Samcheok travel info

Samcheok is a long strip of town squeezed between the Taebaek mountains and the East Sea. Underground there are more than fifty limestone caves; above ground, 58 km of coastline. The Daei-ri cave area with Hwanseon and Daegeum caves is about 40 minutes by car into the hills. Daegeum can only be entered by monorail and has to be booked at least a day ahead. Come down to the coast the same afternoon and you find people riding the sea cable car or snorkelling off Jangho Port.

In town, Jukseoru, one of the Eight Views of Gwandong, stands on a cliff above the Osipcheon stream. In April a field of canola flowers turns yellow behind Maengbang Beach, and in summer small beaches such as Chogok, Yonghwa and Jangho open one after another. Near Samcheok Port, restaurants serve gomchi-guk, a hangover soup, first thing in the morning.

From Seoul it is about 3h20 by express bus; there is no KTX. The caves, coastal trails, rail bikes and beaches are spread far apart, so most visitors end up in a car or a taxi rather than waiting on a bus timetable.

From Seoul (BUS)

From Gangneung, Donghae and nearby (KTX)