Escape to the Beach

Guest Post By: Maansa Jayaraman, a Junior studying Finance, CISB, and Korean. She studied abroad through a Foster Exchange and Direct Enroll at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, during Autumn Semester 2022.

While I was in Seoul, me and my friend decided to take a one-day trip to Gangneung. Gangneung, a city located on the east coast of South Korea, is known for its beautiful coastlines, historical buildings, and coffee.

Since we were only in the city for ~10 hours we couldn’t visit all the sites we wanted to. However, here are some places I highly recommend visiting while in Gangneung!

• Jumunjin Beach

Jumunjin Beach is located in the northernmost part of Gangneung. Known for its white sandy beaches and dazzling scenery, this beach is also the location of many filming sights. Specifically, near Jumunjin Breakwaters, there is a place where the famous K-drama Goblin was filmed, and the city has also set up a replica of the bus stop featured on the cover of BTS’s album “You Never Walk Alone”. Thanks to spots like this the beach has become a popular tourist attraction.

• Anmok Beach and Coffee Street 

The Gangneung Coffee Street at Anmok Beach is well known for the multitude of cafes forming a line along the beach. All the café windows in the Coffee Street face towards the sea allowing visitors to drink coffee or eat pastries while enjoying the view of the sea. I found watching the waves at Anmok Beach to be extremely peaceful and scenic with its clear waters and soft sand stretching out for miles. 

And while in Gangneung, don’t forget to try the local cuisine. We had Gamja-Ongsimi or a potato dough soup which is a specialty of Gangwon Province. Gangneung is also known for its tofu, so we decided to try Tofu Gelato which actually tasted much better than we expected – I would certainly eat it again! Overall, Gangneung is a great place if you want to take a short one-day trip to a coastal city!