Where to stay in Jeju really comes down to choosing the right area. Jeju Island is South Korea's largest island, it is easiest to explore by car, and the area you base yourself in decides how long you will drive every day.
We flew in from Seoul in April, stayed at the Trevi Hotel in Jeju City, a few minutes from the airport, and used a rental car to make day trips to almost every corner of the island.
Below we compare hotels in Jeju Island, South Korea, across seven areas by drive time to the airport, who each area suits and the nightly price. Prices are approximate ranges for a mid-range double room and change with your dates.
If you are deciding where to stay in Jeju Island for first timers, the answer for most people is Jeju City; if you are driving, renting a car or travelling without one, the answers to the practical questions are at the end of the page.
Best for: Beach lovers, families with young children
One of Jeju's best-known beaches: white sand and shallow emerald water, with Seoubong cone beside it.
Pros Calm water for kids, close to the airport, an express bus from the airport and a good halfway base for Seongsan.
Cons Busy in the summer beach season; fewer restaurants than Jeju City.
Beach days and sunsets on the west coast
Browse hotels in Hallim and Hyeopjae Ad Staying in this area: details ↓
First-timers, short stays, easy flight days, travellers without a car
Browse hotels in Jeju City (Yeondong) Ad Staying in this area: details ↓
| Area | Best for | Location | Hotels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeju City (Yeondong) | First-timers, short stays, easy flight days, travellers without a car | 10–20 minutes from the airport | See hotels Ad |
| Aewol | Couples, café lovers, sunset chasers | North-west coast, about 30 minutes from the airport | See hotels Ad |
| Seogwipo | Nature lovers, slow travellers | South coast, 40–60 minutes from the airport | See hotels Ad |
| Jungmun | A few nights of pure resort downtime | South-coast resort area, about 1 hour from the airport | See hotels Ad |
| Seongsan | Sunrise at Ilchulbong, the ferry to Udo | Eastern tip, about 1 hour from the airport | See hotels Ad |
| Hamdeok | Beach lovers, families with young children | North-east coast, 30–40 minutes from the airport | See hotels Ad |
| Hallim and Hyeopjae | Beach days and sunsets on the west coast | West coast, 40–60 minutes from the airport | See hotels Ad |
Your picks update instantly, no reload needed. Our area suggestions come from what we saw on the ground, and hotel prices change with your dates.
Jeju City is the island's largest city and the area closest to the airport, and most hotels in Jeju City are here, in Yeondong. We stayed here, at the Trevi Hotel in Yeondong, and were at our hotel soon after landing.
Yeondong is the newer city centre, just south of the airport. The streets around our hotel were full of restaurants, cafés and shops; on our first evening we walked to a Korean fried chicken place nearby, so there was no need to drive for dinner.
A mid-range double room costs roughly ₩70,000–150,000 a night, and together with Seongsan this is where you'll find most cheap hotels in Jeju Island. From here, Aewol is about 30 minutes away, Hyeopjae Beach 40 minutes, and Seongsan, Seogwipo and Jungmun about an hour.
Dongmun Market and Yongduam are in the city itself. This isn't a beach destination: if you're picturing a seaside town, you'll find a city.Watch Dongmun Market from 9:39 in our Jeju vlog
Nightly rate: 70,000–150,000 ₩
Best for: First-timers, short stays, travellers without a car
Trade-offs: No beach feel; windier than the south coast in winter
Vibe: City, practical
To the airport: 10–20 min
Car needed?: No
Good to know: If you're renting a car, this is the easiest area for your first and last nights. We picked ours up from Lotte Rent a Car; a shuttle bus runs between the airport and the rental office.
Aewol is a small coastal town in the northwest of the island, known for its sea-view cafés. Most places to stay are boutique guesthouses and small hotels, so don't come looking for big chains or city life. If you want a Jeju hotel with sea view rooms, this stretch of coast and Hamdeok are the places to look.
We didn't stay in Aewol; we drove over from Jeju City in half an hour. The cafés line the coast and are at their best at sunset, but our evening there was rainy. If you plan to explore the west coast, staying here cuts your driving: Saebyeol Oreum is about 15 minutes away and Hyeopjae Beach around half an hour.
A mid-range double room costs roughly ₩90,000–180,000 a night. It's hard without a car, and options for dinner and groceries are limited.Watch Aewol from 17:34 in our Jeju vlog
Nightly rate: 90,000–180,000 ₩
Best for: Couples, café lovers, sunset chasers
Trade-offs: No big hotels or city amenities; few dinner options
Vibe: Cafés and sunsets
To the airport: About 30 min
Car needed?: Yes
Good to know: The most romantic area for couples. At small guesthouses, ask the host about check-in times and card payment before you book.
Seogwipo is the island's second-largest city, on the south coast, and Seogwipo hotels are the widest choice you'll find outside Jeju City. Cheonjiyeon and Jeongbang waterfalls and Olle Market are close to the centre, and the pace is slower and closer to nature than in Jeju City.
We visited Seogwipo on a day trip from Jeju City: we saw Jeongbang Waterfall dropping straight into the sea, snacked our way around the market and had bibimbap and gimbap at the Gimbap Cheonguk chain, quick and cheap.
Hallasan blocks the north wind, so it's milder in winter than Jeju City, which makes Seogwipo the best answer to where to stay in Jeju during winter. A mid-range double room costs roughly ₩80,000–170,000 a night. Jungmun is 10–15 minutes away and Seongsan 50–60 minutes.
It's a long way from the airport on flight day, and nights are quiet. Across every type of Jeju accommodation, Seogwipo has something: guesthouses, mid-range hotels and resorts.Watch Seogwipo from 20:07 in our Jeju vlog
Nightly rate: 80,000–170,000 ₩
Best for: Nature lovers, slow travellers
Trade-offs: A long way from the airport on flight day; quiet at night
Vibe: Waterfalls and nature
To the airport: 40–60 min
Car needed?: Helpful, not essential
Good to know: With four nights or more, split your stay: your first nights here, your last night in Jeju City for the flight.
Jungmun, on the south coast, is where most Jeju resorts are. Most of the luxury resorts and 5-star hotels in Jeju Island, South Korea, from chains such as Lotte, Shilla and Parnas, are clustered here, and they usually have no problem with foreign cards.
We didn't stay in Jungmun and it isn't in our video; this section is compiled from hotel and tourism sources. Beach, pools and on-site service: it suits travellers who simply want to rest for a few nights. A double room at the big resorts costs roughly ₩180,000–350,000 a night, more in summer.
Seogwipo is 10–15 minutes away; Jeju City and the airport about an hour. You're cut off from everyday life and restaurants, which makes Jungmun a tiring base for a whole trip.
Nightly rate: 180,000–350,000 ₩
Best for: A few nights of pure resort downtime
Trade-offs: The priciest area on the island; far from restaurants
Vibe: Resorts
To the airport: About 1 hr
Car needed?: Not for a resort stay
Good to know: Two nights are enough for the resort experience; spend the rest of your stay in Jeju City or Seogwipo.
Seongsan is a small town on the eastern tip of the island, at the foot of Seongsan Ilchulbong, Jeju's famous sunrise peak. If you want the sunrise, staying here means you won't have to drive in the dark. We came on a day trip from Jeju City. The weather was terrible that morning, so we missed the sunrise and climbed the peak in the afternoon: very steep, lots of stairs, about 20 minutes.
Then a 20-minute boat trip showed us the peak from the sea, about ₩10,000 per person; the haenyeo women divers perform at the same spot at 2pm. A mid-range Seongsan hotel costs roughly ₩60,000–130,000 a night for a double room, with less choice than Jeju City.
If you're after the best Jeju Seongsan hotel for sunrise, pick one within walking distance of Ilchulbong. Manjanggul Cave is about 20 minutes away, Yongnuni Oreum 15 and Seogwipo 50–60.Watch Seongsan from 5:18 in our Jeju vlog
Nightly rate: 60,000–130,000 ₩
Best for: Sunrise at Ilchulbong, the ferry to Udo
Trade-offs: A long way from the airport on flight day; early start for sunrise
Vibe: Sunrise, quiet town
To the airport: About 1 hr
Car needed?: Helpful
Good to know: One night is enough for the sunrise. We came on a day trip and the weather beat us; staying the night would have given us a second chance.
Hamdeok is a beach village on the north-east coast. Its beach has white sand and shallow emerald water, which makes it a favourite with families, and the small Seoubong cone rises right beside it. It also sits on the way from the airport to Seongsan, and several Jeju hotels with ocean views face this stretch of coast.
We didn't stay in Hamdeok, but the beach is in our Jeju vlog. You can manage here without a car: express bus 101 runs from the airport in about 40 minutes, and bus 201 continues to Seongsan. A mid-range double room costs roughly ₩70,000–150,000 a night, cheapest in June and highest in July and August.
Restaurants are fewer than in Jeju City, and the official beach season runs from late June to early September.Watch Hamdeok Beach from 9:15 in our Jeju vlog
Nightly rate: 70,000–150,000 ₩
Best for: Beach lovers, families with young kids
Trade-offs: Busy in the summer beach season
Vibe: Turquoise beach, low-key
To the airport: 30–40 min
Car needed?: Not essential
Good to know: The easiest beach base without a car; with small children in summer, the shallow water is hard to beat.
Hallim is a small town on the west coast, and Hyeopjae is its famous beach: white sand, a pine forest behind it, shallow water and Biyangdo Island just offshore, with some of the best sunsets on Jeju. Hallim Park is next door, and a 15-minute ferry from Hallim Port goes to Biyangdo.
We didn't stay here either, but Hyeopjae Beach is in our Jeju vlog. Places to stay are mostly guesthouses and small hotels, roughly ₩60,000–130,000 a night for a mid-range double room (sea-view rooms by the beach cost more), and by bus (202 from Jeju City) it takes over an hour, so it works best with a car.Watch Hyeopjae Beach from 17:13 in our Jeju vlog
Nightly rate: 60,000–130,000 ₩
Best for: Beach days and sunsets on the west coast
Trade-offs: Slow by bus; mostly guesthouses and small hotels
Vibe: White sand, village calm
To the airport: 40–60 min
Car needed?: Recommended
Good to know: For the west coast without changing hotels, stay here or in Aewol for two nights and spend your last night in Jeju City for the flight.
These are typical times and vary by hotel, so check the exact hours in your booking.
This is where we stayed in Jeju, and it is our Jeju hotel recommendation if you want a practical base near the airport. The hotel is at Yeondong 7-gil 8, about 2.4 km from the airport, so we were at the hotel with our bags soon after landing.
Room types, and whether breakfast is included, vary by date, so check the listing before you book.
Jeju City (Nohyeong) · about 10 min from the airport
If you are looking for 5-star hotels in Jeju, or simply the best hotels in Jeju Island for a special stay, most of the big names are in the Jungmun Resort Complex on the south coast, with a few in Jeju City and Seogwipo. We didn't stay at any of these; the details below come from the hotels and Korean tourism sources, and prices are approximate and change with your dates. In Seogwipo city, the JW Marriott Jeju Resort & Spa opened on the clifftop in 2023.Jungmun · 40–50 min from the airport
A short walk from Jungmun Saekdal Beach, with outdoor pools; one of the island's best-known resort hotels.Check prices at The Shilla Jeju AdJungmun · about 50 min from the airport
Opened in 2000 and known for its windmill gardens and a heated pool open all year; about ten minutes' walk to Saekdal Beach.Check prices at Lotte Hotel Jeju AdJungmun · about 50 min from the airport
The newest of the Jungmun resorts, opened in 2022 with 307 rooms and a long infinity pool facing the sea.Check prices at Parnas Hotel Jeju AdJungmun · 45–50 min from the airport
Around 250 rooms, with a separate Hill Suite wing for a quieter stay.Check prices at Grand Josun Jeju AdPyoseon, south-east coast · about 1 hr from the airport
Next to Pyoseon Beach, between Seongsan and Seogwipo: the luxury option if you want the quieter east of the island.Check prices at Haevichi Hotel & Resort Jeju AdGood to know: "5-star" on booking sites is not always the official Korean hotel grade, so check the hotel's own site if the grade matters to you. Two nights of resort time is usually enough; spend the rest of your stay in Jeju City or Seogwipo.
In Jeju it can pay to look beyond hotels: guesthouses (often called pensions), apartments and Airbnb-style rentals are all common Jeju accommodation. Small guesthouses dominate the coastal towns, and on a tight budget a Jeju hostel or dorm-style guesthouse in Jeju City is the cheapest bed on the island.
To find the best Jeju Airbnb for your trip, filter by parking and by how you get the keys. If you're staying four nights or more, or travelling as a big group, an apartment or villa often gets you more space for the same money.
A kitchen means you can buy food at the market and have breakfast at home, which adds up to a real saving over a week.
For places outside the towns, check parking and directions before you book. Small, family-run businesses can have trouble with foreign cards and late check-ins, so message the host in advance.
Before you book anywhere, check: parking (essential if you're renting a car, especially in Aewol and Seongsan); payment (chain hotels are usually fine, but small local guesthouses can have problems with foreign cards online); dates (book early for peak weeks); free cancellation (so a flight change doesn't cost you); and whether breakfast is included.
In Jeju City, especially Yeondong, just south of the airport. You reach your hotel soon after landing, and there are more restaurants and shops here than anywhere else on the island. That's where we stayed, at the Trevi Hotel, and we saw the rest of Jeju on day trips by car.
Jeju City, on the north coast, is the practical choice. It is 10–20 minutes from the airport, has the most places to eat and is home to the island's intercity bus terminal. Seogwipo, on the south coast, is slower and closer to nature, with Cheonjiyeon and Jeongbang waterfalls and Olle Market near the centre.
It is also milder in winter because Hallasan blocks the north wind. The trade-off is 40–60 minutes to the airport. For two or three nights, base yourself in Jeju City; for four nights or more, split your stay between the two.
In Jeju City. Restaurants, shops and hotels are within walking distance, and the island's intercity bus terminal is here too. Coastal towns such as Aewol and Seongsan have few options in the evening, so staying there without a car is hard.
Jungmun and Seogwipo work too, thanks to the airport limousine bus, and Hamdeok is on an express bus route from the airport. Express buses (red, numbered in the 100s) link the airport with the main towns, Kakao T works for taxis, and city buses are cashless: pay with a T-money card or the QR code.
For two or three nights, one area is enough, and Jeju City near the airport suits most people. We stayed in one hotel in Jeju City and drove to Seongsan, Seogwipo and Aewol and back; the longest drive was about an hour.
For four nights or more, it makes sense to split your stay, for example two nights in Jeju City and two in Seogwipo or Aewol. Driving to the opposite coast takes about an hour.
Spend your last night in Jeju City. From Seogwipo, Jungmun and Seongsan it is at least an hour to the airport, and once you add returning a rental car and traffic, an early morning gets tight. If you land late, book your first night near the airport as well, because driving an unfamiliar road in the dark is tiring.
In short: first and last nights in Jeju City, and the nights in between on the side of the island you most want to see. Most people fly in from Seoul, as we did. Our domestic flight took a little over an hour, and most Seoul–Jeju flights leave from Gimpo Airport.
If you arrive in Korea at Incheon and connect on the same day, allow time to get between the two airports.
Hotels in Jeju Island, Korea, are priced in Korean won. Approximate nightly prices for a mid-range double room: Seongsan and Hallim/Hyeopjae ₩60,000–130,000, Jeju City and Hamdeok ₩70,000–150,000, Seogwipo ₩80,000–170,000, Aewol ₩90,000–180,000, and the big resorts in Jungmun ₩180,000–350,000.
Prices rise noticeably in July and August, in October, and in the weeks of the Korean holidays Chuseok and Seollal; for those dates, start looking at least two to three months ahead. For current prices on your dates: See Jeju Island hotels and prices Ad
For couples, yes; it is the most romantic area on the island. Aewol is a small coastal town in the northwest, known for its sea-view cafés and sunsets, about 30 minutes from the airport.
Accommodation is mostly boutique guesthouses and small hotels, you need a car, and dinner and grocery options are limited. We didn't stay there; we drove over from Jeju City.
Not with your licence alone. Korea accepts an International Driving Permit (IDP) issued by a country that is party to the 1949 Geneva or the 1968 Vienna road traffic convention, so get the paper permit in your home country before you travel; it can't be issued once you are in Korea.
Bring the IDP, your home licence and your passport, and make sure the name matches on all three. An IDP can be used for up to a year after you enter Korea, and it must show its validity dates: Hertz's Jeju Airport branch, for example, turns away expired permits and ones without a valid date.
Most rental companies also ask for a minimum age of 21 and a credit card in the driver's name. The big exception is mainland China, which is not a party to the Geneva convention, so Chinese licence holders generally can't rent a car in Korea.
If your permit was issued anywhere unusual, check with the rental company before you book. We rented from Lotte Rent a Car for three days; shuttle buses run between the airport and the rental office. If you're driving, install Naver Map or KakaoMap, because Google Maps can fall short on driving directions in Korea.
Save your hotel's address in the app once you've booked; it makes the drive back in the evening much easier. For car prices: Compare Jeju car rental prices Ad
Jeju City is the easiest base with children: short transfers from the airport, plenty of places to eat and no long drives at night. For a beach stay, Hamdeok has shallow, calm water that families love and an express bus from the airport.
If you want a resort with pools for a few nights, Jungmun's big resort hotels are made for that; spend the rest of your trip in Jeju City.
In Jungmun, on the south coast. The big resort hotels of chains such as Lotte, Shilla and Parnas are clustered there, with beach, pools and on-site service.
It is the most expensive area on the island, roughly ₩180,000–350,000 a night for a double room, and far from everyday restaurants, so two nights of resort time plus the rest of your stay in Jeju City or Seogwipo works best. See Jungmun resorts and prices Ad
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Readers asked (1)
We are traveling with two kids, which area is easiest?
With two kids, Jeju City (Yeondong) is the easiest base. It's 10–20 minutes from the airport, there are plenty of places to eat within walking distance, and you avoid long drives at night. That's where we stayed, at the Trevi Hotel, and we saw the rest of the island on day trips by car.
A good mix: base yourself in the city and add two nights in Jungmun. Browse hotels in central Jeju City or Jungmun resorts.
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