Korea, Travel, Wow Korea

Visiting Jeolla Province: Yeosu & Suncheon

After going to Gwangju and Boseong, on the last day of our trip, we explored Yeosu and Suncheon at the very Southern part of Korea. We woke up to a beautiful bright weather in Yeosu and headed out at 9AM. Here’s where we what we did that day.

Yeosu Maritime Cable Car (여수 해상케이블카)

Yeosu cable car is pretty iconic in Yeosu because it is one of the 4 cable cars in Asia that actually crosses (some parts of) the sea. Sentosa Island cable car, in Singapore, is another cable car in Asia that crosses the sea.

The cable car brings you to Dolsan Island where you can then walk to Odongdo Island, a famous destination to visit in Yeosu.

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Odongdo Island is the island behind the cable car station on the right

There are two types of cabins that that you can choose from: Standard cabin or Crystal cabin. The Crystal cabin has a clear flooring so that you can see the sea underneath your feet when you take the ride. They have 10 crystal cabin cars (5 people capacity) and 40 standard ones (8 people capacity). Here are the prices for the ride:

[Crystal Cabin]
– Adults (Round trip): 20,000 KRW
– Children (Round trip): 15,000 KRW

[Standard Cabin]
– Adults: 13,000 won (Round-trip) or 10,000 KRW (One-way)
– Children (Round trip) : 9,000 won (Round-trip) or 7,000 KRW (One-way)
– Group: 20 or more
– Seniors (ages 65 and older): 1,000 KRW discount

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To get to the departure point from Yeosu Intercity Bus Terminal, take any of the following buses to Dolsan: 100, 102, 103, 105, 111, 112, 114, 115, 116. The bus operates every 10 minutes and it will take around 25 minutes.

Odongdo Island (오동도)

When you arrive at the other side of the Yeosu Cable Car, you will be able to see Odongdo Island. It will take around 15-25 minutes to get down from the hill by lift and walk across to the island. You can also choose to take the short train across to the island but you will still need to walk to the Island entrance to take it. 

There are several routes that you can take to walk through the island but I would recommend going up the first stairs you see on the right after entering the island and then walking one round down to the cafe area to exit.

Some of the places that are good for pictures is the cliff near the cave of dragon, the sunrise place and the light tower.

Overall I think the island was very beautiful and you should definitely visit Odongdo if you are in Yeosu 🙂 The entrance is free and I think the best way to get there is by taking the cable car ride and then walking or taking the shuttle mentioned earlier.

Suncheon Bay National Garden (순천만 국가 정원)

Our last stop for the trip was Suncheon Bay National Garden. I honestly didn’t expect much but apparently it is the number 1 garden in Korea and I found out first hand why so.
 The garden is so huge with many different international gardens that you can view. We were only given 2 hours there and it was definitely not enough to see everything. If you are planning to come, be prepared to stay in the garden for at least 4 – 6 hours, maybe even longer if you like to take your own sweet time.

If you only have a few hours, go directly to the European gardens as they are the most beautiful ones there (Especially the Holland Garden). I didn’t know this at first and I didn’t have the time to actually see them 🙁 Also, if you are going there, make sure to check the weather forecast as going there in the rain will be no fun at all.

Admission tickets cost 8,000 KRW for adults, 6,000 KRW for teenagers between 14 – 19 years old and 4,000 KRW for children. To get there, take bus 101 from the bus stop near GS 25 outside Suncheon Bus Terminal and get off at Suncheon Bay Garden bus stop (순천만정원 정류장). It will take 9 stops to reach.

For an ideal trip for Yeosu and Suncheon, I think it will be better if you stay over in Suncheon or Yeosu for a night and go around Yeosu on one day and go to the garden on the next day. That way you will not need to rush around and you can have a relaxed trip 🙂

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