Your Guide to Biking the Fantasy Bike Trail around Jeju Island, South Korea
The Jeju Fantasy Bike Trail follows the coastline around South Korea’s largest island. The trail is separated into 10 different sections. Cyclists obtain stamps before starting each section as proof of completion. Once finished with the ride, you can send in your stamped passport and receive a certificate for completing the ride.
For foreigners, it can be a bit difficult to find good up-to-date information on the Fantasy Bike Trail. So we have put together a whole lot of information that we found to be very helpful to us!
We followed Kakao Maps the entire time during our ride (If you are planning a trip to Korea, you know about Kakao). Kakao Maps has each section divided into easy-to-follow segments.
..Well, it’s easy if you know how to read Korean… Don’t Fret!
Below we’ve broken down the ten sections by name in both English and Korean. Making it a lot easier when searching for each part! Just copy the Hangul part, and paste it into Kakao maps. This should take most of the guesswork out of finding the sections you are looking for!
The ten sections starting from the city of Jeju:
Section 1: Yongduam - Darak Shelter (용두암 - 다락쉼터) 21km 1 hour 24 minutes
Section 2: Darak Shelter - Haegeorum Park (다락쉼터 - 해거름마을공원) 21km 1 hour 24 minutes
Section 3: Haegurum Park - Songaksan (해거름마을공원 - 송악산) 35km 2 hours 20 minutes
Section 4: Songaksan - Beophwan Badang (송악산 - 법환마당) 30km 2 hours
Section 5: Beophwan Badang - Soesokkak (법환마당 - 쇠소깍) 14km 56 minutes
Section 6: Soesokkak - Pyoseon Beach (쇠소깍 - 표선해비치해변) 28km 1 hour 52 minutes
Section 7: Pyoseon Beach - Seongsan Ilchulbong (표선해비치해변 - 성산일출봉) 22km 1 hour 28 minutes
Section 8: Seongsan Ilchulbong - Gimnyeong Seonsegi Beach (성산일출봉 - 김녕성세기해변) 29km 1 hour 56 minutes
Section 9: Gimnyeong Seonsegi Beach - Hamdeok Seoubong Beach (김녕성세기해변 - 함덕서우봉해변) 9km 36 minutes
Section 10: Hamdeok Seoubong Beach - Yongduam (함덕서우봉해변 - 용두암) 25km 1 hour 40 minutes
Total distance: 243 km
*Copy and paste the link below to a new browser - it will show you all ten sections of the Bike Route. [KakaoMap]
http://kko.to/UntsslC7ci
Ok, so you have the map, but now you need a bike.
How to Rent a Bike?
There are quite a large number of bike shops offering rentals all over the city of Jeju. Bike rentals range in everything from E-bikes to classic road bikes. Bike shops will often add in accessories for your trip free of charge (Bike lock, small frame bag, seat cushions, patch kit, helmet, free luggage storage, etc.)
We both opted for a carbon hardtail mountain bike. Occasionally you’ll be riding on sidewalks and rougher side roads, so we wanted something slightly beefier that could handle most terrain.
If you are trying to book a bicycle ahead of time, it could be challenging for non-Korean speakers because many of the mom-and-pop shops do not speak English.
Rental prices range anywhere from 19,000 KRW - 40,000 KRW per day depending on what kind of bike you rent. (2023 prices)
What are accommodation options?
Jeju is known for being “The Honeymoon Island” of Korea, and a HUGE tourist attraction for many parts of Asia. The good news about this is that there are LOTS of beautiful places to stay — The bad news is that it can be SUPER busy! So pay attention to when you go. If it is during peak tourist season (May - October), you will definitely want to plan where you will be sleeping a few weeks in advance before your trip.
If you go during the off-season, (November - April) you will have zero issues finding places to sleep along the entire bike route! We literally planned our entire ride a WEEK before arriving in Jeju!
What about food?
You will never be far enough away from civilization to where you will need to pack food. There is no shortage of small towns full of convenience stores, bakeries, and small restaurants all along the ride.
If you’re an adventurous eater and love seafood, you’ll be happy. Jeju has a plethora of incredible seafood restaurants. Serving everything from raw fish to stews filled with different sea dwellers that were hand-picked off the ocean floor.
..Oliver was in heaven…
How hard is it?
To be honest, the hardest part is deciding which cafe to stop at for a break each day! Seriously, you’ll pass SO MANY amazing cafes sitting right on the water.
In all seriousness, we would not consider this to be a super difficult adventure. The main reason is, with proper planning, you can break the segments up into doable sections that fit your fitness level. Some people will do it in a single day!
Sarah and I basically broke the island into quarters. Having in total 4 days of being in the bike saddle. We roughly did about around 35-40 miles per day. We wanted to cover as much ground as possible while still being able to stop and enjoy the views and cafes.
Final Tips!
Start early! We loved biking along the ocean early in the morning. The air is cool and watching the island slowly come to life was so enjoyable. Also means you get to relax more at the end of the day!
Bring extra tissue! We never had an emergency in regards to this, but many of the public bathrooms you encounter DO NOT have any kind of tissue in them. (This is just a good trip for Korea in general)
Bring layers of clothing! Jeju is surrounded by the ocean, so the weather can change very quickly. With the wind, you would be surprised by how cold it can get!
External battery for your phone! If you are on your GPS ALL DAY, your phone battery will get sucked down super fast. We always made sure to have our external battery charging at the end of every day.
Have fun!! Converse with the locals, eat the crazy food, and stop and enjoy the view!
