Namhae is an island best explored slowly by car — its two best-known sights, a German village and a terraced farming village, are on opposite sides of a landscape of coastline and hills.
Highlights
- German Village, colourful German-style houses on a hillside overlooking the ocean, built by Korean nurses and miners who returned from working in Germany in the 1960s — now cafés, craft shops, and sunset terraces.
- Gacheon Daraengi Village, 108 levels of terraced rice paddies cascading down a 45-degree slope to the sea; the Jiget-gil trail runs through them.
- Boriam Temple, a hillside temple with sweeping coastal views.
- Canola flower fields in spring, and a coastal Skywalk.
Getting there
Direct bus from Seoul's Nambu Terminal takes about 4.5 hours; by train or car it's closer to 3.5 hours.
Getting around
A rental car is genuinely the way to see Namhae — public transport is thin and the sights are spread out. Use Naver Map or KakaoMap rather than Google Maps for driving directions.