The whole family went to Jeju for a week of free and easy tour in June 2024.
We have been to Jeju island before, in Sep 2022. Most folks stayed for 3 days, but we were there for more than a week!. Our stay got extended due to Wifey’s having COVID-19 a month before, which triggered a false positive COVID-19 ART result.
This time, we planned the destinations using Google Mymaps and rented a car. A few observations:
- Jeju island is about the size of Singapore, but travelling around takes a long time as the speed limits are very low 50-70 km/h and the highways have stop lights.
- Driving a Left-Hand drive or right side of the road has a lane tracking challenge. We tend to keep right, causing a drift into the adjacent lane. The car’s (KIA Caravan) lane-keeping sensors helped a bunch.
- The road lanes are narrower and the parking lots are really tight.
- You can do a right-turn on red after stopping and check all clear. I got honked several times because of this.
- When it rains, the roads can be covered in fog. There were several times on the road, I could only see the car in front and they had their hazard lights on.
- I planned for a hot and sunny trip in June 2024 but it rained half the time we were there. We juggled locations around and managed to cover most of the places that we wanted to go.
- Use a physical credit card. It will almost always work. The only time it did not was in a restaurant in the hills.
- Overrated Places: 9.81 Park, Bonkape
- Underrated Places: Hyeopjae Beach (bring swim gear and towels!), Jeju Aerospace Museum, Snoopy Garden, Mega Coffee.
If you are on foot, Naver Maps is a lifesaver. Note Google Maps does not have way finder and the bus timing info is inaccurate.