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Three days in Yeosu

Best things to do in Yeosu?

Yeosu (여수) is a coastal city on the south coast of Korea in its own little peninsula. It’s very easy to get to from Seoul. There are places to go hiking, nearby islands to explore, interesting attractions, lots of places to eat and enjoy in the day and night time, and it’s close to a few day-trip spots. Yeosu is Romana’s hometown, and below are some things to do in that area based on a recent trip we took there:

Some places we didn’t really get time to visit but will check out on another trip:

Day 1

Rail bike

The Yeosu Ocean Rail Bike(여수해양레일바이크) was quite fun. I’d seen these advertised before; they’re pedal-powered cars that you ride on abandoned rail tracks. It’s not too difficult. This one runs along the coast and goes through a neon filled tunnel. It cost us about 13,000 each.

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Meriel Cafe

A short drive away was Meriel Cafe (메리엘카페). Romana had a Mojito and I got a coffee. It’s a beautifully placed coffee shop and small hotel (pension). It has massive windows and a big terrace area next to the beach. Very nice and relaxing.

Day 2

Geumodo Island

There’s more than one way to get to Geumodo; we left from Geumodo Birong-gil Passenger Teminal (금오도비렁길여객터미널). The island was nice to drive around; not many cars and great weather. Our first stop was a part of the Geumodo Birong-gil(?) hiking trail (금오도비렁길4코스), on the south side of the island. This was a wooded coastal trail which passed lots of little view points along the way. The trail goes around the whole island, but this isn’t a hiking trip, so we kept it short. This part of the trail is accessible from Simpohang harbour (심포항). The village was quiet and quaint.

Next, we drove to Ando beach (안도해수욕장), a lovely sandy and rocky place. You could easily spend the day there and even camp in the trees behind and you wouldn’t see a soul. It looked like there’s a National Park Campsite there, though it was deserted, locked up and a bit rundown. Definitely off season!

There were quite a few places to eat by the harbour and we went to the one NOT playing the loud music called Yeonam Sikdang Minbak (여남식당민박). On the menu was basic baekban (백반), side dishes with some eel soup. Tasted fresh and good!

So, that was our super-quick stop at Geumodo! Come early and hike more, take a tent or rent a pension and explore; it’s a lovely place to chill.

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Hyangilam Temple

Hyangilam temple (향일암) lies one island north of Guemodo on Dolsaneup (돌산읍). I was immediately taken with this place of trees, rocks, and its many hidden paths. The temple starts with a path up through a forest. After the main entrance, there are many sections of rocky passages; boulders and cracks and steps through crannies to navigate, and it’s all fantastic. I’m like a big kid who loves this kind of stuff, like I’m Indiana Jones!

The first section of temple buildings are on a terrace overlooking the sea. It seems like there’s a communal seating area, perhaps where the monks eat.

After leaving, we found a cafe nearby with a terrace. WE had some jujube tea and waffles. The place was Green Na Rae (그린나래까페).

This turned out to be one of my favourite temples in Korea visited so far.

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Yeosu Nangman Pocha Geori (여수낭만포차거리)

A tent-restaurant (pocha) area under a bridge and the Yeosu Cable Car. There’s a lot of restaurants in and around this area, in buildings on the waterfront and in tents under the bridge. They all seem to serve variations on the same dish, a grilled pork and squid platter. This is a vibrant area and we saw quite a few bars and plenty of people out for a night on the tiles.

Day 3

Suncheon Bay National Garden (순천만 국가정원) and Suncheon Bay Wetlands (순천만습지), two very picturesque places about 40 minutes drive north of Yeosu. Ideally, you go to the National Gardens first to get access (via monorail) to the wetlands.

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Suncheon Bay National Garden (순천만 국가정원)

We initially thought the wetlands was at the place we parked, but this was Suncheon Bay National Garden (순천만 국가정원), basically a well groomed park with themed areas. The main attractions seemed to be big green mounds modelled after Korean style tombs that you see in Gyeongju.

Other areas of the park had country themes; a bit cheesy but interesting nonetheless. It would take a few hours to see everything and there are plenty of places to relax. However, I was keen to get to the wetlands!

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Suncheon Bay Wetlands (순천만습지)

To get to the wetlands and the nature reserve, you take a monorail that travels a few kilometres south; the SkyCube! Going to the station meant crossing the Bridge of Dreams or the Rainbow Bridge, a bridge decorated with small images drawn by kids from all over the world; the images are of their dream and aspirations. Interesting.

The train cars hold about six people. It was a fun ride and, actually, not just some novelty-level transport system; it seems like it could definitely work in a city. At the end of the monorail ride, there is a trail from the station to the main parts of the wetlands, but we opted to take a shuttle bus; it would have been a nice walk though. The wetlands were spectacular; big seas of golden grass swaying in the wind and a backdrop of green mountains and blue sky. Really beautiful and peaceful. You navigate the wetlands through a series of wooden walkways. There a rest stops and areas where you can get close to the mud. In the mud are these odd crabs with one massive red claw!

We took a hike up one of the hills in the distance though a forest and to an observation post looking over the mudflats and out to sea. We could see the tour boats out in the distance.

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Getting in and around Yeosu

We took the KTX from Seoul to Yeosu Expo Station. Nice and easy!

We rented a car from SK Rental, a few minutes walk from the Expo Station.

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Accommodation

We booked three nights at the K-Grand Hostel (K그랜드호스텔) It was clean, had parking (in a crowded basement), a roof terrace, and was reasonably priced. The location was good too.

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Map of places we visited this trip. Click on the ‘door’ icon to see a list:

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