from 0 review
3 days 2 nights
Daily Tour
7 people
English, Korean
Ulleungdo sits 217 km out in the East Sea, and almost everything about it is different from the mainland: it is the eroded top of a volcano, the roads cling to cliffs, and the only flat ground on the whole island is the floor of its old crater. Very few foreign visitors get here, and almost nothing is written about it in English.
From Ulleungdo a cruise runs out to Dokdo, the two rocky islets on Korea’s eastern maritime border. The round trip takes about four hours, of which roughly thirty minutes are spent ashore.
This is a private trip for your group only: your own English-speaking guide from Seoul, a private car to the ferry port at Mukho, and a chartered vehicle waiting on the island. We book the ferries and the Dokdo cruise in our own name.
Please read this before you book. Ferries to Ulleungdo and the landing at Dokdo both depend on the sea. If the swell is too high the Dokdo boat circles the islets instead of docking, and in bad weather a sailing can be cancelled outright. This is not something any operator can promise around. We plan the trip with that in mind and we will tell you honestly what the forecast looks like.
Photographs of Ulleungdo on this page: ©Korea Tourism Organization — Anjinho Film, Cheon Joonkyo, Lee Junhyuck. Used under the Korea Open Government License (KOGL) Type 1.
| # | Discount group | From adult | To adult | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4-5 people | 4 | 5 | €527,00 |
| 2 | 6-7 people | 6 | 7 | €674,00 |
(Breakfast: not included, Lunch: on the coast at Mukho, Dinner: honghap-bap, Ulleungdo mussel rice)
An early start. Your guide collects you from your hotel in Seoul and drives east to the ferry terminal at Mukho, in Donghae on the east coast — about 3 hours 20 minutes and 251 km, with a stop at a motorway service area on the way. We have lunch near the port before checking in.
The ferry to Ulleungdo takes about 2 hours 40 minutes and lands at Dodong, the island's main harbour, wedged into a narrow ravine between two cliffs. There is no room for a town here, so the town climbs the walls instead.
After we drop the bags we walk the Dodong coastal path, cut into the cliff just above the water, then take the cable car up Mangyangbong to the Dokdo Observatory. On a clear day you can see Dokdo itself, 87 km away. The Dokdo Museum beside the upper station is free to enter and explains why these two rocks matter so much here.
Dinner is honghap-bap, rice steamed with the island's mussels — before the squid boats, mussels were what Ulleungdo lived on.
Overnight in Dodong.
(Breakfast: at the hotel, Lunch: after the cruise, Dinner: ttagaebi kalguksu, barnacle noodle soup)
This morning we sail to Dokdo. The cruise takes about four hours in total, of which roughly thirty minutes are spent standing on the islets themselves.
Whether the ship can dock is decided on the day, by the sea. If the swell is too high the captain circles the islets instead of landing. It is close, loud and worth seeing either way — but we will not pretend that anyone can guarantee the landing.
In the afternoon we drive inland to the Nari Basin, about 23 minutes and 18 km from Dodong. This is the floor of the volcano's old crater and the only flat land on Ulleungdo — the one place where people could farm. The houses here were traditionally walled and roofed with reeds against the winter snow, which buries the basin.
On the way back we stop at Bongnae Falls, seven minutes from Dodong, where groundwater comes out of the rock and drops in three stages. The cold air vent beside the path stays cold right through the summer; the islanders used it as a natural refrigerator.
Overnight in Dodong.
(Breakfast: at the hotel, Lunch: before the ferry)
We check out and take the coast road north. The road was blasted into the cliff face and only closed its last gap a few years ago; the speed limit on the island is 40 km/h, which tells you something about the corners.
We stop at the Samseonam rocks — three stacks standing straight out of the water — and cross the footbridge to Gwaneumdo, about 11 minutes and 9 km from Dodong, for the view back along the north shore. If there is time before the sailing we also look in at Jeodong harbour and its Candlestick Rock.
After lunch we board the ferry back to Mukho, about 2 hours 40 minutes, where the car is waiting. The drive into Seoul takes about 3 hours 20 minutes and we drop you at your hotel.
The Day 3 sailing time is set by the ferry company and can move; your guide will confirm it with you on the island.
Member Since 2022
