Jeju Island (제주도,濟州島 and formerly romanized as Cheju) is an island off the southern coast of South Korea in the Korea Strait. Korea's largest island and a popular vacation spot and honeymoon destination for Koreans and Chinese, it is crowded with tourists all-year round. The main town and capital is Jeju City.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons contributors.
15 million people visit each year an island of 700,000 residents, and Seoul-Jeju is the most-used flight route in the world. The island offers visitors a wide range of activities including hiking on Halla-san (South Korea's highest peak), catching sunrises and sunsets over the ocean, horseback riding, visiting the sets of Korean television dramas or just lying around on the sandy beaches. It lies southwest of Jeollanam-do Province of which it was a part before it became a separate province in 1946.
Nothing in downtown Jeju is more than approximately 2 km from anywhere else so whilst not convenient, walking is quite feasible, and sometimes even faster than the bus. This includes the areas of Yongdam, Tapdong, Jungangno and the inter-city bus terminal. If you want to go on a longer walk, you can try the Jeju Olle Trail course. Jeju Olle Trail course – There are 27 Jeju Olle Trail courses, which are 437 kilometers long. The Olle Trail completion course has 23 courses in Jeju Island, and if the Udo Island, Gapado, and Chujado courses are included, there will be a total of 27 courses. This is the Dulle-gil of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province managed by the Jeju Olle Corporation.
Lava tubes and other volcanic sights. Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes is a UNESCO World Heritage site in the "nature" category. Mount Halla (Hallasan) dominating the island is a dormant volcano and there are underground caves with lava tubes to explore on Geomeunoreum. Seongsan Ilchulbong is a tuff cone crater in Seogwipo. All three are very popular attractions and accessible. Jeju Old Government Offices. A comparably nice set of Joseon-era historical buildings in central downtown Jeju City.
There are many hiking trails in the Hallasan National Park. Iho Tewoo Beach in Jeju City is close to Jeju Airport, and it is enough distance to ride a bicycle. There are white and red pony lighthouses, the slope of the beach is gentle, and there is a pine forest nearby, so it is a good place to enjoy the scenery and take a walk.}} Songaksan Mountain in Seogwipo is a good path to walk while looking at the scenery as the mountains and the sea are harmonized. You can see "Brothers Island, Gapado Island, and Marado Island" the closest, and it is a great place to walk along the promenade while enjoying rape flowers in spring and reeds in autumn.
The people of Jeju have evolved various lifestyles, depending on whether they live in fishing villages, farm villages, or mountain villages so specialties vary within the region. Life in the farm villages was centered on farming, as it did around fishing or diving fishery in fishing villages, and did around dry-field farming or mushroom/mountain-green gathering in the mountain areas. As for agriculture, the production of rice is surprisingly low. Instead, beans, barley, millet, buckwheat, and dry-field (upland) rice are the major items. Foods from Jeju mainly made with saltwater fish, vegetables, and seaweed, and are usually seasoned with soybean paste.
The local specialty soju is Hallasan Soju and runs from ₩1,000 to ₩3,000 a bottle. Except for Gecko's in the South, there aren't any other genuine Western pubs on the island, but there are some good options. In Jeju City, all the real partying establishments are in Shin-Jeju, about a ₩5,000 taxi ride from Jeju city proper. Some of the establishments in this area rumored to be worthwhile are La Vie, Boris Brewery, Modern Time, Blue Agave, and GP. There is also Led Zeppelin, a vinyl bar which as the name suggests is focused on album-oriented rock, and has a massive selection of records, CDs, tapes, and DVDs. Song requests are the main pastime and the sound-system rules.
While South Korea in general is remarkably safe, Jeju has the lowest crime rate in the country. Violent crime is almost non-existent, although just like in all tourist hubs, there are a number of pickpockets, so you should still remain vigilant. There are two police forces operating in Jeju. The Jeju Municipal Police is delegated some police functions, such as traffic and tourist policing. Other serious crimes are dealt by the Jeju Provincial Police. Other parts around the south coast, even near Jungmun are rockfall regions.
Guide content from Wikivoyage contributors (CC BY-SA) — abridged; the full article has much more.
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In Jul, Jeju typically sees ~29°C daytime highs and 14 rainy days.
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