Uploaded July 2013 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The Koreans are very proud of their island Jeju having 3 Unesco natural heritage sites. One of them is mount Halasan, an old volcano with a crater lake. When I walked the trail up to the top, it wasn't allowed to climb further on to the top to see the crater, I just got to the point where you can see the crater wall. The other volcano that is one of these Unesco sites is located on a peninsula at the east of the island. There it was possible to climb the cone, but there is no lake there, lots of birds and lush grass though. The 3rd site is the 4 km. long Manjangul lava tube cave located at the north east of Jeju, of which a 1 km. long section is open to the public. I got to all these locations by bicycle, I rented one in Jeju city.
A link to the cycle shop: chejuhiking.co.kr
More shops: see the link to a map showing various locations, at the very end of description.
They picked me up at the airport and I got a tent with the bicycle as well. The first night I slept in the tent somewhere on mount Halasan at an altitude of roughly 700 meters, it was nearly impossible though to find a site to set it up... The next day I continued up on the mountain, walked the trail nearly to the top and cycled to Seogwipo. There I stayed in the Jeju Hiking Inn as advised by the site from Lonely Planet: lonelyplanet.com/south-korea/jejudo/seogwipo/hotels/hostels-and-budget-hotels
A really nice place to stay for budget travelers! From there I cycled to Seongsan. There I stayed in a traditional sauna, very cheap, sleeping on a thin mattress on the floor, run by a very friendly old lady who doesn't speak any English. Not many people stay there, I found it a very interesting experience, definitely worthwhile. To get there: from the crossing of roads 1119 and 1132, take 1119 east towards the peninsula, at the large roundabout turn right, next road after 300 meters or so turn left, then it is the house nearest to the road after 150 meters. I stayed there 2 nights, the day inbetween I walked up the volcano (Seongsan Ilchulbong) and cycled to the harbour, took a boat to Udo island and cycled around the island.
The next day I cycled to the lava tube cave and then on towards Jeju city, but the head wind was so strong that I ended up staying overnight in a guest house in Jochon-eup, near the coast, a great well kept clean place, very affordable and run by amazingly friendly and hospitable people. The address: coming soon, need to look it up.
From there I cycled back to the bicycle renting shop, right at the coast, about 800 meters west from the famous dragon head rock.
For more on Jeju island, see for example:
wikitravel.org/en/Jeju
More bicycle rent shops (5 lines of text for the link):
https://maps.google.nl/maps?ie=UTF-8&q=rent+bicycle+jeju+city&fb=1&gl=nl&hq=rent+bicycle&hnear=0x350ce0858a6d79fd:0x4b9a8869e1919ce2,Jeju-si,+Jeju-do,+South+Korea&ei=4dbdUZmiKMjrswacmIDwCA&ved=0COQBELYD
The Koreans are very proud of their island Jeju having 3 Unesco natural heritage sites. One of them is mount Halasan, an old volcano with a crater lake. When I walked the trail up to the top, it wasn't allowed to climb further on to the top to see the crater, I just got to the point where you can see the crater wall. The other volcano that is one of these Unesco sites is located on a peninsula at the east of the island. There it was possible to climb the cone, but there is no lake there, lots of birds and lush grass though. The 3rd site is the 4 km. long Manjangul lava tube cave located at the north east of Jeju, of which a 1 km. long section is open to the public. I got to all these locations by bicycle, I rented one in Jeju city.
A link to the cycle shop: chejuhiking.co.kr
More shops: see the link to a map showing various locations, at the very end of description.
They picked me up at the airport and I got a tent with the bicycle as well. The first night I slept in the tent somewhere on mount Halasan at an altitude of roughly 700 meters, it was nearly impossible though to find a site to set it up... The next day I continued up on the mountain, walked the trail nearly to the top and cycled to Seogwipo. There I stayed in the Jeju Hiking Inn as advised by the site from Lonely Planet: lonelyplanet.com/south-korea/jejudo/seogwipo/hotels/hostels-and-budget-hotels
A really nice place to stay for budget travelers! From there I cycled to Seongsan. There I stayed in a traditional sauna, very cheap, sleeping on a thin mattress on the floor, run by a very friendly old lady who doesn't speak any English. Not many people stay there, I found it a very interesting experience, definitely worthwhile. To get there: from the crossing of roads 1119 and 1132, take 1119 east towards the peninsula, at the large roundabout turn right, next road after 300 meters or so turn left, then it is the house nearest to the road after 150 meters. I stayed there 2 nights, the day inbetween I walked up the volcano (Seongsan Ilchulbong) and cycled to the harbour, took a boat to Udo island and cycled around the island.
The next day I cycled to the lava tube cave and then on towards Jeju city, but the head wind was so strong that I ended up staying overnight in a guest house in Jochon-eup, near the coast, a great well kept clean place, very affordable and run by amazingly friendly and hospitable people. The address: coming soon, need to look it up.
From there I cycled back to the bicycle renting shop, right at the coast, about 800 meters west from the famous dragon head rock.
For more on Jeju island, see for example:
wikitravel.org/en/Jeju
More bicycle rent shops (5 lines of text for the link):
https://maps.google.nl/maps?ie=UTF-8&q=rent+bicycle+jeju+city&fb=1&gl=nl&hq=rent+bicycle&hnear=0x350ce0858a6d79fd:0x4b9a8869e1919ce2,Jeju-si,+Jeju-do,+South+Korea&ei=4dbdUZmiKMjrswacmIDwCA&ved=0COQBELYD
