The Best 3-Day Jeju Itinerary: What to Do in Jeju for 3 Days
Traveling to Jeju island for 3 days and looking for the best itinerary? We just recently spent an amazing 3 days in Jeju covering pretty much the entire island, visiting beaches, flower fields, waterfalls and discovering the best photo spots and cafes.
I have always known Jeju island for its stunning natural scenery, it is no wonder people call it the Hawaii of Korea. Being a nature lover, we decided to spend 3 days in Jeju on our 10-day trip to Korea.
Being the largest and most southern island, Jeju has so much to offer, from nature to food to histories and to family friendly museums and amusement parks. It is also only one hour from Seoul by plane, making it the ultimate long-weekend trip from Seoul.
I had previously done a ton of research on Jeju from social media, especially Chinese social media since Chinese citizens can go to Jeju visa free. All this research paid off as I discovered really cute cafes and photo spots and they all look even better in person than online.
So in this super efficient 3-day Jeju island itinerary, I will show you everything we did and ate, as well as useful logistics information and tips so you can have an awesome time as well. Keep in mind that I am a pretty ambitious traveler so I packed a lot during my 3 days in Jeju. You can always modify the itinerary and skip things that don’t interest you.
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Complete 3-day Jeju itinerary for first timers
This 3 day Jeju itinerary is meant for someone visiting for the first time. There is not too much hiking involved on this itinerary so anyone can follow along! Below is a summary of what we did on Jeju:
- Day 1: Northern & Western Jeju: beach and cafe hopping
- Day 2: Southern Jeju: waterfalls, food market, cafe and flower field
- Day 3: Eastern Jeju: cliffs, nature reserves, crater, art museum
But before we get into the detailed itinerary, I want to share a few logistical things with you regarding traveling to and around Jeju.
Best ways to get around Jeju
Traveling Around Jeju by Bus
There are many different buses on Jeju that can take you to most places on the island. There are also these express buses that can take you to either side of the island and you should have your T money card with you to pay for the bus fare.
The best way to get around with a bus is to use Naver Map or Kakao Map, both will show you what bus to take and when the next bus will be coming. However keep in mind that some of the buses only come every 30 minutes or every hour, so you should time the bus right to maximize your trip.
Also, if you are going to rely on buses to get around, then you should find a hotel near either the Jeju bus terminal or Seogwipo Bus terminal for ease of access.
Renting a car and driving around Jeju
By far the most convenient way to get around Jeju is to rent your own car and drive around. This is what we did and I 100% recommend it.
We rented the car from Lotte, a very big chain rental car company in Korea (I think they are affiliated with Hertz). Our 3 day rental car cost about $50 USD per day, which is pretty reasonable in my opinion. They are open from 6am to 11pm, making them the earliest car rental company to open on Jeju. Klook also has rental car options and can even be slightly cheaper.
You need to bring an International Driver’s Permit in order to rent a car. If you are from the US, then you can get this from your local AAA for $20-$30 USD and it lasts a year. Rental cars in Jeju have automatic transmission.
If you are driving around Jeju, keep in mind that they are pretty strict on speeding. There is literally a speed camera at every traffic light. On certain roads they will measure how long you take to get from Point A to Point B and will know if you were speeding. There are also school zones and silver zones where you need to drive below 30km per hour, the NAVER map will continue to flash red if you go even 1km above the speed limit.
Read next: complete guide on how to rent a car and drive in Jeju.
Hiring a tour or a private driver
If renting a car is not an option, then the next best thing to do is to hire a tour or a private driver. Based on my research on Chinese social media, hiring a driver seems like a really popular thing to do for Chinese tourists.
Since there are different parts of Jeju, if you do hire a tour it will be for different parts, like the following tours by location:
There are also private chartered cars you can book, they are more expensive than renting a car, but giving you even more flexibility than tours.
Where to stay on Jeju Island
Jeju is big but it’s not so big that you can’t be based at the same hotel. Some people prefer to be based in Jeju-shi (near the airport in the north) but I prefer moving around hotels based on my itinerary.
If you have a car, I actually would suggest staying at different parts of the island for efficiency purposes. We stayed at 3 different hotels during our 3 days in Jeju to minimize driving time. Since we went west -> south -> east & north in Jeju, we booked one night in each region of Jeju.
- Southern Jeju: we stayed at Casaloma Hotel near Seogwipo. The hotel has a rooftop pool with an ocean view
- Eastern Jeju: we stayed at Arts Spa & Pool Villa and had our own villa with a jacuzzi on the balcony. The property has a beautiful pool and feels very secluded. We also wanted sunrise access to Seongsan Ilchulbong, so this worked well for our itinerary.
- Jeju-si (north): we stayed at Hotel RegentMarine so we can easily go to the airport early in the morning
All of the properties were under $100 USD a day and the rooms are large and clean. I used a combination of Agoda, Expedia and Booking.com to check hotels in Jeju and found that Agoda often had the cheapest prices in Korea.
The downside of staying in different areas is that if the weather is bad and you need to switch your itinerary around, that would mean extra driving time like what happened to us.
Detailed 3-day Jeju island itinerary
Without further ado, here is everything we did during our 3 amazing days in Jeju.
Day 1 of 3 days in Jeju: Northern & Western Jeju
On our first day in Jeju, we flew over from Seoul bright and early to maximize our time in Jeju.
Morning: Arrival & getting rental car
We took a 7:30am flight from Seoul to Jeju. The flight was only about an hour and right after getting off the plane, we went to the Lotte rental car center to get our car.
All the car rental places have shuttle buses from the airport. To my surprise Lotte rental was SO fast and efficient and we got our car within 5 minutes of arriving. Usually when I rent a car from the airport in the US, it takes about an hour for me to get the car (such as the time I went to LA and Colorado).
We got a compact car as I read that parking spots can be tight and I am not the best parallel parker out there. Our car was indeed very small and couldn’t accelerate but it was perfect for parking!
Stop 1. Dodu Rainbow Road
Located very close to the airport in northern Jeju is a famous road called Dodu Rainbow Road. As the name implies, this section of the road has many colorful (rainbow colored) blocks all along the road next to the ocean.
It is a popular spot to grab a quick photo. There are also plenty of cafes, restaurants and shops right across the street from the colorful blocks. There is parking available on both sides of the road although the parking “lot” was not big on the side with the blocks. Since it’s a long stretch of road, you don’t have to worry about other people getting into the pictures.
Stop 2. Aewol cafe hopping
Korea is all about the cafe culture so it’s not surprising to find a ton of unique and creative cafes on Jeju island.
Aewol, in particular, is known for its cafes with beautiful ocean views. There is an entire street called “Aewol cafe street” that is by the water and is lined up with cafes after cafes.
I knew I wanted to go to this ocean facing cafe called Tribe for their super cute soufflé so we drove there directly after the rainbow blocks. The soufflé was super soft and fluffy and not too sweet, perfect for an early brunch. There is a parking lot nearby (and you can pay with credit card when you exit). There are a ton of other cafes nearby if you want to explore.
From Aewol Cafe street you can walk for about 20 minutes on the Handam Coastal Walk to reach Gwakji Beach. We didn’t but it’s an option if you want to take in the views on a nice day.
Stop 3. Gwakji Beach
There are so many beaches on Jeju island that it’s impossible to pick just one or two. After Cafe Tribe we drove to Gwakji Beach, a popular sandy beach on Jeju. Depending on when you go, it can be very crowded or very quiet. When we visited it was very quiet.
This beach is very family friendly and there are water activities you can pay for. There are also a lot of people fishing on the beach, especially on days when there aren’t many beach goers.
If you are visiting Jeju in the summer, you may notice rows and rows of umbrellas and plastic tables/ chairs for rent on the beach. Apparently you can’t really bring your own beach stuff as people will come and ask you to pay to rent.
Since we are not really beach people, we just wanted to check out the beach and the ocean (I mean we don’t really see the ocean that often)!
Stop 4. Comma Cafe & Hyeopjae Beach
Continuing our drive down south, we came across another popular beach area, Hyeopjae Beach. Our main goal was to go to Comma Cafe and fortunately there was a small parking lot next to Comma Cafe with lots of cars going in and out.
Comma Cafe is one of the prettiest cafes on Jeju and for good reason. On its 2nd and 3rd floor there are a number of “tents” and hammocks that are set up for photos. There is also a swing on the 2nd floor for photos as well.
Even if you don’t care for photos, the dining room on the 2nd level has an amazing Ocean view. We got a hotdog and some drinks at the cafe.
Stop 5. Osulloc Tea Museum
Jeju is known for many things and green tea is also something famous from the island. One of the most popular spots for tea on Jeju is Osulloc Tea Museum, a store and tea plantation on the west side of the island.
It is also a perfect spot if it rains since it is mostly indoors. As soon as you walk in, you will find different tea tastings (for free). You will then reach the main store with all sorts of teas and gifts.
One of the most popular things to do there is to get their green tea desserts. There are different sets and we got set A, which comes with a matcha cake, matcha ice cream and a matcha drink.
We absolutely loved the matcha desserts. Everything was not too sweet and tasted super good. It is no wonder why so many Korean tourists go there to enjoy their dessert.
You can then walk around their tea field or check out the Innisfree showroom, where you can make your own candle! Overall it was a nice place to check out and chill on Jeju.
Stop 6. Oedolgae
Cliffs are another thing that is everywhere in Jeju and you should see at least one. We wanted to go for sunset before settling into our hotel in Seogwipo-si, the city on the south side of Jeju.
Oedolgae is a quick stop with its own parking lot and is free to visit. Walk about 5-10 minutes on a boardwalk and you will come to its famous view of the rock in the water. Apparently this rock has been there forever and it resembles the back of a woman. We also followed the trail to the “left” that led to another viewpoint for sunset (although there was not much of a sunset that day).
Dinner: Black Pork BBQ
Black pork is one of the most popular foods on Jeju so it was a no brainer for us to try it once.
There are black pork bbq restaurants everywhere on Jeju so we picked the one near our hotel, called Black Pork BBQ (Black Pork BBQ 흑돼지 bbq). To be honest I felt the taste was not too different from regular pork, but it was a lot thicker than the regular pork belly.
Day 2 of 3 days in Jeju: Southern Jeju
Stop 1: Seogwipo Jeongbang Waterfall
The south side of Jeju has some of the best waterfalls on the island. While there are multiple waterfalls there, I would suggest just checking out 2 waterfalls.
One of the most unique waterfalls on Jeju is the Seogwipo Jeongbang Waterfall, a waterfall that leads into the ocean.
As it had rained all night and that morning, when we were there, the waterfall had a large water flow, which made it more beautiful.
There is a large parking lot and a ticket office on top, then you slowly descend down a set of wooden stairs until you come to the bottom. The waterfall can be seen up close on the beach, but you will need to climb around the slippery rocks.
We thought it would be a short visit but we ended up spending over an hour because of the rocks. There is a large rock that everyone climbs onto for the best photos but it’s super slippery.
After the visit you will need to climb back up the wooden stairs to get back to your car.
Stop 2: Cheonjiyeon Waterfalls
Cheonjiyeon Waterfalls is one of the most popular waterfalls in Jeju, given its proximity to Seogwipo-si. The parking lot is much larger and there are so many tour buses that go there.
The waterfall area is big and you can walk through the statues and the forested path before actually reaching the fall. To be honest the waterfall itself is not very big but there is a large body of water right in front of it.
The best way of photographing the waterfall is to stand on the steps further away from the fall to have a better angle of the waterfall.
There is another famous waterfall nearby called Cheonjeyeon Falls, which has 3 tiers of waterfalls. We didn’t get to visit this as two waterfalls was our limit. But if you have time, I would certainly recommend visiting this fall. Or if you are visiting on a rainy day, then consider Eongtto Falls, which can only be seen on a rainy day.
Lunch: Seogwipo Olle Market or 올레삼다정
We had wanted to check out the Seogwipo Olle Market the night before but the parking situation was too crazy, so we visited on the second day.
The market, like most Korean markets, have stalls that sell all types of food, from grilled meat to pancakes to drinks. We actually didn’t eat there as we wanted a sit down place but it is a good option for those who want street food.
Instead we had lunch at 올레삼다정, a specialty cutlass fish restaurant. This is the most pricey place we ate at in Korea and we spent $50 (USD) on their grilled + stewed fish set, which also came with assorted seafood.
The grilled cutlass fish was our absolute favorite as it was so soft and melted in our mouth. You can just order the grilled fish instead of the whole set to save money.
Stop 4: Cafe Gyulkkot Darak
If you are craving for some sweets after lunch then be sure to stop by an Instagram famous orange cafe about 10 minutes from Seogwipo-si. Since Jeju is known for its oranges, it should not be surprising to find an orange themed cafe there (in fact there is more than one but when we visited, the other cafe was closed).
You can totally skip this if you are not into photo-centric cafes, but I have to say this cafe is really cute and photogenic. It is known for its beautiful decorations with a large window looking out to their orange orchard.
When we arrived after lunch there was already a line of people waiting outside. The line moves quickly and you will have to each order a drink once you are inside. You can freely roam around the cafe grounds as they have oranges on trees in the back.
Stop 5: Hueree Nature Life Park (or Camelia Arboretum)
Jeju island has a ton of different flowers all year round, so you will never run out of flower fields there. If you are a nature fan or simply want to experience the colors of Jeju, then visiting a flower field is a must. Or if you are traveling with kids to Jeju, then these farms/ flower fields are also a great place to go with kids.
Since we visited in October, it is the blooming season for cosmos and pink Muhly grass. I had never seen the pink grass in the US so it was high on our must-see list for Jeju. But if you are visiting during the camellia season, then you should visit a camellia arboretum instead.
Since we were on the south side of the island, the closest place with the pink Muhly grass was Hueree Natural Life Park, a family friendly park with a ton of nature and animals. You will see the famous black pigs of Jeju there, as well as different floras and other plants.
We headed straight back to its pink Muhly grass field and were lucky enough to catch the beautiful golden hour, which made the photos look very K-drama like.
Dinner: Abalone Specialty restaurant
After Hueree Nature Life Park, we drove straight to the east side of Jeju to check into our 2nd hotel, Arts Spa & Pool Villa. We are seafood lovers and we knew there were specialty abalone restaurants on Jeju. Fortunately we found one not too far from our hotel with almost 5000 reviews on Google!
The restaurant is located right by the sea and frequented by locals (when we were there, we only saw Koreans eating there). The restaurant is called Myeongjin Jeonbok Abalone and they only have 4 things on its menu:
- Abalone stone pot rice (16,000 KRW)
- Abalone Porridge (13,000 KRW)
- Grilled Abalone
- Abalone Sashimi
In addition, if you order one of the stone pot rice, you will get a grilled mackerel which is really good.
The food was really good and unique, so if you love abalone you absolutely cannot miss this restaurant. I absolutely loved the stone pot rice, which was so flavorful!
Day 3 of 3 days in Jeju: Eastern Jeju
Stop 1: Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak)
One of the most famous nature preserves on Jeju is Seongsan Ilchulbong, otherwise known as sunrise peak. Located on the eastern side of the island, it is indeed a beautiful place for a sunrise.
There are two parts of Seongsan Ilchulbong you can visit, a free trail with stairs down the cliffs and a paid trail to hike uphill for the view of the area.
We only went to the free trail because it’s a better photo spot but if you are into hiking then you should absolutely hike to the top. Keep in mind that it’s super windy at the Sunrise Peak, so don’t wear short skirts and bring a jacket.
If you are thinking about doing the free trail, then I would advise going early, before 9am, otherwise the place is packed with tourists taking photos on the stairs. We actually went during sunrise and it was empty and nice.
Stop 2: Seopjikoji
About a 10-15 minute drive from Seongsan Ilchulbong is another popular nature preserve, Seopjikoji. Famed for its red volcanic ashes and unique rock formations, Seopjikoji is a lovely and easy coastal walk that shows you different views of the water, art museums, different flora and fauna and a white lighthouse.
There are two parking lots at Seopjikoji, at each end of the preserve. We went to the parking lot at Phoenix Jeju, a hotel complex where you can rent a golf cart to go around. The other parking lot is at the other end, near one of the cliffs and viewpoints. Regardless of where you park, if you want to explore the whole area, there will be some backtracking you need to do.
We spent about 2 hours at Seopjikoji just strolling along, taking photos near the Glass House at the grand swing and hiking up and down the white lighthouse. We also saw horse riding, a candy themed house (not actually functional) and other viewpoints in the area.
It is a really relaxing and family friendly place to visit and if you do have some time, I would definitely recommend adding this to your Jeju itinerary.
Stop 3: Aqua Planet
Aqua Planet in Jeju is the largest public aquarium in South Korea and one of the most popular attractions on Jeju island. It is a few minutes from Seopjikoji, so it makes sense to visit them together, especially on a rainy day that we had.
The Aquarium is smaller than the Shedd in Chicago, but I actually liked it more because there were so many sea animals that I had never seen before, such as the giant octopus and walrus. There were also diving performances in its main tank at the aquarium.
My personal favorite of the aquarium are the stingrays, they come close to the window at the tank and there were a ton of sharks in the tank as well. I have to say this is not only a place for families but also adults who have an interest in marine life.
Lunch: London Bagel Museum & Layered Cafe
What’s a day in Korea without stopping by one of its cafes? Well on your third day in Jeju you have an opportunity to visit two of Korea’s most popular cafes in one go.
Located on the East side of Jeju, London Bagel Museum and Layered Cafe stand side by side. When we were in Seoul we saw huge lines in front of the London Bagel Museum so we skipped it. But the line at the Jeju location was way shorter and you can actually add yourself to the waitlist on Catchtable before you even arrive. If you wait in person, it’s about a 30 minute wait for take-out and one hour wait to sit down.
While you wait for the London Bagel Museum, you can also just go next door to Layered Cafe, famed for their salt bread (which was really really good, actually the best one we had in Korea).
For the London Bagel Museum, you can either pick your own bagel or buy the premade sandwich. We got the potato bagel with cheese as well as the one with butter and ham slices. I loved the interior decor, giving off a very British vibe (hence the name). But coming from New York City, the bagels did not impress me. If you are from outside of the US, then I think the London Bagel Museum is worth checking out.
Stop 4: Sangumburi Crater
One crazy feature on Jeju is that there is actually a large crater in the middle of the island! We were researching flower fields and came across the Sangumburi Crater, known for its Silver Grass besides the crater itself.
There is a small entrance fee to enter. Once inside, you will see a large trail that goes through several Silver grass fields before coming to the observation deck of the flat crater itself. While there are over 360 parasitic volcanoes on Jeju Island, what’s special about Sangumburi Crater is that it was formed by an explosion without the ejection of lava or volcanic ash. It is apparently a very rare type of crater.
In addition to the Silver grass and the crater, Sangumburi Crater is also known for its Gusang trees that grow at an altitude of 500 to 2000 meters. We spent a little bit over an hour here walking around.
Stop 5 (Optional): Arte Museum
If you are into Digital Art then you must not miss the Arte Museum in Jeju. I am putting this as optional because it is a bit out of the way and will probably take 45 minutes to an hour to drive there from Sangumburi. If you have time/ energy then I would highly recommend visiting, otherwise feel free to stop.
Since we started the day at sunrise, we still had a lot of time after the crater and decided to pay it a visit.
The Arte Museum is similar to other digital art museums in Asia, where you will go through several different rooms with different digital projections. Some remind me of TeamLabs in Tokyo whereas other rooms remind me of Mercer Labs in New York City. In fact I wonder if Mercer Labs took some of the ideas from this museum because one of the exhibits is almost an exact replica.
We spent about 90 minutes inside, but you can generally spend 1-2 hours depending on how many photos you want to take. Since we visited later in the afternoon on a weekday, it was not very crowded, which made it a very pleasant visiting experience.
After the museum, we drove to Jeju-si and checked into our last hotel at Hotel RegentMarine. There is an on-site restaurant that sells fried chicken from a famous chain. There are also other restaurants around if you don’t want fried chicken.
Is 3 days enough for Jeju Island?
3 days is the minimum amount of time you need to explore Jeju. The island is quite large with different regions, so you can spend one day in one or 2 regions.
Ideally you want 4 days in Jeju to have a more leisurely pace, or have a “buffer” for bad weather days (Jeju does rain a lot). There are a ton of cafes and activities on Jeju outside of the usual tourist attractions, and if you are a hiker, you may want to hike up Hallasan, the tallest mountain in South Korea.
We spent 3 days in Jeju and felt like we saw a lot. But we were also up really early (sunrise on one of the days) and we hopped around from spot to spot.
Other things to know about Jeju Island
- You will need a type F plug, otherwise known as the Schuko plug (with two round pins). This is DIFFERENT from the plugs used in Japan and China.
- Almost all the places on Jeju accept credit cards, even parking lots. But have a little bit of cash just in case, I believe vendors in markets take cash.
- Jeju is known for many things, such as oranges, green tea, abalone, female divers and much more. Even their Starbucks has Jeju only drinks that you can’t get anywhere else in Korea.
- You can get around Jeju in English, but speaking Chinese there also works well. Maybe because of the large number of Chinese tourists visiting (since it is visa free), most places I went in Jeju had a Chinese speaking server that straight up spoke Chinese to me.
- Jeju has unpredictable weather, so most forecasts are not accurate and you should only check one day ahead. We were checking the weather for a week in advance and it literally kept changing even the day of. We thought we would get all 3 days of rain but we ended up with a super sunny day!
- You should be flexible with your Jeju itinerary, since weather can change at any time. We actually had to move things around and drove extra hour or so in order to take advance the 1.5 days of sunshine we had.
Is Jeju Worth it?
Jeju is absolutely worth it and it’s the highlight of our Korea itinerary. To be honest I was very iffy about visiting Jeju when we were planning the trip, since it was further than the rest of the cities and I had been to Hawaii, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean before.
To my pleasant surprise, I was blown away by Jeju. It is VERY different from Hawaii or any of the islands that come to mind.
Sure Jeju has beaches, but it also has so much more than that. You can hike, you can do a day trip to Udo island, you can explore museums, folk villages, tons of different botanical gardens, or you can fill your days with cafes and restaurants.
There is no one way to do Jeju and no experience is the same on Jeju. If you are in doubt, book the plane ticket and go to Jeju, you won’t regret it.
Read my other South Korea blogs!
- 10 day South Korea Itinerary
- Complete guide to the Busan Sky Capsule train
- How to buy the KTX train tickets
- The Complete 2-day Busan itinerary
- The Best 3 Day Seoul Itinerary
- How to rent a car and drive in Jeju
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