9 Best Things to Do in Pyeongchang

Alpensia Ski Resort, which was the main venue of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, is a comprehensive recreational facility where you can enjoy skiing to your heart's content. It features a golf course, ski slopes, and water park, along with a variety of amenities such as a hotel and restaurants.

The slopes include those for beginners and intermediates, so anyone, regardless of skill level, can enjoy skiing. The resort is also equipped with slopes reserved for snowboard enthusiasts. During the off-season, the lower part of the slopes turns into wild plant gardens. It is a great place for families and couples to enjoy a vacation all year round. Visit this attractive place surrounded by the beautiful nature of Daegwallyeong Pass, where you can experience various activities such as luge and alpine coaster riding and appreciate the magnificent view of the resort and the Daegwallyeong area from the ski jump, which serves as an observatory and landmark of the resort.

Byeongbangchi Skywalk is an observatory standing on Byeongbangchi Pass between Gyuram-ri and Jeongseon-eup. Experience the thrill of walking barefoot on a transparent skywalk and admire the magnificent scenery that unfolds before your eyes. Byeongbangsan Mountain, where the observatory is located, has rugged ridges and creates a majestic landscape with the river that flows below it when viewed from the sky.

When you open the door to the Skywalk installed at the edge of a cliff 583 metres above sea level, the meandering mountain ridge comes into your sight, along with Bamseom Island in the shape of the Korean Peninsula encircled by the winding curve of the Donggang River. The scenery, changing from season to season, always creates amazement. If it is difficult for you to walk to the Skywalk, you can see the same landform by taking the trail that leads to the zip wire platform. Don't forget to add this place to your itinerary if you want a spectacular view that will be remembered for a lifetime.

Pyeongchang Botanic Garden, located in a forest with fresh air, is an arboretum and cafe where you can take a walk in a garden of wildflowers. Admission to the arboretum is free, and drinks at the cafe are priced reasonably. The cafe, a red brick building nestled in the forest, is beautifully decorated with pretty, antique items. The garden seen through the windows creates a picturesque view.

The cafe also has a little garden on its terrace, which pleases the eyes of visitors. There is a trail where you can walk through the forest breathing in the fresh air, and in the indoor garden, various wildflowers, succulents, and water lilies are growing, creating a unique enigmatic atmosphere. Visit this arboretum if you want to enjoy strolling or meditating in a peaceful space.

Daegwallyeong Sky Ranch is a nature-adapted ecological ranch where you can experience nature in various ways. Its facilities and walking trails are also designed in a nature-friendly way so that visitors can experience the ecology and nature more vividly. As the meadow of the ranch has been closed to the public for a long time, you can find wildflowers and rare plants everywhere.

If you feel overwhelmed by the daily routine in the city, spend some relaxing time walking in the vast meadow. Daegwallyeong Sky Ranch has 4 trails of different themes, which you can choose from as your mood dictates. If you prefer a more comfortable trip, take a tractor wagon ride to the observation deck. On top of the observatory, which commands views of the surrounding towns, resorts, and ski jumps along with the full view of the ranch, you can feel more relaxed and recharged. Various activities such as horseback riding and interacting with sheep inside the fence are also available, so visit the farm and have a good time in Pyeongchang.

Barwangsan Mountain is a place for healing open to everyone, presenting beautiful scenery throughout the year. There is a cable car system allowing people of all ages to appreciate the wonderful scenery from atop of the mountain. After returning to the departure point by taking the cable car again, you can find a building leading to the Skywalk and Millennium Jumok Forest. Barwangsan is quite a high mountain, with an altitude of 1,458 metres above sea level, so you can have a full view of Gangwon-do from the Skywalk. If the weather is nice, you can even see the sea off Gangneung. Due to its high-altitude location, you will feel as if you are walking on the clouds.

There are various experiential programmes designed to promote the ecology of the mountain with as many people as possible. You can experience forest bathing, traditional incense pouch making, picnicking with a boxed lunch, and healing in the mountain. Take respite from the hustle of city life and spend some time for yourself.

Deokpo Fifth-day Market is a traditional market that sells agricultural products and other specialities from Yeongwol and adjacent areas in Gangwon-do. On the market day, stalls are set up in a straight line along the Donggang Riverside, providing fresh agricultural products that are difficult to find in the city at reasonable prices.

The fifth-day market also offers a chance to try a variety of local foods with a nostalgic, rustic taste. In particular, gamasot tongdak, which is a whole chicken deep-fried in a large cauldron, is most popular. When you take a bite of the golden-brown fried chicken, the juices ooze out from the inside of the crispy skin. The other must-try delicacies include boiled pig's feet (jokbal), mung bean pancakes (nokdujeon), potato pancakes (gamjajeon), and buckwheat pancakes (memil buchim), which are popular Korean snacks native to Gangwon-do. Visit on the market day and feel the cordial and friendly atmosphere unique to a rural market.

Woljeongsa Needle Fir Forest is one of the three major fir forests in Korea, and a popular tourist attraction as it is located within the precincts of Woljeongsa Temple. The forest forms the 1-km-long road from Iljumun Gate to the Geumganggyo Bridge of Woljeongsa Temple, and you will want to stroll in the forest over and over again. People who love this forest trail say they take dozens of walks every time they visit.

As the forest shares history with the temple, it has over 1,800 fir trees that are 80 years old on average, which makes it a “millennial forest” as well. Walk barefoot on the path through the forest, covered with red clay, and heal yourself breathing in refreshing phytoncides. It is a place where you can spend a pleasant time in beautiful nature, breathing in fresh air, so don't forget to stop by.

Anbandegi Village sits at an altitude of 1,100 metres above sea level in Pyeongchang. It’s a large producer of fresh vegetables in South Korea – expect green rye fields in spring, potato flowers and highland vegetables in summer, colourful leaves in autumn, and snow-capped mountains. You can appreciate the fantastic starlit night sky over outstretching cabbage fields. If you are lucky, you can even see the Milky Way.

The Meonge Observatory and Sunrise Observatory are great places to watch the stars. Sitting in the small pavilion of the Meonge Observatory and watching the scenery where the wind generators, the sea off Gangneung, and vast cabbage fields are harmonised, darkness soon falls. As soon as it gets dark, the sky turns pitch black, and the stars begin to twinkle. Surrender yourself to the serenity of nature and spend some meditative time.