25 things to do and eat for 3D2N in Jeju: A Self-Drive Travel Guide

Heading to Jeju but wondering what you should eat and do? Here's our guide to what you can eat and do in Jeju over 3 days! Enjoy!

How to get to Jeju, South Korea?

Great news! Scoot now flies direct to Jeju from Singapore! Otherwise, you can always fly to Seoul and Busan (JejuAir), and take a budget domestic flight to Jeju island.

Those travelling through Seoul may find it challenging because domestic flights in Seoul actually flies out from the Gimpo Domestic Airport. Not to worry because we've documented how you can get from Seoul's Incheon International Airport to the Gimpo Domestic airport here!

There are tons of domestic low-cost airlines that fly from the South Korean capital, Seoul to Jeju Island like EASTAR jet, Jin Air, T'way Air. What I normally do is to do a quick scan by price on Skyscanner, then go to the actual airline website to select my desired flight time.

Day ONE:

Food and more food!

For our trip, we flew into Jeju on EASTAR jet after our international flight to Seoul. We arrived in Jeju at night, took a taxi to our accommodation and set out to look for dinner! Should you not want to fuss over taking a taxi (as the queue can get quite long) you may want to book yourself a private transfer to Jeju City, or one to Seogwipo.

If you arrive in the day, you may also want to go directly to a car rental company as the best way to navigate and explore Jeju island is by car!

You may also be interested in: How to get from Jeju Airport to Jeju City or Seogwigpo.

Our first stop after checking in was to head to the black pork street!

1. Black Pork BBQ

When in Jeju, one must definitely have their bbq black pork! Head to the black pork street in Jeju-si. We chanced upon this brightly restaurant and decided to try the black pork bbq there. We ordered one serving of pork belly (20,000 won) and pork neck (20,000 won). To our surprise, they flooded our table with lots of side dishes including: steamed egg, kimchi soup, lettuce, perilla leaves, chilli peppers, salad, kimchi, beansprouts, mushrooms, onions and pumpkin. As they knew that we were foreigners and were afraid that we didn't know how to cook. They actually came to cook everything for us!

We left with very full and happy tummies. Kimchi tasted soooo much better when it is cooked. The vegetables became so soft. The steamed egg served in a hot pot was also extremely good. Although we only ordered two portions, there were so much food that we didn't manage to finish all the sides. Try wrapping your pork with perilla leaves and a little bit of gochujang. It is amazing! The perilla leaves had a minty and refreshing taste that helps to eliminate the oil from the pork.

Black Pork Street

25 Gwandeong-ro 15(sibo)-gil, Geonip-dong, Cheju, Jeju-do, South Korea

+82 64-753-0008

Other famous black pork restaurants that you can try are:

Neulbom Heukdwaeji

2343-3 Nohyeong-dong, Cheju, Jeju-do, South Korea

+82 64-744-9001

Donsadon

15 Gwangpyeongdong-ro, Nohyeong-dong, Cheju, Jeju-do, South Korea

+82 64-747-7876

2. Relax in a cafe!

After our fulfilling meal, we continued walking down towards the sea and found an Antoinette (closed). Even though we had a full meal, we were pleasantly surprise at the decor and space in the cafe. We had to spend some time chilling here. It was spacious and there was a theatre-like seating area that many people were either doing work, or chatting on beanbags.

Antoinette (closed)

(We can't find the exact address on google maps but it is located next to Macdonalds. The address of Macdonalds is given instead: 17 Imhang-ro, Geonip-dong, Cheju, Jeju-do, South Korea, +82 70-7017-0487)

3. Visit a local supermarket

Right next to Antoinette there was a supermarket. We went in to take a look and it was fascinating. They sold lots of snacks and groceries. The photo on the left shows colour rice pops!

4. Take a slow walk along the sea @ Tapdonghaean

Even till late, there were so many people near the sea. There were some skateboarders, and groups of teenagers just sitting down and talking late into the night. There's just something romantic about walking along the sea at night, listening to the waves hitting the shore...

Stay:

For our first night, we stayed at Hotel Robero Jeju. It is conveniently located near (within walking distance) the black pork street and the price was extremely reasonable (48,780 won/night)!

Day TWO:

Abalone, Walking, Climbing, Lava Caves

Now to Day 1 proper, before we checked out of our hotel, we decided to check out the Dongmun market and the Jungang Underground Market.

5. Jeju Dongmun Fish Market

The Jeju Dongmun Fish Market is a local market that sells literally fishes and seafood. As we went there quite early, many shops have yet to open for business. There were also stalls that sell lots of fruits! Do get the Hallabongs if you're in the market! They are pricey but they are absolutely juicy and sweet. If you don't want the trouble of peeling the fruit, you can also get Hallabong juice!

Jeju Dongmun Fish Market

20 Gwandeong-ro 14(sipsa)-gil, Ildo 1(il)-dong, Cheju, Jeju-do, South Korea

+82 64-752-3001

6. Jungang Underground Street

It was a really really long shopping street. Again, we were too early so most stores were closed. Otherwise, it would have been a great shopping trip for most people!

Jungang Underground Shopping Street

1425-3 Ildoil-dong, Cheju, Jeju-do, South Korea

+82 64-755-0225

Then, we had to go collect our car that we booked prior to our trip. For more details on how to rent a car to drive in Jeju, read our blog post on: Renting a car to drive in Jeju, South Korea. From our hotel, we hailed a cab to get to the car rental company. It costs about 5,000 won to get there from Jeju city and is about 5 minutes away.

After completing all the checks and signing the documentations, we are off on our self-drive tour!

7. Try grilled abalone!

We initially wanted to head to the popular Myeongjin Jeonbok Abalone Restaurant. We went all the way there only to find out that it is closed! Arghh! So do remember to check the opening hours. This restaurant is closed on Tuesdays! However, we chanced upon a lovely restaurant close to the abalone restaurant. We actually didn't know what they served when we went there as there were no diagrams. Only four items on the menu that were all written in Korean. We were so hungry and just decided to have the first meal of our day there!

To our pleasant surprise, it was an abalone restaurant. The four items were: grilled abalone, abalone hotpot rice, abalone porridge, and bibimbap. We ordered the grilled abalone and the abalone hotpot rice! Again, we were awed by the side dishes they offered: kimchi, beansprouts, two other side dishes, and a whole plate of grilled fish! Wow! We were blown away. The grilled fish was the tastiest fish that we ever had.

The ajummas there were also very nice! They were afraid that we didn't know how to mix the abalone rice in the hotpot, they helped us with it before we could do anything (thus we didn't have a picture of it). They mixed it and scooped it into smaller bowls for us and told us to eat it with the sauce. The rice was piping hot and was light tasting, with a very fresh taste of sliced abalones!

We also had the best view of the sea from where we sat! It was just a small establishment, but it was OH-SO-GOOD! The grilled abalones were not expensive too. For 10 pieces of fresh abalone that were sizzling on a hotplate, it was only 10,000 won! YUMMY!

Myeongjin Jeonbok Abalone Restaurant (** not the one we visited)

1282 Haemajihaean-ro, Gujwa-eup, Cheju, Jeju-do, South Korea

+82 64-782-9944

** This abalone restaurant is just round the corner from Myeongjin Jeonbok. For those who do not want to wait (their waiting times can be up to 1 hour), try this restaurant instead!

Before you leave the area, take some shots of the sea! We were also very fortunate to see an entire pod of dolphins here! It was amazing as they kept jumping out of the water. We were just staring and looking at them for a good 10 minutes. Can you imagine our surprise? People usually have to pay to go for dolphin-watching tours but we had ours for free!

8. Manjanggul Cave

We backtracked a little to head to Manjanggul Cave. The Manjanggul Cave is lava cave that is also designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Do wear proper shoes if you would like to visit this lava cave.

As this is a natural cave, it is cold, and the ground is extremely uneven. To get to end of the cave, it is a 1km walk. So be prepared to walk a total of 2km if you're thinking of visiting this cave.

Manjanggul Cave

182 Manjanggul-gil, Gujwa-eup, Cheju, Jeju-do, South Korea

+82 64-710-7903

9. Seongsan Ilchulbong Sunrise Peak

Thereafter, we headed to the Seongsan llchulbong. For those who have more time, you may want to consider visiting U-do, a smaller island off Jeju. As our accommodation was in Seogwipo, we didn't have time to visit U-do! If you do happen to have the time, check out the U-do Submarine Cruise!

Seongsan Ilchubong is another UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a peak that rose because of the volcanic eruption that occurred over 100,000 years ago.

Surrounding the Sunrise Peak is a nice park that you can walk up to look at the sea, or to enjoy the greenery. Do note that there is A LOT of walking (and uphill climbs) involved here!

10. Seopjikoji

Seopjikoji is a very scenic beach area that has proper paths in which you can walk along to the lighthouse and offers a great view of the ocean. We enjoyed this area because it is so scenic and breezy. Do take note that this area is a lot more crowded too as tourist buses bring their tourists here!

There are also some stores that sell ice cream and there's horse-riding available too!

Seopjikoji

262 Seopjikoji-ro, Seongsan-eup, Seogwipo, Jeju-do, South Korea

+82 64-782-0080

Stay: Eins Hotel

We wanted to head to the estuary after Seopjikoji but it was raining heavily. We had no choice but to forgo it and went straight to our accommodation. We were also extremely tired from all the walking and climbing we had.

Eins Hotel had a private valet service. They would park your car for you at a nearby parking lot and when you need the car, all you have to do is to let them know about 10 minutes beforehand. The room was also modern and clean and was located walking distance away from the Seogwipo city centre.

11. Try the BEST GIMBAP IN JEJU (and maybe Korea?)

After checking in, we went to get dinner! 오는정김밥 is hands down the best gimbap that we had ever! They are so popular that you will actually need to order in advance and collect it later. We didn't know about that and went there to grab dinner and was told that we have to make an order. Fortunately, we could make an order at the counter and ordered two gimbaps. We went back an hour later after dinner to collect and brought it back to the room to try!

오는정김밥

2 Dongmundong-ro, Jungang-dong, Seogwipo, Jeju-do, South Korea

+82 64-762-8927 (Please call to make an order before collecting)

12. Visit the Seogwipo Olle Market

This market is HUGE. There were many stores selling from cooked food, seafood, fruits, vegetables, even pots and pans, and clothing. It is a local market and even though we already had some food from Paris Baguette, we went feasting on the food while exploring.

Seogwipo Olle Market

22 Jungjeong-ro73beon-gil, Jungang-dong, Seogwipo, Jeju-do, South Korea

+82 64-762-2925

Day THREE:

Chasing Waterfalls, Love & Sex, Osulloc, Innisfree, Mysterious Road