Quick Jeju (Day 1) - Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak (UNESCO World Heritage Site)

This trip to Jeju Island is a UNESCO treasure hunt.

When we sorted out the accommodation at Doldam, it was already post lunch. We quickly headed out to a neighborhood restaurant recommended by Su and had the best meal throughout our trip! I'm not exaggerating. Everything was so fresh and the ahjummas were being quite generous in our portions. We were a dead giveaway as first timers to Jeju.

This isn't even the full spread yet!

After our bellies were full with our first Jeju meal, we started up the GPS and made out way to Seongsan Ilchubong Peak (성산일출봉). This is the first on our Jeju UNESCO check off.

Seongsan Ilchubong Peak means sunrise peak and it's the go to place to greet the sunrise for the new year. It's located at the end of the eastern part of the island. We were rushing to make the sunset instead. We were told that the sunset is awfully pretty there.


On our way there we passed fields of rapeseed flowers in full bloom with native ponies wandering around! It looked like a scene out of those travel magazines that makes you wonder whether it has been Photo-shopped. We promised each other that we would definitely have a romp in the fields on the way back.

Seongsan Ilchubong  was formed from under the sea from a volcanic eruption. At the top of the mountain, there a huge bowl like crater. From an aerial view, it looks like an ancient castle. There are a few trails to get to the top of the peak, offering different views. You many not come down the same way you went up so choose wisely.

Luckily for us, the crowds were dwindling when we arrived.  We weren't sure how strenous this walk around the peak would be considering we were going to the highest point on the entire island the next morning. We were very surprised that the Seongsan Ilchubong was quite leisurely considering it was supposed to be a small mountain.

If you want to try your hand at the trails here, I would suggest a decent pair of sneakers. Lots of stairs everywhere.

Dusk is starting to settle

This is the crater at the top of the mountain

On our way down, the hanyeos have left for the day. This cove is where they would collect shellfish and sell to tourists.

It took us about an 1 1/2 hours as we took our time making our way back to our rental car, while enjoying the evening breeze.

We didn't forget the flowers on our way back. I would have loved to have spent more time in the fields if the sun wasn't setting at an extremely fast rate.

Since we would pass Seogwipo, we hopped into a shop selling ox bone soup to fill ourselves up. The winds in Jeju get very strong and cold in the evenings. The ox bone soup really hit the spot. We were actually looking for black pork BBQ but this soup place turned out great!


We wandered around after dinner and bought some breads from the local bakery for the next day's adventure. Most eateries in Jeju has an English menu (including the bakery) so we were quite happy eating our way around.

After the whole day of flying, training, walking and driving, we were tired to our core. We could barely keep our eyes open as we packed our hiking gear for the next day. Not to mention the sound of waves lulled us to sleep in no time.


Seongsan Ilchubung Peak
Address:284-12, Ilchul-ro, Seongsan-eup, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do
제주특별자치도 서귀포시 성산읍 일출로 284-12