Spring is one of the best seasons in South Korea as cherry blossoms come out and national parks come alive with color. This is my 3rd collaboration with other expats on the best things to do in Korea. You can find the best of winter in Korea and best of fall in Korea on my site too! Whether you prefer to stay in the city or get as far into the mountains as possible, South Korea has just the right place for you to enjoy spring in Korea and I’m excited to share it all with you so without further adieu I present
Contents
Places to Visit in Korea During Spring
Photos and narrative provided by each contributor. If you enjoy reading their contribution please click the link and follow their personal blog! Don’t forget to share this page using the buttons on the bottom (mobile) or left!
Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival
Mike Still from LiveTravelTeach
The most famous cherry blossom festival in all of Korea is the Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival. This increases the fun of spring in Korea. Hundreds of thousands of visitors come to this festival every year as Jinhae’s streets fill up with gorgeous pink petals. There is a stream running through the city with walking paths on either side that are covered in cherry trees. Art exhibits display in the middle of the stream to add to your viewing pleasure.
Places to Visit in Seoul During Spring
Seokcheon Lake
Megan from Bobo and ChiChi
Here is a secret tip for you to enjoy spring in Korea. One of the prime spots in Seoul to enjoy the beautiful cherry blossoms is at Seokchon Lake in Seoul. The park loops around the small lake and has a beautiful canopy of cherry blossoms on either side. When the wind gently blows the blossom petals will fall down on you like snow. The lake itself is a wonderful place to enjoy the blossoms because you also get to enjoy views of the impressive Jamsil Tower and can watch people enjoying the outdoor rides at Lotte World. The park gets crowded so it’s best to visit on a weekday in the morning or afternoon.
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Yeouido Park
Mike Still from LiveTravelTeach
The most famous place in Seoul to see cherry blossoms is Yeouido Park on the Han River. The walking street along the river is lined with cherry trees that provide a gorgeous ceiling of pink and yellow blooms for everyone to enjoy. You might be wrong if you think that you can find a better spot than this to experience the beautiful cherry blossoms in spring in Korea. On a nice spring day, you can enjoy a picnic on the Han River and even have fried chicken and beer delivered right to you! Bring a few friends and enjoy the warmer weather at Yeouido but beware that it will be very crowded. During the cherry blossom peak, Koreans flock to Yeouido in the thousands so be prepared for a crowd!
The park goes along the river but you’ll find plenty of flowers a bit inland too. Massive skyscrapers make a unique backdrop for these beautiful trees and you’ll find beautiful flowers in yellows, blues, reds and just about any color you can imagine here in Yeouido! Spending spring in Korea will give you one more reason to love spring.
Seoul National Cemetery
Nancie from Budget Travelers Sandbox
Seoul’s National Cemetery should be high on your list for cherry blossom viewing. Here you will find an abundance of pink and white blossoms. This is also the only place in Korea where I have found the gorgeous weeping cherry trees. The cemetery hosts a cherry blossom festival early in April each year. An added bonus is that it is one of the quieter venues for cherry blossom admirers and photographers. To get there take subway line 4 or 9 to Dongak Station. Come out exit 7 or 9 and the cemetery is directly in front of you. Do you need more reasons to spend your next spring in Korea?
Seoul Forest
Karla from travelwithkarla.wordpress.com
Seoul Forest is indeed a perfect place for cherry blossom viewing. It’s a place where you can feed some deer, ride a bicycle, and take pictures underneath the cherry blossoms. It’s a good place for picnics and photo shoots. Unlike other touristy spots like Yeouido Hangang Park, it’s not crowded. You can enjoy your quiet time there while appreciating the plants and wildlife animals. This is a treat for those who love to spend and cherish those cherry blossoms in spring in Korea.
Seoul Forest consists of five parks: Art and Culture Park, Ecological Forest, Nature Experience Center, Marsh Eco Park, and Hangang Riverside Park. During spring, you can enjoy different kinds of the garden like a wild flower garden, themed flower garden, and botanical garden. You can also visit the insect garden, bird observatory, and butterfly experience hall.
To go there, you can take the Bundang Line and get off at Seoul Forest Station.
Best Spring Destinations in Korea
Jindo
Kate from Toronto Seoulcialite
In my first year in Korea, I was so excited to have arrived in Busan in March. The reason for the excitement was that I was super close to Jinhae – one of the most famous cherry blossom festivals in all of Korea! Trust me, if you want to experience the complete fun of spring in Korea, you don’t want to miss it. Imagine my surprise (and dismay) when it rained the whole weekend I was supposed to go. Last year I was living in Seoul and joined in on the Jindo Sea-Parting Festival, which would continue on to the Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival. WinK Tours made a major boo boo and again, I was missing the festival in exchange for an hour in Jeonju. Still beautiful, but there were no blossoms in Jeonju!
As luck would have it, Jindo was absolutely covered in bright, beautiful, pink cherry blossoms. If you want an alternative to the famous (and famously jam-packed) Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival, why not consider Jindo? You’ll have an early morning festival with tons of music and excitement (and fire torches) as the sun comes up. The rest of the weekend is spent listening to music, watching demonstrations, eating delicious Korean street food, and drinking makgeolli (Korean rice wine) and beer. What could be better?
Boseong Green Tea Fields
Edward Rivera from @AerialAspects
Located about 5 hours from Seoul, the Green Tea Plantations are well worth a visit. The town of Boseong is located on the southern coast of Korea in South Jeolla Province. Almost half the green tea production in Korea comes from this area. In the spring, the air is filled with the aroma of green tea. Isn’t it amazing that you can actually feel the spring in Korea without even looking at calendar but by just smelling the air? The Boseong Tea Festival is held in May band features hands-on demonstrations of green tea picking and other cultural activities. Admission is 2,000 won.
Travel Korea in Spring
Hwangmaesan’s Royal Azalea Festival
Mike Still from LiveTravelTeach
Spring in Korea is not just for enjoying your hotel’s room services. The Hwangmaesan Royal Azalea Festival is a great way to get out of the city and see some of Korea’s natural beauty. The whole mountain is covered in Azaleas and its perfect for a sunrise hike. At the top, you’ll find a small lake and plenty of hiking trails. Take a group tour with Seoul Hiking Group or head their solo. Either way, you are definitely going to love this gentle hike. If you go be sure to enjoy some traditional soup, rice wines and other delicious snacks from the dozens of white tents you’ll find at this festival!
Geoje’s Pink Mountain & Bamboo Forest
Mike Still from LiveTravelTeach
Geoje island has so much to offer any traveler but if you’re heading there in spring in Korea you should walk through the bamboo forest to the pink mountain! The pink mountain gets its name from the thousands of flowers that bloom every year lining the hillsides with gorgeous shades of pink. The hike isn’t too strenuous but will take you at least an hour or 2 round trip. The flowers are fickle so check with the Korean tourism organization for the exact dates this year!
Jeonju 
Parul Singh from PHD Lifestyles
Ahhh that time of the year….eagerly waiting for winter to end and feel the sun again. Spring in Korea is the twilight zone where winters are not so harsh and summer is not so crazy. Spring brings beauty into every corner with numerous blossomed flowers. Every country’s landscape takes out their new dress n wraps themselves with green leaves and colourful flowers. Here, in South Korea ‘cherry’ flower is the most important or I should say center of spring. Blossoming of cherry can be viewed and celebrated in many cities but if you are looking for a quiet place you must head to Jeonju.
Best Spring Hikes in Korea
Bukhansan National Park
Mike Still from LiveTravelTeach
Bukhansan National Park is one of my favorite parks in South Korea. In fact with over 5,000,000 visitors every year Guinness World Records lists it as the most popular National Park in the whole world! The good news about heading here in the winter is that there are far fewer hikers on the trails which means you have all the snowy views to yourself! As you start near the bottom don’t fret if you don’t see any snow. There will surely be white blanketed hills as you get higher up; especially where the mountains have cast a shadow blocking the sun.
Be sure to stop at one of the Buddhist temples and embrace nature as traditional chanting envelopes you. There are dozens of trails to pick from but my favorites are Dobongsan and Baegundae and spring is when all of the greenery returns to the mountains. What else can you expect from a spring in Korea? It makes you feel more than you could imagine.
Seoraksan National Park
Mike Still from LiveTravelTeach
Seoraksan National Park is my all time favorite place in Korea and while its great all year round the best time to go is in the spring! I’ve hiked the trails here at least 8 separate times throughout the year and when spring comes through the mountains come alive. The top of Dinosaur Ridge is lined with greenery as far as the eye can see and the weather is simply perfect for hiking. You just cannot miss it spring in Korea.
If you prefer a shorter hike check out Ulsanbawi or one of the waterfall hikes. You can always just stroll through Cheonbuldong valley and relax by the beautiful river! Seoraksan is pretty easy to get to from Seoul. Simply take a public bus to Sockho then jump on the 7 or 7-1 bus straight to the national park!
Juwangsan National Park
Mike Still from LiveTravelTeach
Juwangsan is off of most hikers radar whether a foreign or Korean tourist but it’s a great place to explore in the spring! You’ll find some of the emptiest trails in Korea (which is a huge perk for most of us used to hiking in Europe or the Americas. The trails follow rivers and weave through green forests. This is one of the few places I’ve seen real wildlife and spotted a few snakes on my trek through. See, the spring in Korea is going to give you soreal-lifeife experiences.
I hope you enjoyed this collaboration. If you know any other places to enjoy spring in Korea comment below so I can add them to the list! If you enjoyed reading please click the buttons at the bottom (mobile) or left and share the post on social media. Or you could always pin the image below on Pinterest!
4 comments
Your post makes me realise I missed so much when I was in South Korea. Although in fairness I did have a broken leg and could barely walk. I need to arrange another trip! Seeing the cherry blossoms in South Korea is a nice alternative than Japan and I am guessing less tourists?
Thank you for reading Katherine, It would certainly be hard to see all that spring brings if you’ve got a broken leg but I hope you enjoyed South Korea anyway! I haven’t seen cherry blossoms in Japan so I don’t know how busy it gets there but it can get crowded in South Korea too. The nice thing is that there are spring blooms ALL over the country so if you miss the famous festivals you’ll still have a chance to see cherry blossoms and other beautiful flowers.
[…] Bundaegi is typically eaten by old Korean men who will pair it with a bottle of rice wine (soju) and shovel them in. Foreigners like me usually stick to one at a time and often give the cup away after a few bites. But if you’re up for an adventure then “when in Rome” right? So be sure to put the cup up to your mouth and drink in these bugs when you visit South Korea. […]
Hello! Last April 4-10, 2018 I visited South Korea along with my sister and my nephew. It was really a great experience to witness the cherry blossom festival. Actually it was my second time to travel in Korea, the first time was last in week of April, 2017, sad to say no more cherry blossom but we witness the Lantern Festival. It was an awesome festival that showcased their rich history.