Provence Village is a French-culture theme town located in Paju, a city at the North of Seoul. It is famous for its pastel-like buildings, shops selling accessories and the European scent lingering around the town.
How to Get to Provence Village
If you are from Seoul, you can consider taking bus 2200 from Hapjeong station line 6. It brings you to Matgoeul Entrance(๋ง๊ณ ์์ ๊ตฌ) within about 40 minutes. Then you could take a 15-minute walk to the destination. If you are in Paju, just take bus 036 which takes you straight to the entrance of the Provence Village.
Address: 69 Saeori-ro Tanhyeon-myeon, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do
Price: The entrance is free
Operating hours: 10am โ 10pm everyday without holidays.
Photo Zones in Provence Village
You can find an unique glass-covered green house in the village. There are various types of plants lining at sides of the path and a small pond with fish that further increases the vitality of the place. Many visitors enjoy coffee and desserts at the tables with sunshades and comfortable chairs provided all around the greenhouse. What is more relaxing than this?
You can also find a lot of houses painted with โbaby colorsโ(e.g. baby pink) around the village. Decorated with flowers and delicate furniture, they make you feel like you are in a dreamland of Barbie. Besides, there are also many murals and paintings that make you feel the vibes of Southern French costumes and culture. The paths with flowers, ponds and stairs are all great photo zones that must be perfect for your Instagram feeds!
If you stay in Provence Village until the sun sets, the picture of how the sunset blends with the buildings may surprise you. At night time when the lights are on, it is even more beautiful that it looks completely different and brings a different romantic environment. If you are coming with your lover or someone you like, donโt miss the garden at the corner of the village. It has a path with love-shaped lights and 5 steps of love language writing on it. At each stage, you see the instruction like โthe first step: a warm eye contactโ, โthe second step: a gentle hands holdingโ, โStep 3: a warm hugโ, โStep 4: a sweet peckโ and finally โStep 5: a passionate deep kissโ! What a wonderful chance to confess your heart!
Parking Tower
This parking tower is not only for car parking. On the first floor and underground floor, there are some hidden clothes and accessories shops, restaurants and cafes. I think itโs a good idea to look around the shops before you enter the village or before you leave!
In fact, many popular dramas have been filmed in Provence Village. It is featured in โMy Love from The Starโ(2013) which Kim Soohyun and Jun Jihyun starred in, โThe Masterโs Sunโ(2013) and โ The Girl Who Sees Smellโ(2015).
Facilities around the Village
Provence Village has unique restaurants, cafes, clothes shops for shopping, handcrafted souvenirs and accessories shops, and a small indoor zoo and also you can enjoy some handcraft activities such as woodcarving. Some of the most popular cafes I would like to introduce are โConialioโ and โRyo-Jaeeun Bakeryโ. โConialioโ means โrabbitโ in Italian. The interior and exterior of the cafe is designed based on the theme โConialioโ. In fact, you can even meet real rabbits in the cafe. With high-quality roasted coffee beans, they provide good coffee and also organic drinks as well as pastries made by โPark Jonggeun Bakeryโ.
On the other hand, Ryu-jaeeun Bakery is one of the most famous bakeries in Paju. It has also been nominated as one of the Travel Checkpoint Cafes. They make many delicious and amazing pastries and you should try their Garlic Bread which is their signature breed. People even queue up just to buy the garlic bread and they become sold out in one minute after the batch of garlic bread comes out. Other than the branch in Provence Village, they have also many branches along the road near the village. We visited the main branch located just 5 minutes walk away from the village. The bakery has a very cozy dining space and, of course, live-up-to-its-fame taste of breads. And the garlic breed was really good for sure. We were very satisfied with our tea time there!
My comments
Provence Village is a good place to relax and enjoy a leisure time. The unique and colorful buildings, designersโ accessories shops, and night lights had me indulging in the French vibe. Also, since the entrance fee is free, you donโt have to worry about your budget, and you can enjoy this whole wonderful scenery without paying a single penny. I would definitely like to have my second visit soon here when I need to escape from the busy repetitive life.
And if you are looking for other places you can visit in the province, click here!
