Introduction
South Korea is a country where it has four seasons every year and there are different activities that you can do in the specific season. And today I would like to introduce you to my personal experience of how I spend my second spring in South Korea. Compared to winter, spring is a lot warmer and it is the most comfortable season in South Korea. Of course, autumn is really nice too and I personally love both of these seasons a lot. Where I really hate summer a lot especially in South Korea because it is really hot and dry.
Maehwa and cherry blossom
So, what can you do during spring in South Korea? People used to imagine sakura in Japan when they talk about South Korea but we have some beautiful flowers too here. Maehwa, literally plum blossom in Korean, is one of the spring flowers in Korea in white color with 5 petals. It usually blooms around early March to the mid of March. And you can see them easily if you go hiking.
Next will be the cherry blossom. It usually blooms around mid of March until mid-April. It is the most popular and common flower that you can see in South Korea. The first place that usually has it is Jeju Island. South Korea offers all kinds of cherry blossom festivals to celebrate the spring season. But sadly it was all canceled due to the Covid-19 outbreak. There are actually two kinds of cherry blossoms where the first one is the standard one in white or light pink color. But the other one will be the king cherry blossom which is in bright pink color. Both of them are really pretty and you can see them during spring easily.
Jinhae is a must during spring!
So, when it comes to famous destinations for spring in South Korea, Jinhae will always come first in our minds. I actually planned to visit the place by myself this year but it is really far from Seoul and it takes around half of a day to reach there.
Gwanak Mountain
So during my spring last year, I actually went to a mountain near my house which is Gwanak Mountain. There is a garden there which is Gwanak Garden and it provides beautiful and special scenery every season. During spring, you can see lots of pink and white flowers around the area and the most beautiful scenery is the one when you reach the peak of the mountain. Of course, you are also able to see those flowers during your hike, but when you reach the peak, you can see the whole mountain is covered by pink flowers and it is really magnificent.
Seoul National University
Besides Gwanak Mountain, there is Seoul National University where I used to study my language there too. On your way to the university, you will also be able to see lots of cherry blossoms beside the road and it is a really breathtaking view. Seoul National University used to has cherry blossoms slower compared to other places in Seoul. But once it blooms, the whole campus will be really pretty. But, the campus is too big, and therefore it is better for you to take a shuttle bus inside the campus.
I was a little busy with my first semester in degree this year and I didn’t really travel a lot during this spring. But, I used to go to two places nearby which are my university and Seoul Forest. So, let’s start with my university which is Korea University. I am living around the Anam-dong and the first thing I noticed when spring arrived was the trees beside Anam street. They were all fulled of pink flowers and you can see lots of people taking pictures with the trees beside the street.
Korea University
There is actually a place in Korea University that is really famous when it comes to spring. It is the Aegineung farm beside the engineering campus. It is just located near to one of the entrances and just beside the car park so you can find it easily when you visit there. There are staircases where you can go up and it is really a hot place for Korea University students. Lots of couples will take their pictures there. Even if visitors come to Korea University in spring, they will bring them to that place too.
During the mid of March, the trees will be fulled of cherry blossoms and it is very beautiful. But once it reaches April and especially after rain, the flowers will start to drop. And the flowers beside the trail will start to bloom. During April, the garden beside the staircase will full of red flowers and it is also a hot place to take photos too.
Spring in South Korea is not really long and the flowers also bloom and drop very quickly. So, if you miss them, you might need to wait for another one more year to see them. The flowers usually last for around two weeks and the tree will turn green after that.
Conclusion
There are actually lots more places to see the flowers but I will introduce them to you in the next article. So, what are you waiting for? Go grab your shoes and have a walk around your neighborhood. I believe that those beautiful flowers will heal you from your fatigue day. Enjoy and have fun!
