A country so vast with some of the best bicycle paths I have ever been on — that’s South Korea for you.

This Spring, I decided to cycle in South Korea. Initially, it was the Seoul to Busan route which can be traversed through the four rivers bike path, or the Jeju Fantasy bike path.

The more I looked at the route — the less excited I became.

It surely is a beautiful path passing through big cities but I wanted to see a completely different side of South Korea.

A little more digging and that’s when me and my friend landed on this YouTuber channel called Lost Then Found. He had all the itineraries and the various bike paths mapped out in the video.

What are the best cycling routes in South Korea?

cycling in south korea - perfect roads & amazing cycling infrastructure. hERE ARE THE BEST ROUTES.

Here’s sharing with you the best cycling routes you can undertake in South Korea with the first being the best scenery and culture wise!

Yeongsangang + Seomjingang Bike Path (from Mokpo to Gwangyang/Hadong): approx 300km + 5 to 7 Days
Jeju Fantasy Bike Path (Jeju Island Round Trip - Yongduam Rock to Yongduam Rock): approx 234km + 3 to 5 Days
East Coast Route (from Pohang to DMZ): approx 353km + 6 to 8 Days
4 Rivers Trail (from Seoul to Busan): approx 633km + 9 to 11 Days

Tips for Cycling in Korea

Maps: Google Maps doesn’t work in S.Korea. For this ride, I used KakaoMaps — it has a bicycle layer showing long distance routes. For hotels and transport, I used Naver Maps.
Accomodation: You can easily stay in budget love motels called minbaks or jimjilbangs (Korean bathhouses). If you’re in the rural side, you must stay in a Hanok, a traditional Korean house. The best way is to book your accomdation through Agoda or Trip.com.
Rent your bicycles in advance: We got our bicycles from WeRide Korea. As two women, they had comfortable Liv Escape 3 bikes with panniers provided for $25usd per day. They’re also able to arrange for bike delivery for a fee at your last stop in case you don’t want to carry it with you to your next destination.
Best time to ride: Cherry blossom + flower season (April to May) & Autumn foliage (Aug to Nov)

Why Cycle Through Rural Korea?

A SIGN OF BEAR TERRITORY WHEN WE WERE CYCLING IN JIRISAN NATIONAL PARK.

This was a region where is rich in history and traditions — it is historically a farming and fishing village with wide open plain mountains.

It was also one of the eight provinces of the Joseon dynasty in Korea. What was fascinating to me is that you’re able to see a different side of Korea.

There’s Old Mokpo town which still has traces of Japanese influence and it was actually the first town that symbolised Korea’s resistance to Japan.

The towns you pass through have a lot to offer with Gochuchang village in Sunchang and the stunning bamboo trees in Damyang. For a leisurely bike ride between 40km to 70km, it works out great if you don’t want to more than one week of biking.

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Cycling the Yeongsangang + Seomjingang Bike Path in Rural South Korea (Jeolla Province)

Take the Bus from Seoul to Mokpo

at the central bus terminal in seoul - a bus ride to mokpo. IT WAS EASY TO BRING YOUR BIKES IN!

We got our bikes and gear from WeRide Korea office a day before and took our bikes on the bus to Mokpo. You can easily book your tickets here.

A tip: most buses in Korea allow you to bring your bicycles in — but in some rural towns it depends on the drivers mood!

The buses in South Korea were a luxury treat; I didn’t expect a limousine bus with wireless chargers, reclining chairs and privacy curtains.

Day 1: Mokpo → Naju (75km)

Stay in Mokpo: Hotel H Heritage
Stay in Naju: Moon and Star Hanok
GPX Route: https://kko.to/Z26gIukZeK

Mokpo, an old port town which still had traces of Japanese influence and the first town that symbolised Korea’s resistance to Japan.

It was on the other end of the country and the gateway to Jeju island.

If you have more time in Mokpo, you should absolutely stay back and visit the Old town to see remnants of Japanese colonial rule, explore Yuldansan mountain and also stay back to hike to Wolchulsan mountain.

I have heard that this mountain with the red hanging bridge is equivalent to the hikes in Seoraksan National Park.

If you can’t visit the far north-east, spending an extra day to hike the Wolchulsan mountain is absolutely worth it and one of the most exhilarating climbs in South Korea.

Now on to the cycling part

THE GORGEOUS FIELDS AND BIKE PATH ON OUR FIRST DAY CYCLING FROM MOKPO TO NAJU

We stayed an extra day close to the bike path in this newly posh hotel called H Heritage Hotel — it was close to the peace square and dancing sea fountain.

Leaving Mokpo to Naju, we had heard that this was going to be the longest ever bike ride with no stops, convenience stores and cafes. You had to have all your water with you.

It didn’t help that the morning headwinds were so strong that cycling here felt like drag. But the landscapes drastically change with a sea of yellow flowers — you’ll primarily see the Yeongsangan river on one side including farms and rural landscapes.

We were also stunned by the bike infrastructure — the rest stops in Korea were state-of-the-art bike facilities. Swings, clean toilets and miles and miles of smooth roads.

The red booths to get your bike stamped were also visible at the halfway mark — we didn’t get time to get a bike passport so made our own version of it with just a blank piece of paper.

The road continued, we had rough sections with gravel roads that felt confusing sometimes wondering if we were on the right path or not.

But still saw the occasional cyclist in Korea who were doing their weekend sprint from Mokpo to Damyang.

Once we reached Naju, we had to cycle an additional 8km to the hanok village — it is a bit on the outskirts and we decided to stay in the nicer part since there was so much to do. But weather was not on our side, a lot of places were kinda quiet and shut.

The Hanok stay was cosy and well insulated — they often organise local activities like rice making workshops but due to the language barrier and it being off-season, we didn’t see any of these workshops.

Day 2: Naju → Damyang (72km)

Stay in Damyang: JNW Minbak
GPX routes: https://kko.to/niPeSM0uQQ

After a brutal first day, we thought maybe it'll be easier and while it was partially right. We rolled out and straight into a marathon.

At one point, we were practically part of the support crew, cruising alongside runners and dodging cones. They didn’t allow us to continue for a while until we had to talk them out of it.

It was also a terribly gloomy day — it rained for a bit. We interacted with people from all walks of life. The cyclists were also older. The more we are in the rural area, the older the population gets.

ONE OF THE MOST GORGEOUS RIDES FROM NAJU TO DAMYANG

You’ll come across a stop nearer to Gwangju offering free bicycle checks, a tea truck and checkpoint before continuing on the Yeongsangan river path.

If you’re talking about comfortable riding, it felt like today was the day. The skies changed and the scenery was varied. As we got closer to Gwangju, it was buzzing with weekend baseball games.

We didn’t know it was a thing here in Korea. We must’ve passed at least 5 games. I read later that Gwangju has been the main centre for baseball activities, including professional leagues and events.

AZALEA FLOWERS DURING SPRING SEASON IN DAMYANG

As we got closer to Damyang, the scenery changed and it became stunning: azaleas in full bloom, bamboo forests, and people just living life on their bikes.

Damyang’s known for its towering bamboo groves and those perfectly lined metasequoia trees that make you feel like you’re in some dreamy... Korea movie-set forest. We were pretty excited to spend a rest day exploring Damyang!

Day 3: The Bamboo Forests in Damyang we had no idea about

In our attempt to slow down and take a rest day of biking (also partially waiting for my friend to show up), I decided that this rest day in Damyang was much-needed.

Tourists in Korea often rush to Gyeongju, Busan & Jeju and completely forget about this part of Korea.

Damyang is known for its long tradition of bamboo craftwork and spending half the day healing in the Juknokwon forests are what some locals do. You could easily spend 4-5 hours here and time will slow down.

It was also spring season and post-Cherry blossom blooms which meant rows and rows of other pretty flowers were in display like the Azaleas.

THESE Metasequoia trees ARE SO SPLENDIDLY GORGEOUS — DAMYANG SHOULD BE ON YOUR VISIT!

Walking here felt slow, unhurried and just right — we even biked to the long Metasequoia trees and stopped at this cute looking touristy town adjacent to it with some cafes.

Damyang is also known for its cold noodles and special fishy broth. We were confused why it was cold at the beginning and realised you need to tell them you want the hot version.

It is an acquired taste but the cherry on the top was sitting out in the open and next to their river and being so close to nature!

Day 4: Damyang → Sunchang (58km)

Stay in Sunchang: 초연당 전통한옥체험관 (한옥민박) - temple stay
GPX routes: https://kko.to/Rk69VaxoP5

THE GORGEOUS RURAL COUNTRYSIDE OF KOREA WHEN WE WERE CYCLING

We continued our cycling escapade to Sunchang, home to the country’s best Gochujang paste.

But if you didn’t know, the country is famous for its Korean ‘jang’ culture. "Jang" (장) essentially means fermented sauces which are a staple of Korean cuisine.

Sunchang is the place where you get to try ganjang (soy sauce), doenjang (soybean paste) and gochujang (chilli paste). You’d ask oh it is chilli sauce, why does it matter?

A USUAL FEAST THAT WE HAD IN KOREA’S GOCHUJANG VILLAGE!

I read that Korean had deep roots in fermented foods because these foods were originally “survival food” and were needed for long, cold winters.

Even Kimchi started as a way to ferment and store vegetables during the cold winter when many Koreans died of starvation.

This was so fascinating to read and hear about as we made our way to Sunchang but the weather had other plans. It was bitterly cold and wet — rain forecasted all day.

We caught a bus and put our bikes in. Initially, putting bikes in was no problem but we had one grumpy driver who outright refused is. But our bus conductor who was so nice quickly stuffed our bikes in and we went in the bus.

OUR BIKE SHOP GUY WHO HELPED US IN SUNCHANG!

When we reached Sunchang, my bike had issues from falling chains to broken seats — we had more funny episodes like a taxi guy buying gloves just to help us. People are so kind and nice and it was so heartwarming to see all the elderly staring at us out of curiosity or sometimes helping us.

I digged a little deeper on why Sunchang had so many elderly people. It is known as the “longevity town” and I heard lots of elderly people were working hard to make ends meet.

We spent the day biking to the Gochujang village in the wet rain — stuffing our face with all kinds of saucy food.

It was empty but we could see mountains behind the fog and on a bright sunny day, I am pretty sure Sunchang would be a pretty place.

Day 5: Sunchang → Gurye (60km)

Stay in Gurye: Hotel Jirisan Haetsal
GPX routes: https://kko.to/qDkV15jlFu

ENROUTE SUNCHANG TO GURYE AND LOOK AT HOW STUNNING THESE STOPS ARE!

Everything about today’s ride screams nostalgia — tree-lined paths and tunnels!

We left behind the gloomy skies of Sunchang and pedaled our way toward the foothills of Jirisan, Korea’s first national park. p/s it is also bear territory!

At first, we saw nobody on this path and there was an elderly man sweeping the streets and the bike path to keep it clean. We also came across this red booth!

This was also meant to be the most scenic parts of the entire bike route on the Seomjingang river. Being this remote meant that there’s hardly any access to convenience stores as you’re mostly inland.

The bike paths were next-level scenic.. I mean there was even a tunnel just for bikes. The old railway tunnel was no longer needed for trains, so it was adapted for bicycle use.

The terrain soon changed and we saw these bright azales. Nobody talks about the other flowers blooming in Korea during spring other than cherry blossoms.

We also loved having our breaks here almost doing nothing, and soaking in the natural surroundings. We almost could hardly believe that we had the whole empty open road to ourselves!

You could also totally camp here if you like. The terrain changed as we were nearing Jirisan National Park. There was even a cute toy train that passed us.

I later learned that it was the region's old steam engine train that runs 10 kilometers between the old Gokseong Station in Seomjingang Train Village

We ended the ride with a detour over some bumpy roads before finding our way back to the path and landing at a cute little cafe in Gurye.

Heading into Jirisan was so pleasant because we passed by another bamboo path — and it had like calming elevator music, young and old healing themselves through forest bathing!

Day 6: Explore Jirisan National Park

Stay in Jirisan National Park: Hotel Jirisan Haetsal

EXPLORING JIRISAN NATIONAL PARK ON OUR HIKE TO NGODAN PEAK

The country’s most stunning park — I was so excited to be here and spend an extra day. But we were so tired that the first day was all about laundry, and doing nothing.

We stayed at Hotel Jirisan Haetsal — and we barely saw any tourists. Our aim during our rest day was to hike Ngodan peak and explore Hwaeomsa temple.

There’s also a bear conservation area here and they usually shut by 2pm so it was impossible to see these bears. If you have time, you absolutely must spend more time in Jirisan National Park.

WALKING FROM JIRISAN TOWN TO HWAEOMSA TEMPLE

At 1,507 metres, Ngodan Peak was such a pleasant surprise and a nice 2 hour hike to have some downtime in Jirisan National Park. Considering how Korea makes everything accessible, this park had stairs, rest areas and proper paved paths as you head towards the peak.

Hwaeomsa Temple was also a real highlight when we stopped here for a day. The temple grounds are huge and you can totally do a temple stay here. We even met foreigners who were volunteering here as ‘tea makers’ for 3 weeks.

The temple has a small hermitage surrounded by a field of wild tea trees. Other than that, the grounds felt surreal with the grand stone pagodas, ancient halls, and centuries-old trees, it kinda felt like I was stepping into a still, sacred moment in time.

Day 7: Gurye → Hadong (40km)

Stay in Hadong: Hadong Sol Self Check-in Hotel
GPX routes: https://kko.to/qTy8M_Z3GT (till Gwangyang)

This was our last day in Hadong.

We ditched the plan to go all the way to Gwangyang and ended up staying in Hadong instead. The best part were these yellow flowers and it felt so crazy to see all the stunning varieties we had no idea about on our way to Hadong.

Hadong was such a pleasant surprise and it was kinda quiet but if you love teas, they are known for their tea fields and tea ceremonies.

The roads were perfect, cafes we’d been eyeing were shut and we had to climb this steep hill for nothing but that cherry blossom hair mural was so gorgeous and worth the climb atleast!

We wrapped up the day with our own lazy tea ceremony at a cosy hanok! Check out the spot we stayed at... a whole house, some crazy props and cute little corners!