Jeju Island
UNESCO World Heritage Site: Jeju Volcanic Island And Lava Tubes (2007); UNESCO Global Geopark; Biosphere Reserve · Jeju, Jeju
A volcanic island about 70 km long off Korea's southern tip, the country's favourite holiday destination and its own self-governing province. Hallasan, at 1,947 metres the highest mountain in South Korea, rises in the middle, and its slopes are scattered with some 360 small volcanic cones called oreum. The island's volcanic landscape, with Hallasan, the tuff cone of Seongsan Ilchulbong and the Geomunoreum lava tubes, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. The coast has black basalt shores, white-sand beaches such as Hyeopjae and Hamdeok, waterfalls that drop into the sea at Seogwipo and the hexagonal columns of Jusangjeolli. The haenyeo, women who dive for shellfish without breathing gear, still work the shallows. Visitors walk the long-distance Olle trails, take the ferry to Udo, eat black pork barbecue and hallabong tangerines, and pass the stone dol hareubang grandfather statues that guard the island's villages. The flight from Seoul is one of the busiest air routes in the world.
Jeju International Airport, Gonghang-ro, Jeju, Jeju, 63115, South Korea
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: the island is open year-round, while paid sights such as the waterfalls, Jusangjeolli and Seongsan Ilchulbong open from about sunrise or 8-9 am to about 6-8 pm, with last entry about an hour before closing. Hallasan trails have strict entry times at the trailhead and cut-off times at checkpoints, earlier in winter, and all hikers must be off the summit by early afternoon. Udo ferries run from early morning until late afternoon. Traps: missing the Hallasan cut-off or reservation; ferries and trails closed by wind or typhoons; Manjanggul closed for works; flights full on holidays.