, artistic coffee shops, unique buildings, and a hint of the suns rays reflecting off the buildings. Quite often will you see Halmoni’s, Korean for grandmothers, selling clementines on the streets, as Jejudo is known to have the freshest clementines in all of Korea. It is very common for those visiting Jejudo to send back clementines to the mainland of Korea. That’s exactly what I did as well. I sent over two boxes of clementines over to my relatives in Seoul and arrived before I reached back to Seoul.
Remember as you’re driving around the island…
That you’ll probably catch yourself pull over on the streets quite frequently if you are obsessed with catching sunsets and sunrises. Every day I was not checking something off my itinerary, I caught myself pulling up in the middle of the road to catch the sunset. And in between all the colors and waters, you will see hundreds of mountains and hills. These hills are called oreums and you should probably hike a few while you’re in Jeju. Hitting all these spots made me love Jejudo for the island itself, and is easily my favorite city in Korea.
>> RELATED POST: 9 Unbelievable Aattraction Spots in Jeju Island That You Must Visit
Follow these 3 tips before going to Jeju, and you will feel the most prepared during your visit, promise.
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