Jeju island has been getting increasing attention lately since it became nominated as one of the World's New 7 Wonders of Nature in 2011. Also, the increasing popularity of Korean dramas in Singapore has also led many tourists to visit this little beautiful Jeju island.
We spent 3D3N at Jeju and I felt that this was just nice for a chill, relaxing tour of Jeju (unlike tour groups). To start off, you've to be aware that the attractions in Jeju are located on the East, South and West of the island. The attractions are not near each other, and it is very difficult to get around via public transport.
Air tickets:
We flew from Seoul to Jeju, and since Jeju is a popular weekend getaway for many, the weekend tickets are naturally more expensive. As such, we planned a weekday getaway instead: Sun (8am flight) - Wed (12noon flight)
Start with T'way Airlines, Jeju Air and Eastar Jet. These are all domestic airlines and offer very cheap deals if you book few months ahead. For booking a 3 weeks ahead, I managed to get a return flight on Jeju Air for SG$120. I'll greatly recommend Jeju Air because they have free 10kg check-in, 7kg hand baggage (which they are not fussy about), and even serve simple beverages (choice of orange juice or water) on board! Very worth it for a cheap domestic flight!
Getting around:
- Rent a car (Highly Recommended!)
- Company: I rented a car from KT Kumho, a subsidiary of Hertz. A tip for you: Sign-up for a free membership and book the car prior to arrival because they give a good 60% off car rental price.
- Price: We rented the cheapest option, Hyundai Avante. With the discounts, we paid SG$150 for 3 day rental, and SG$50 for basic insurance. We ran a total of 450km in 3 days, and that cost about SG$70 for petrol.
- GPS: Cars come with either Korean/English GPS. Do not panic if you're assigned a Korean GPS. We was given a Korean GPS and did not get lost at all. The GPS works best by entering the telephone numbers of the places in Jeju. So do prepare the numbers beforehand!
- Rent a driver
- Opt for this option if you are not familiar with left-hand drive and do not have time to plan your Jeju attractions
- Cost: From what we've heard, the all-in fee costs SG150 for 8 hours for a driver who can speak English/Chinese. This means that you do not need to pay for petrol, car rental, etc but just for the driver himself.
- Advantages: The driver will bring you to places you wish, but at the same time recommend must-see attractions for you. For meals, he is also able to translate the menu for you. Definitely an added convenience!
- Public transport
- Public transport is inconvenient around Jeju. Although it is the cheapest option available, it is difficult to get around unless you intend to walk a lot.
- You can consider taking cabs everywhere, it is slightly cheaper than renting a car/driver but do note that cabs will be difficult to flag at times as the cabs might not be willing to drive all the way into the tourist attraction areas to wait for passengers.
- Do consider that it is very inconvenient and uncomfortable in the case of rain. Jeju has no rain shelters unlike Singapore.
Where to stay?
In order to save time and petrol, I planned my attractions from East, South and West. Therefore, we booked the hotels accordingly from East to West - changing location everyday. However, if you're not keen for this idea, I'll suggest to stay in the South.
Seogwipo is considered a very good and central area in the South which makes travelling to other parts of Jeju easy. We stayed outside of the Seogwipo area since it is cheaper and we had a car. We stayed at a Goodstay Equus Motel which I DO NOT recommend.
For the East, we stayed at Jeju Lux Hotel. It was very good and it was only a 5 minute drive to the Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak which is a popular spot to catch the sunrise. If you do not wish to wake up extra early, I'll strongly advise you to stay at Jeju Lux because it was very comfortable yet affordable at about SG$70 a night.
For the North, we stayed at Monaco Motel which is near to the airport and car rental area. I will also recommend this hotel as it was comfortable and affordable, and very central! You'll find lots of yummy Korean restaurants in the area.
Our itinerary:
As said, we planned to head straight to the East after touching down at the Jeju Airport. To make your research easier, this was the our itinerary after consideration for time and cost saving:
Day 1:
- Manjanggul Cave
- Gimnyeong Park (500m from Manjanggul)
- Haenyeo Museum
- Udo Island
Day 2:
- Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak
- Trick Art Museum
- Seongeup Folk Village
- Jeongbang Waterfall
- Cruise & Submarine Tour
- Cheonjiyeon Waterfalls
- Oedolgae
- Jeju World Cup Stadium
- Cheonjeyeon Waterfall
Day 3:
- Alive Museum
- O'Sulloc Tea Museum
- Jeju Glass Castle
- Hallim Park
- Hyeopjae/Geumneung Beach
This is all the essential you'll need to consider when planning a trip to Jeju. That's all for this post! I'll blog separately about the attractions in detail.
