South Korea’s Boseong Green Tea Plantation has become a familiar weekend destination and a second adventure here is an easy no-brainer, thanks to Yeosu’s proximity and some beautiful weather. There’s not much to do in Boseong’s downtown. However, the small city is home to one of Korea’s most famous and most visited attractions. Walking around the famed Daehan Dawon Green Tea Plantation and nearby Yulpo Beach is convincing me yet again why this place is worth multiple trips.
A visit to Boseong for the Green Tea Festival appeared in our feature on Spring Things to Do in South Korea.
Boseong Green Tea Plantation
Directions to Boseong and Yulpo Beach
(Courtesy of Korea Tourism)
Buses will be more convenient for travelers and if traveling from Seoul, you can take a bus to Boseong from the Express Bus Terminal Station (About 5 hours). That is accessible via Subway Lines 3, 7 & 9. From Boseong Bus Terminal, you can take a local bus bound for Yulpo Beach and get off at Daehan Dawon Bus Stop. Train travelers can reach Boseong from Yongsan Station (5 hours, 30 minutes). Tickets can be booked at the station or at Korail’s website here.
Our Story
We jerk and sway along with the bus riding through more obscure parts of Jeolla towards Boseong and though I’m no stranger to the perilous Korean buses, I still considered rethinking why one might want to brave this journey. My hatred for buses starts oozing out. I’m considering our reasoning for such a waste of a beautiful Saturday on a return trip to these tea fields. Aren’t there plenty more new and exciting sites to see? Stepping off the second bus and standing at the plantation’s entrance, I’m convinced that everything will be okay.
Cedar Road
The year’s Green Tea Festival had just closed. Perhaps for that reason, the walk inside was one of the quietest we’d ever encounter. Traveling early and away from peak times is a great way to beat crowds, I say! We walk towards the main entrance. There’s much more time to think and stretch out without distractions or elbows coming our way. We walk through the familiar “Cedar Road” lined with beautiful tall trees and as green as ever. This is a perfect day, with the sun shining and not a cloud in sight. We through the maze-like tea field and try to imagine just how much tea might come from this mountain of a field. It’s so cool to walk through!
Two years prior, I was too out of shape and struggled all the way to the top. Plenty of hikes and much healthier lifestyle later and getting to the peak of the plantation is so easy. The view from the top is nice enough and worth the trip up on a clear day like this one, with islands and the sea sitting in the distance. We walk down from the top and have an ice cream and some green tea to get the sugar and caffeine levels back to normal. There’s a bus stop in front of the place but our patience grows thin at the same time as a taxi passes.
To Yulpo Beach
Just a short ride away from the plantation, Boseong has a pretty nice beach for a brief sit-down. The taxi takes us along beautiful mountainous roads that descend into towards the coast and Yulpo Beach. After seeing a fair share of “dud” beaches in Korea, my expectations for Yulpo are low at best. We sit in the sand and watching the ripping currents violently force themselves towards the shore further. I’m pretty happy with the decision to come here. The tide is out and lots of people are shedding shoes and sandals to go enjoy the wet, dark sand.
The day is perfect but one thing remains. As the sun starts its way down, we walk for a bit and find a barbecue place nearby. A Spanish couple comes in and we chat about this place and others throughout the meal. Instead of taking the bus all the way back, we head to Boseong’s train station for a quieter return. No more buses will be swinging us back and forth today and my love of trains will be further reaffirmed.
Our Thoughts and Yours, Too!
This won’t be my last time at Boseong and for so many good reasons. It’s small when compared to other tea fields like Cameron in Malaysia and others but I’ll always love it. Crowds can be a bit suffocating during busy times but whether you want to avoid them or not, you have to see this place at least once. If you’re in South Korea and need a nice day trip away from the big cities, Boseong should be at the top of your list!
This travel guide is part of our series on South Korea Travel and East Asia Travel. It was originally created on May 20, 2014. It has been maintained and updated (as of December 28, 2018) to reflect current viewpoints and travel trends.
Wow, amazing photos! Thanks for introducing me to Boseong. I’ve added it to my list of desired travel destinations. Did you drink tea while you were there? Is there a particular type of tea they specialize in?
Thank you for your comment. We did drink tea there and had green tea ice cream as well. Lots of the restaurants there and in the surrounding town even have green tea-themed dishes. It was green tea, and I’ve still got some in my office that gets me through the second half of a work day. Delicious stuff!
Gorgeous photos! I haven’t been to Boseong before but your post has convinced me that I NEED to go! Do you happen to know if it’s too late to go now or within the next month? And by “too late”, I mean, will it still look pretty? haha thanks for the great post!
Thanks for your comment. That’s a good question actually. All of this south coast area is quite green right now so I’m pretty sure it should be nice. I hope you enjoy if visiting soon. It’s getting a bit hot right now though so pack some sun screen!
Nice post, headed there this weekend for the first time. Am excited to take some photos and even check out the beach. Still have low expectations but the recent heat is making it sound even better.
Thanks. I’ve heard from students that the beach is somewhat dirty but I thought it looked fine enough. It’d even be nice for a camping spot, in my opinion. This weekend would be better than next, with the long weekend and all.
Hi Duke!
I think that every time we visit a place we can feel very different emotions. This mainly because our perspective changes over time. It happened to me when visiting the same place in Croatia: the first time I loved it but the second one I didn’t have the same positive feelings. Maybe because meanwhile I changed my mind. 🙂
Such beautiful pictures! The interesting thing about revisiting a place is often you have changed with time. Therefore you bring something new to the place than last time just through the passage of time. It is such a bonus when you find something completely new to enjoy. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for your comment. Hopefully you’ll continue reading my stuff as it comes out. Cheers!
Great post! I visited Boseong as a very brief stopover on my way to Yeosu for the Expo a couple years back. Now, I realize I really should make the journey back.
Those tea fields look really pleasant, were there lots of trails going through them?
Thanks Nathan! There are lots of places for you to walk through, if that’s what you’re talking about. I didn’t really see any restrictions or signs telling us not to walk through so yeah, go for it!
Gorgeous photos. Impossible to take in a place on the first visit, and also we are in a different frame of mind a second or even third time. Good post.
Thank you for commenting. You are right. It’s impossible to really understand a place on the first, or even subsequent, visit(s). Hopefully we all have time to come back to friendly and familiar places.
You can usually discover new things revisiting a place. Sometimes the place has seen changes and your perspective has also changed. Depending on the length of a first visit, there will be things left unseen. And sometimes it is just nice to revisit a familiar favourite.
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Looks beautiful! They kind of remind me of the rice terraces in Bali, which I loved! Your photos are so pretty! I’m trying to figure out where to go for the long wknd in June, so maybe I’ll try to check it out. Do you think it’ll be super humid by then? I’d imagine so since weather here is horrendous already!
Hm.. It might start getting there but it’s nice at the top. I’d definitely recommend a trip out to the beach after the plantation. That way you can cool off with a nice breeze and get some ocean time in. Not sure if it’s completely swimmable but the water might be okay by then.
The photos are simply spectacular…as story well told! I’ve been to Thailand a few times but never to Boseong. In fact, I never made it too far out of Bangkok. But I have re-visited other locations and been happy to have extended my knowledge of places like London. My experience has been that for locations that really appeal to you, often the best experience is the second or third time around 🙂
Thank you so much for the comment. Boseong is quite a ways from Seoul so if you came to Korea, it’d be about a 4-5 hour bus trip to get there. I think you’d first have to go through Gwangju and then to Boseong that way. Not a bad place though! Thanks again!
A place can be known on so many levels. I love quick trips and long trips alike. My favorite places pull at me to return time and time and again because there is always something new to see and discover about the place, the people, and myself.
Thanks for your comment. I feel that way about so many of the places I’ve visited. It makes finding new places so much more difficult!
Carl- Your photos are beautiful. As a tea drinker and love Chinese tea, it looks like a place that I would love to visit. We used to visit Deija on the island of Majorca. When you revisit a place you get not only to appreciate the scenery but take away the culture and the people. Very few Americans visit this island. I also like it because there are not the crowds of the metropolitan cities.
Nice, Majorca sounds great! Thanks for sharing and thanks for the comment.
Hi Carl,
Thanks for sharing your adventures in Boseong. I enjoyed seeing the photos you’ve included.
We have been fortunate to travel many places around the world. We return to various places for various reasons aside from the memories pulling us back. For example, revisiting orphanages in Brazil is on our return list. Been to Hawaii a number of times, it never gets old. The island of Kauai, we plan to go back several more times in the future just for the sheer beauty of the place.
FYI re: Debra Yearwood’s reply, it is actually Butchart Gardens, 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment. Your travels sound very interesting. Cheers!
Thanks William!!
These are fantastic images. I don’t always want to return to the places I visit, but there are those spots that either capture part of my heart or that never cease to amaze. Butcher’s Gardens in Victoria (the other side of Canada from where I am) never loses it’s appeal. Although I’ve been four or five times I discover new things with every visit. The thing to note is that although Butcher’s is relatively small (well compared to a town or city) it always holds surprises, so I can only imagine what Boseong would have in store for you.
We really loved Boseong. We went really early to avoid the crowds (the perks of having a car). I don’t think I’d go back, but that’s just because my list of places to see it just too long! Plus, I don’t have fond memories of doing all those steps to the top on a hot and humid summer day! haha
Thanks for the comment. This was kind of a flashback moment for me because I remember those steps being much harder before. The second time (3 years later), they were easy but it was a nice day. Not humid yet. I still felt like I’d grossly exaggerated how the difficulty of those steps, but yeah they were still not fun:) My list is quite huge as well but probably going to visit all the places. Best of luck to you on your travels, though!
Starting your post with the picture of the tea plantation was “WOW”. It really made me want to read further and I’m glad I did. You provided some great information and gorgeous pictures. I very much enjoyed this.
Lenie
Thank you so much. I hope you will continue reading my stuff. Hearing great feedback from you certainly makes the rest of my day:)
Another place for me to explore….beautiful photos by the way…weather looks good but I imagine it must be pretty humid by now…:)
Thank you for the compliments. My wife takes some great photos, huh? As for the weather, I live in a fairly windy city so it’s quite calm here right now. Unfortunately, you’re right and it will get very humid in due time.
Excellent composition in your photos Carl; really well done. I have never seen anything wrong with visiting and revisiting places of particular interest. It is true that there is to much world for anyone to ever see it all in one lifetime so why not find those places that bring meaning to us and really become acquainted with them.
Thank you, Tim. Words like these are truly motivating and help me to continue wanting to share my words with people like you. Cheers.
Hey Carl. I am very much in favour of revisiting places that appealed the first time around. Travel isn’t just a game of Bingo designed to fill in all the squares. For me it is akin to music or food where we try lots of different types but return to favorites to repeat the pleasure or see how our perspective changes over time. As always, I love your photos and the way your writing style conveys the different pace of each segment. Nice post !
Thank you Paul. I really appreciate your feedback. Your comments are always well thought out and constructive, if any criticism comes out of them. I hope to hear more from you in the future. Cheers!
Haven’t made it to Boseong yet, but it’s definitely on my list!! I just booked my 7th trip to Thailand, and haven’t come even close to doing, seeing or eating everything I want there, so I’m sure it won’t be my last. 😀