Boseong Travel Guide, South Korea. Ocean lookouts for Avalonian views. Over-caffination. And of course, everything is Green.
Index
- What to See and Do
- Typical Costs & Budget
- Where to Stay
- Where to Eat
- How to Get There
- General Tips for Korea
- Other Places to Visit in Korea
Boseong is a fun little stop for any trip around Korea. Just check out these shockingly beautiful tea fields! Check out the details in the Boseong Travel Guide.
Top 3 Things to Do
1. The Tea Fields! (4,000krw)
Of course the main attraction in Boseong is the tea fields themselves – and boy are they gorgeous. This tumbleweed has been to the Wazuka tea fields in Japan – and they are gorgeous! But few tea fields are as nicely decorated as Boseong. But then, this is Korea! Of course they go the extra mile, adding Japanese Maples, flowering cherries and azaleas, and gorgeous towering pine tree-lined paths.
2. Ocean Lookout (Free!)
This is within the tea fields for which you’ll already have paid the entry fee. If you continue all the way up the path through the tea, you will reach a lookout point. Look for the word 바다 on the signs if there isn’t a crowd to follow. Depending on the day you go you may not be able to see the ocean. Or, like the day I was there, it was a bit hazy and the islands appeared to be floating on the horizon. Some people don’t like that kind of view, but it made the islands look like Avalon.
3. Green Tea Food
They’re everywhere! This Boseong travel guide suggests you indulge in ice cream, cookies, chocolate, noodles, lattes, and of course the actual green tea. Make sure you sample all of the delights. I will say I found the actual tea to be a little one-note but it’s certainly not bad. The chocolate and the ice cream are the top recommendations.
Other Things to See and Do
- Yulpo Beach It’s another 15 minute taxi drive away from the Green Tea Resort or the fields. I fully recommend you stick to the fields for one entire day, but if you have a second day this is a good option!
- Yulpo Haesu Nokchatang this is a jimjilbang (Korean spa) right next to the Yulpo beach. You can soak in green tea water baths that look directly out to the ocean! I love relaxing in Korean spas and this is a fun option.
Boseong Basic Costs
- Local Bus: 1,450 (most common)
- 10 Minute Taxi Ride: Around 5,500
- Entrance Fees: 4,000
- Coffee: 4,000+
- Meal: 6,500 and up
- Hotel Room: 100,000
Budgeting
Estimates are for a weekend in Boseong, the most common type of trip to this city. The Korean exchange rate is currently around 1,150krw to 1usd. There is only one place to stay in Boseong so that accounts for the cost. This Boseong travel guide also generally recommends taking taxis in the countryside, as buses can be shockingly infrequent. Boseong is probably an exception but to be safe!
The Only Option (183,000krw)
- Hotel: 100,000 a night
- 2 taxis: 16,000
- Round-trip Train from Busan: 48,000
- Food: 15,000
- Activities: 4,000
Where to Stay
Most Koreans use Booking.com for booking their stays so all of the links are through that site. If you sign up for an account, you can earn Level 2 Genius status after only a few bookings and receive discounts. It’s saved me over $100 so far!
Hotel
There is exactly one place to stay in Boseong and it is Nokcha Resort. Everything else is further away and more expensive. It’s nothing super special but the location is fantastic for seeing the fields!
Where to Eat
Green Tea Field Restaurant
Make sure to check out the green tea noodles at the Tea Field restaurant. They have some other options, but they are…less green tea flavored. For instance, the fried pork cutlet only has a sprinkling of matcha over the sauce. The green tea noodles have the powder inside the noodle mix and it lends a surprisingly delicious flavor!
How to Get There
Most people will be coming from Busan or Seoul so I’ll give prices and times for those. Sadly there are no bus options so you will be limited to trains. RometoRio is a good option for estimating routes and costs, but they are not always accurate so expect a bus ticket to cost a few thousand won more.
By train:
Use the letskorail website to book your tickets up to one month in advance. There will be three options for trains.
- KTX/Mugunghwa: the only options. A ticket from Seoul to Boseong will be around 46,000w and take 4 hours with a transfer. A ticket from Busan to Boseong will be 24,000w and take 2.5 hours.
General Korea Tips
Getting Around
There are two main apps for getting around Korea; Naver and Kakao. Google Maps does not work. I recommend Kakao as the romanization spellings are more consistent and the features are generally better in my opinion.
You may need to type in Korean to find some destinations so make sure you download a Korean keyboard.
When you go to catch a bus, it will tell you when the bus is arriving and how many stops you have. If you hit the bell icon in the upper right hand corner it will highlight which bus stop you’re currently at, and it will alert you when you need to get off. It’s amazing.
What to Pack
Depending on the season, Korea is either hot and humid or chilly and humid. In general, just take out the winter clothes for summer and add some leggings and a coat for winter.
- 2 pair shorts or skirts
- 1 pair jeans or comfortable trousers
- 1 pair leggings
- 4 shirts (crop tops are not a common sight in Korea, I would avoid outside of Seoul)
- 1 dress or nice shirt for going out
- 1 swimsuit (bikinis are basically unheard of but foreigners wear them frequently – just accept the stares :P)
- 6 pair socks (fresh socks are the best)
- 1 pair sneakers
- 1 pair flip flops/slides for showers and out and about
- 5 pair underwear
- 1 travel towel
- Toothbrush
- Deodorant (it can be difficult to find and expensive)
- Small lock for lockers
- Universal plug adapter
- Period products – if you prefer an option besides pads they can be difficult to find
- Tissue packs – surprisingly difficult to find
- General pain killers/common over the counter medicines – also can be a little hard to find depending on what you’re looking for. Not all pharmacists speak English and it can be very trying to attempt to communicate about medicine when you’re in pain.
Just about everything else is very easy to find, there is no need to buy shampoo, toothpaste, etc. It’s all right there in a Daiso or supermarket for reasonable prices. Of course, if you have a preference, that’s something you should bring as well.
Safety
Korea is an incredibly safe country. Women often walk alone late at night and theft is almost unheard of. You should always be cautious, but in general Korea is one of the safest countries in the world.
Basic Korean Guide
Hello: an-yawss-ay-yo (안녕하세요)
Where is: awdi-ay _______ (어디에)
Thanks: kam-sam-nida (감사합니다)
Goodbye: an-yeong-i-kay-sayo (안녕히 계세요)
Alphabet
Korean is a very easy language to read. It is almost entirely phonetic so each symbol equals one sound. It’s good to learn because many things are English words just written in Korean. Like 커 is a very easy language to read. It is almost entirely phonetic so each symbol equals one sound. It’s good to learn because many things are English words just written in Korean. Like 커피 “kawpi” is coffee.
Vowels
- ㅏ “ah” cat
- ㅓ “aw” sought
- ㅣ “ee” me
- ㅡ good
- ㅗ “oh” boat
- ㅜ “oo” you
- ㅔ “ay” May
- ㅐ “eh” yes
Consonants
- ㄱ “g” get
- ㅋ “k” cat
- ㄴ “n” none
- ㅅ “s” snake
- ㅈ “j” juice
- ㅊ “ch” chase
- ㅂ “b” bus
- ㅍ “p” pet
- ㄷ “d” dog
- ㅌ “t” test
- ㅎ “h” hat
- ㅁ “m” mat
- ㅇ “ng” or silent*
Double/Y-Sound
- ㄲ Hard “k”**
- ㅆ tense “s”
- ㅉ “tch” tsunami
- ㅃ tense “b”
- ㅑ”yah”
- ㅕ”yaw”
- ㅛ “yoh”
- ㅠ “yoo”
- ㅖ “yay”
- ㅒ “yeh”
*Korean is written in syllable blocks. When you start a syllable with a vowel, like 안 you put the ㅇ symbol as a silent placeholder.
** Double vowels aren’t really important right now, people will know what you’re trying to say.
Other Korean Cities to Visit
If you enjoyed this Suwon Travel Guide, you should check out my other guides to cities in Korea!
Gyeongju Travel Guide: Korea’s Pyramids
Jeonju Travel Guide: Step Back in Time
Tongyeong Travel Guide: Seaside Bliss
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