Beaches, Sunrise, Pastures, and Grassland, 9 Experiences that You Must Have in a Tour of Kangnung

A stronghold of Gangwon-do since ancient times, is a two and a half hour drive from Seoul. Many relics such as Seongyojang are still preserved in the city. Every year the cultural heritage Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival is held here. It’s the end of South Korea’s eastern coastal railway line, and also a good place to watch the sunrise.

Gangneung, the home of famous Korean scholars, has a long history and has preserved many different cultures. The natural beauty of its beaches, sunrise, pastures, and grasslands bring many movies and TV dramas here to be filmed. It’s one of the representative tourist cities of South Korea. In Gangneung, waiting for the sun to rise whilst walking along GyeongPodae and Gyeongpo Beach can make the love you have feel even more romantic, and the journey along the coastline to Jeongdongjin by train is also a unique experience that can only be experienced in Gangneung.

With huge glass windows that reach to the floor, all the seats facing out the windows, and the ocean just outside, isn’t it especially breathtaking and romantic? Gangneung’s railway is the closest railway to the ocean anywhere in the world. As a “three-car train” which allows you to enjoy the beautiful scenery of South Korea’s East Sea to the fullest extent, it was specially made for viewing the scenery of the East Sea, and runs along the 58km long East Sea coastline. Jeongdongjin Station in Gangneung, the closest railway station to the coastline in the world, is only 100 meters from the ocean. Once you walk out of the station, you’re greeted by green pine trees and blue seas.

Gyeongpo Bathing Beach, located on the coast of Gyeongpo, Gangneung, is the largest bathing beach on the east coast. Here the beach is known as “Five Kilometers of Illuminating Sands”, where you can not only enjoy the ocean breeze and bask in the sun, but also experience the only fishing village in South Korea that allows you to glide through the air. Since you can enjoy sea bathing and also experience bathing in the mountain forest, it’s an excellent summer resort. And each summer, on Gyeonpo Beach’s permanent stage, there’s a summer night arts festival for tourists. When that time comes, you get to avoid the summer heat while enjoying a cultural feast. In addition, there are places to rent bikes around Gyeongpo Lake, so cycling is also a good choice.

Jeongdongjin Sunrise Park, located near the Jeongdongjin Railway Station, claims to be the place where you can watch the earliest sunrise in South Korea. Every year on Jan. 1, in order to welcome in the new year, an hourglass sand-shifting ceremony and sunrise celebration are held here. Jeongdongjin Sunrise Park not only has beautiful beaches and strange rocks and stones, there’s a lush pine forest, and it was also the location of the Korean drama “Sandglass”. In the embrace of the sea, enjoying the impact of the waves and appreciating the sunrise scenery here, really is one of the great pleasures in life.

Gangneung Seongyojang has been recognized as “one of the ten most beautiful traditional houses in South Korea”. It’s a representation of the high-rise residential buildings in Korea from 300 years ago, and is also the place where the famous Korean TV series “Hwang Jin Yi” and “Buddy” were filmed. Gangneung Seongyojang is an upper-class residence that was built by the Yi Naebeon noble family during the Joseon Dynasty in Gangneung City, Gangwon-do. In 1965, it was designated as the nation’s fifth-most important folk custom property, and after hundreds of years of wind and rain, is still well-preserved. In the Gangneung Seongyojang’s Hwallaejeong Pavilion, you can enjoy the beautiful scenery of the lotus pond and experience an authentic tea ceremony. In addition, the Gangneung Seongyojang “Corridor House” also offers accommodation. If you’d like to experience the charm of Korean traditional buildings up close, consider staying a night here.

Echo Green Campus is the only ranch in South Korea. Like other places of historic interest and scenic beauty, it has its own charm in the spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Known as the “Korean Alps”, it features wild flowers blooming in spring, a clear sky in summer, red maple trees everywhere in autumn, and snow in the winter. Whether it’s the cattle grazing leisurely on mountain pastures, the green lotus garden with green water and lotus ponds, or the area of wild flowers with hundreds of years of yew and needle fir, they all make you feel relaxed and happy. Standing 1,140 meters above sea level on the East Sea Observation Deck, you have a full panoramic view of the beautiful blue East Sea. Echo Green Campus is a place that gets quite a lot of snow. Every winter, there are snow mountain competitions, chemistry competitions for foreigners, and other activities.

The Chamsori Gramophone Museum and Edison Science Museum consists of the Chamsori Gramophone Museum specializing in sound, and the Edison Science Museum which focuses on Edison’s inventions. Of the more than 3,500 inventions Edison created, three of Edison’s most representative inventions are displayed here, including the gramophone, light bulb, and projector. In addition to the more than 2,500 exhibits featuring speakers, gramophones, radios and televisions, there’s also a 495 square meter special listening room where you can enjoy different kinds of music, including analog music from the gramophone era to modern DVD digital music. In the outdoor automobile exhibition hall, there are also Edison trains, 1920s Ford cars and gramophone promotional cars. To present them to their audiences, these collections are displayed as part of three or four exhibitions every year.

Odaesan National Park is a small mountain in Gangwon-do, South Korea. It’s named after the five peaks of Birobong, Horyeongbong, Sangwangbong, Dongdaesan and Durobong. The most beautiful season on Odaesan Mountain is autumn. The whole scenic area is like a natural oxygen bar, and is comfortable and pleasant to hike in. Woljeongsa Temple is the representative temple on Odaesan Mountain. The temple derived its name from the particularly bright moonlight on Odaesan Mountain’s Birobong Peak when the moon is full on the 15th day of the lunar month. There's the famous Octagonal Nine Story Stone Pagoda as well as stone statues of Bodhisattvas in the temple. In addition, the monk Jajang’s real cremated ashes of Shakyamuni are enshrined in Woljeongsa Temple.

The Traditional Korean Cuisine and Culture Experience Hall consists of many different styles of restaurants. Here you can taste traditional Korean food, such as hot sauce, spicy cabbage tofu, bibimbap and rice cakes, but also experience cooking traditional Korean food and living in a traditional Korean house. With an area covering 13,000 square meters, you can see the traditional soy sauce jar and traditional Stone Ice House. If you’ve watched the Korean drama “Gourmet”, the soy sauce jar used in the drama is the one from the center. Fans of Korean dramas can also experience making food with the soy sauce jar yourselves!