East coast · Gangneung, Gangwon
Jeongdongjin Beach
정동진해변
The railway station sits on the sand — and people ride the night train out for the sunrise.
Jeongdongjin station is built so close to the water that the platform is essentially on the beach, which is why the overnight trains from Seoul have been a New Year tradition for decades: you arrive in the dark and watch the sun come out of the sea.
The beach itself is a short curve of clean sand. The town above it has grown around the view, including a cruise-ship-shaped hotel perched on the cliff.
Photograph by Masterhatch, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for this page.
More on the east coast
Gyeongpo Beach
Gangneung's big, easy beach — white sand, a lake behind it and a KTX from Seoul.
Naksan Beach
Four kilometres of sand with a pine forest behind and a clifftop temple above.
Hajodae Beach
Turquoise water, very few people, and Korea's surf scene a few minutes up the road.