Jeju Island – the South Korean Island You Need to Know About

Shaped by goddesses and gods, Jeju Island sits at the southern tip of South Korea – a jagged unpolished jewel waiting for wanderers to explore its craggy shores and connect with its charming people.

Think of how long you’d like to stay on South Korea’s getaway gem – then double it. Healing forests, temple stays, hiking trails, and Korean cuisine will have you wishing you’d booked longer as the eye of 1950-metre-high Mt Hallasan (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) pulls you into its sights. Jeju Island has all the frills, thrills and downtime experiences of a destination that awakens a venturesome spirit – a one-off visit isn’t nearly enough. Read on, adventure is afoot.

1. Seogwipo Forest of Healing

Restore your mind and body on one of Seogwipo Forest’s 11 healing trails – each with its own health message, from soaking up negative ions to indulging in Shimpang (resting spaces) and listening to meditative stories. Walk on a bed of tiny wooden acupuncture cubes to activate blood flow and relieve tension in the body.

two people walking on a bed of tiny wooden acupuncture cubes — Walk on a bed of tiny wooden acupuncture cubes in the Seogwipo Forest of Healing. (Image: Lynn Gail)

The park is all about healing, lying back on daybeds shaded by cypress and cedar trees, watching woodpeckers overhead as you connect to Mother Earth.

daybeds at Seogwipo Forest of Healing — Relax on a daybed under the shade of trees. (Image: Lynn Gail)

If you plan on exploring all 11 walks, pre-book the Charong Healing lunchbox – a basket of healthy food made by local residents of nearby Hogeundong Village.

two people walking along Seogwipo Forest of Healing Walking — Go out for a serene nature walk along. (Image: Lynn Gail)

2. Yakcheonsa Temple stay

Change out of your civvies and into a monastic tunic and trousers for an overnight stay at Yakcheonsa (medicinal spring) Temple. The well-planned program starts with making mala prayer beads and learning the etiquette of how to bow before entering the highly adorned temple where huge Buddha statues are seated in the lotus pose.

The Buddhist temple of Yakcheonsa was built with the Joseon dynasty architectural style in 1982.

The 108 prostrate bows in the evening give you time to reflect as the head monk’s meditative chants hang in the air during prayer time.

Buddha statues lined in lotus pose at Yakcheonsa Temple on Jeju island, South Korea — You’ll find miniature Buddha statues at Yakcheonsa Temple. (Image: Lynn Gail)

The program’s 4am mantras continue to teach how important every moment is – nothing lasts forever. It’s an immersive window into how tough giving up material assets to embark on a meditative life can be.

3. Tutti Colori Art Studio

Spend a morning calling on your inner artist and let the paintbrush do the talking while you create mini-artworks at Tutti Colori Art Studio. Held in a 100-year-old remodelled stone house you’ll sip soothing tea while mixing colours sourced from Jeju’s natural landscape.

the painting space at Tutti Colori Art Studio, Jeju Island, South Korea — Unleash your creativity and take time to sit for a painting session at Tutti Colori Art Studio. (Image: Lynn Gail)

You’ll come away with a rendition of how you see and feel the environment. Nature’s soundtracks are paired with your paintings as a reminder of your time on Jeju.

Tutti Colori’s brainchild, and owner, Kim Myeong has also designed her own clothing range using inspiration sourced from the surrounding countryside. She sells one-off designs along with beautifully crafted giftware in the studio’s boutique gallery.

Kim Myeong posing for a picture inside Tutti Colori Art Studio, Jeju Island, South Korea — Kim Myeong beautifully curates an array of giftware at Tutti Colori Art Studio. (Image: Lynn Gail)

4. Saebyeol Oreum Volcanic Cone

Don your hiking boots and climb 520 metres above sea level to reach the tip of Saebyeol Oreum – south Jeju’s highest volcanic peak. From the top, you’ll see other oerum ridges (volcanic peaks) piercing the skyline in an otherworldly landscape. Myth has it, the island’s favourite goddess, Grandma Seolmundea, made 368 oerums from dirt that fell through holes in her skirt when she created Jeju Island.

people hiking up the trail to the Saebyeol Oreum Volcanic Cone, Jeju Island, South Korea — Hike up the scenic Saebyeol Oreum – south Jeju’s highest volcanic peak. (Image: Lynn Gail)

Visit during autumn (September – November) and see the peak swathed in silver grass. Better still, arrive in March, when, on Gyeongchip Day (Day of Awakening), the grass is set alight during the Jeju Fire Festival to cleanse the land of vermin for healthy regrowth. Every year some 300,000 people attend the award-winning scorching spectacle.

silver grasses along Jeju Olle Trail, Jeju Island, South Korea — The hike is steep but rewarding. (Image: Lynn Gail)

5. Jeju Olle Trail

Tie your laces up and connect with nature exploring Jeju’s walking trails – 27 in total, including six sub-routes. Each route is graded by distance, time to allow, and difficulty level. If you’re a challenge-seeker allow up to four weeks and hike the 437-km long Jeju Olle Trail discovering villages, culture, and wild wonders along the way.

Panoramic view of Yongmeori Beach, Jeju Olle Trail in Jeju Island, Korea — Yongmeori Beach is one of the many highlights along the Jeju Olle Trail.

The well-thought-out trails have information centres where you can rest and leave baggage. Make sure to purchase a Jeju Olle Passport. Along each route you’ll find stamp stations to mark the trails you’ve hiked. Stamp every page and you’ll be rewarded with a certificate, medal and be inducted into the hall of fame on the Jeju Olle website.

The Jeju Olle Trail — There are 27 trails in total, including six sub-routes.

6. The WE Health Resort

If your muscles are calling out for relief after hiking Olle trails, book into The We Health Resort and choose a healing program to bring you back to life. Nestled in the healing Haeam and Dorae Forests, stress will slide away as you reawaken your inner calm.

Tune out in the resort’s meditative crystal singing-bowl session or start your morning stretching in the tranquil forest in the WE’s daily yoga class. Try the healing hydrotherapy program. Tailored to individual needs, you’ll float under soothing lights in a state-of-the-art dome as a therapist massages muscle tightness away. It’s so relaxing you’ll want to do nothing for the rest of the day.

aqua therapy at WE Health Resort, Jeju Island, South Korea — Try the aqua therapy at WE Health Resort. (Image: Lynn Gail)

7. The Museum of Sex & Health

Interested in sexual health? Take a visit to the, adult-only, world’s largest sex museum. Humour, history, and sexual culture from around the world are displayed tastefully throughout the museum’s many themed sections. Learn about the relationship between life and sex through various stages of life, a subject that’s often difficult to embrace and discuss openly.

a statue outside The Museum of Sex & Health, Jeju Island, South Korea — The Museum of Sex & Health is the world’s largest sex museum. (Image: Lynn Gail)

The museum was established to raise sexual awareness and consciousness in South Korea. With over 5,000 sex-related artifacts on display, various topics are illuminated in-depth to both educate and entertain visitors from all over.

a person sitting behind nude statues at The Museum of Sex & Health, Jeju Island, South Korea — Strike a pose behind nude statues at The Museum of Sex & Health. (Image: Lynn Gail)

8. Toto Atelier Cooking Class

Jeju Island is draped in countless tangerine farms which produce dozens of different varieties. It’s the sweetest citrus fruit you’ll ever taste – so it’s fitting to make a tangerine flan at Toto Atelier, a culinary cafe set up for cooking classes.

ingredients for making tart on the table, Toto Atelier Cooking Class — Participate in a Toto Atelier Cooking Class. (Image: Lynn Gail)

Set in a tangerine farm (of course) you’ll pick your own ingredients, then follow step-by-step video instructions in your own mini-kitchen where each ingredient has been pre-prepared. Voila – twenty minutes later, the oven pings with a tangerine tart. Toto Atelier offer other try-cooking choices, but if you have a sweet tooth, try the tasty tart.

a tasty tart at Toto Atelier Cooking Class — Make your own tasty tart. (Image: Lynn Gail)

9. Arte Museum

Be captivated by the Eternal Nature theme at Jeju’s Arte Museum’s incredible displays of immersive digital media art that reflect the island’s cultural heritage.

an interactive light display at Arte Museum — The immersive digital media art displays inside Arte Museum are mesmerising. (Image: Lynn Gail)

Ingenious media-art displays will have you feeling you’re in the thick of nature as crashing waves, storms and larger-than-life safari animals roar around you.

crashing waves exhibit at Arte Museum — Crashing waves illuminate in the background. (Image: Lynn Gail)

In another gallery, painted works by masters such as Vincent Van Gogh float on 10-metre-high walls dwarfing visitors as they look up, awestruck by the revolving scenes; each cinematic scene awakens the senses.

a stunning light display at Arte Museum — Awaken your senses at Arte Museum. (Image: Lynn Gail)

Weekly travel news, experiences
insider tips, offers, and more.

10. Sleep in a hanok – traditional Korean housing

Drift off to the sound of the ocean’s ebb in your own private hanok at Korea’s first traditional house, Seaes Hotel. Overlooking a traditional fishing village, the hotel’s hanoks have been created with one notion in mind – to bring the outside in to create a natural environment.

Aerial view of Seaes Hotel on Jeju Island in South Korea — The hanoks at Seaes Hotel are designed to bring the outside in.

Crafted using local timbers, the Seaes’ hanoks also have heated floors to further enhance your stay during colder seasons. Blended with mod-cons, the restful rooms filter late afternoon light, warming the room for cosy nights while nature’s critters croon outside.

a hanok or traditional Korean housing — Bed down in a hanok. (Image: Lynn Gail)

Korean food on the table — Eat like a local during your stay. (Image: Lynn Gail)

11. Hwansang Forest Gotjawaj Park

Hang out in Hwansang Forest, a designated World Natural Heritage site, and learn how the park stays cold in summer and warm in winter due to its unique ecosystem. Gotjawaj Park is formed on lava and is the only place in the world where tropical northern limit plants and boreal southern limit plants coexist.

Wander its leafy pathways or join the hourly program and listen to stories to gain a deeper insight into the primeval forest’s rare flora and fauna. If you’re feeling weary afterwards, book an aromatherapy foot bath at the forest’s cafe, and soak your feet in Jeju’s herbal remedies. The floor-to-ceiling window, with views across the park, add to the restorative experience.

12. Haenyeo Museum

A visit to Jeju Island isn’t complete without discovering the iconic female free-divers, the Haenyeo. Inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list of Humanity in 2016, the Haenyeo date back to the early 1600s when Jeju Island’s (then) barren land produced little food.

traditional diving gears of Jeju Island's sea women at Haenyeo Museum — The traditional Sea Women of Jeju ensemble is on display at Haenyeo Museum. (Image: Lynn Gail)

To feed families women took to the ocean free-diving up to 20 metres to source seaweed, seafood, and shellfish. The museum not only showcases the Haenyeo’s tough perilous lives, but also the unwavering camaraderie they share with each other. Using age-old techniques, the women still dive today. Incredibly some are in their late 80’s. Watch the video footage and hear their extraordinary stories – you’ll see why they are considered the matriarchs of Jeju’s society.

the statues of Jeju female divers in Haenyeo Museum — Haenyeo Museum pays tribute to the first female free divers of Jeju. (Image: Lynn Gail)

Getting there

Both Singapore and Scoot Airlines fly via Singapore to reach Jeju Island.

Wellbeing means different things to different travellers. Here’s how to pick a hotel that gets it right for you.

The best wellness holidays aren’t necessarily spent wrapped in a spa robe. Sometimes they’re found around a dinner table in Cambodia, on a hiking trail in New Zealand or after finally beating jet lag on the other side of the world. The hotel you choose is what makes them happen.

1. Easy access to good food

meals from Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20 — Taste delicious meals at Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20.

One of the quickest ways to derail healthy habits on holiday is to spend half of it working out where to eat instead of digging into the culture around you. Thankfully, Novotel has done much of the hard work already, with chefs building menus that lean into the flavours, ingredients and traditions of each destination.

In Sihanoukville, Cambodia, Korkor soup – often dubbed ‘Cambodian ratatouille’ – sits alongside raw blue crab dressed with lime and chilli, best enjoyed with views across the Gulf of Thailand.

In the lovingly chaotic city of Bangkok, the presence of food cranks up the sociability. At Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20, you can settle in with mango sticky rice and stranger-turned-friends beside the pool at Sky on 20 rooftop bar, or bring them along to tackle river prawns and stir-fried crab with holy basil at the buzzing Crab Paradise Dinner Buffet.

Then Novotel Dubai Al Barsha welcomes you with a laidback twist on the level of indulgence the Middle Eastern city is best known for up on Deck Se7en. Looking towards Burj Al Arab, the rooftop lounge has everything from Mediterranean-style dishes like seabass ceviche to Italian prosecco sundowners.

At the other end of the scale, in the hills that surround the Novotel Bali Ubud Resort, calm comes from nature. At Siralada restaurant, Balinese traditions shape the menu while thunder rumbles over the surrounding jungle – proving the setting is as nourishing as the food itself.

While at Novotel Nha Trang, chef Kieu Thi My Hanh and her team showcase Vietnam’s knack for balancing freshness, texture and fragrant herbs. Pho remains a favourite, while seafood salad with pomelo and mango brings those flavours together in one bright dish.

It’s all an approach backed by partnerships with expert food creators such as Alfie Steiner, whose plant-forward recipes prove healthy food should never taste plain.

2. Better sleep options

Novotel Bali Ubud Resort room — Sleep deeply with Novotel.

There are few travel experiences more disappointing than arriving in a new country, determined to seize the day, only to fall asleep fully clothed by 3pm.

For Australian travellers, jet lag is often an unavoidable part of the journey. That’s one reason Novotel runs sleep-focused initiatives that help guests adjust quickly without compromising on health. We’re talking partnerships with Sydney-based sleep specialist Olivia Arezzolo, known for her advice on everything from better sleep habits to beating jet lag, alongside features like pillow menus, in-room yoga content and tailored sleep guidance.

The sooner you’re operating on local time, the sooner you can get back to more pressing matters – like deciding which spa treatment to book.

3. More ways to move

woman hiking around queenstown new zealand — Stay at Novotel Queenstown Lakeside and explore local hiking trails. (Credit: GettyI mages/ naruedom)

Every place in the world has its own way of getting you moving: whether that’s hiking up ice-bitten mountains before a sauna or gentle stretching by the pool before a facial. From fitness centres to spas, Novotel recognises that wellbeing rarely looks the same.

At Novotel Queenstown Lakeside, activity is inescapable. Here, hiking trails, ski fields, bungee jumps, and white-water rafting have made the region famous. The hotel’s location on the shores of Lake Wakatipu means less time spent organising yourself and more time out there experiencing them. To top it all off, you can book a private hot tub for the evening before heading back into the wilderness tomorrow.

Bali, of course, takes a softer approach. At Novotel Bali Ubud Resort or Novotel Bali Nusa Dua, movement is less about conquering a mountain and more about a dance class between the tropical gardens and lagoon pools. Afterwards, the spa takes over, with traditional treatments like a Lulur body scrub: a combination of rice, turmeric, sandalwood, ginger and jasmine that’ll soothe muscles already relaxed by the Balinese heat.

4. Better connections

Kids will love a stay at Novotel Sharm El Sheikh.

One of the best things about travel is that it gives your family stories you’ll be telling for years. Novotel helps create them with activities that bring everyone together, whether that’s trying something new, learning a local skill, or simply spending more time together.

Go for a distinctly Thai twist at Novotel Phuket Vintage Park, where many of the family activities draw on local culture. Kids can try everything from beginner Thai boxing and language lessons to umbrella painting and – a pastime beloved by children the world over – pool foam parties. Everyone is welcome to join in, whether that’s getting splashed, covered in paint, or simply watching their children discover a new side of Thailand during the dedicated Family & Kids Day.

A different adventure awaits at Novotel Sharm El Sheikh. Kids could be perfectly content with discos, drawing classes and new holiday friends, but the Red Sea has other ideas. Sitting on the edge of Naama Bay, days here might involve snorkelling colourful reefs, taking a boat trip to Ras Mohammed National Park or heading into the desert by quad bike or camel for a Bedouin-style dinner beneath the stars.

5. Location is everything

Surin Beach, Choeng Thale, Thalang District, Phuket, Thaiföld — Explore Phuket’s gorgeous beaches. (Credit: Bence Biczo)

Everyone’s idea of wellness looks a little different. With more than 600 hotels across 65 countries, Novotel gives guests the freedom to choose the destination that suits them best. Whether that’s a beachside escape in Phuket, an alpine expedition in Queenstown or a city break in Bangkok, there’s a good chance a Novotel isn’t far away.

All that’s left? Choosing your version of wellbeing.

Discover stays to inspire your everyday at novotel.accor.com.

Jeju Island – the South Korean island you need to know about