Gurye Sansuyu Flower Festival – Springtime in Korea

Spring is here! The striking yellow blooms at Gurye Sansuyu Festival signal the beginning of spring in South Korea. They are one of the first trees to start blooming in early spring. Last year we visited this quaint little village in Guryeon on the 20th of March. So, around about now. Since we just moved to Seoul and, well, travel is best avoided these days, we’ll have to miss out this year. My heart is melting looking back at the memories from last year. If you happen to be nearer and could visit on a weekday to avoid the crowds, I hope you can make some beautiful memories of your own!

If you’re fortunate enough to visit Gurye this year, we recommend stopping for lunch at Sansuyu Noodles. It’s on the road up the old village – where all the Sansuyu beauty is – but there’s not much to eat once you get up there. The noodles are good. The gimbap is good. There’s a wide-open area with random artistic sculptures to keep kids occupied. There’s a ‘local food market’ (which looks like a regular mart but has all local, and mostly organic, produce) and there’s a shop with ice-cream. Everyone’s happy!

The bright yellow against the blue sky is quite a site! But, curiously, a local lady let us know that it’s also worth visiting in late austumn, when the trees have bright red berries! We’ve yet to enjoy that experience yet. Please share if you manage to a make it there in November.

The kids had a ball, as did we! There are fields upon fields of these gorgeous trees, but also a stream to dip your toes in -if you dare – it’s still pretty chilly. Just skimming stones, or trying to, passed the time nicely.

There is no official festival this year, but nature doesn’t stop for a pandemic. We went by car last year and just wandered around (there was no official festival area last year either). I’m pretty clueless about transport in the area, but this site seems a bit more cluey.

Another nearby spot that’s lovely at this time of year is Hongildong Theme Park.