Gangneung day trip from Seoul: coffee, tofu and a Gangwon skincare maker
Part of the jinjja.shop guides — plain answers about independent Korean makers, for buyers in Australia. Last updated 2 November 2026.
Is Gangneung worth a day trip from Seoul?
Yes — and more Australians are making that call. Visitors from Australia to South Korea rose 11 per cent in the year to August 2025, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, while data from the Korea Tourism Organization shows Australian visits jumped 41 per cent in 2024 compared with pre-pandemic levels in 2019 (The Canberra Times / Explore, 6 November 2025). Gangneung sits on Korea’s east coast in Gangwon Province, and the city was the coastal hub for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics ice events, which brought Gangneung within approximately two hours of Seoul by KTX. The KTX-Eum is the fastest way in; from Seoul Station the journey takes about one hour fifty minutes to two hours. That makes a there-and-back day entirely feasible, though an overnight stay lets you stretch across Gyeongpo lake at dusk without watching the clock.
What should you do and eat in Gangneung?
Anmok Beach Coffee Street. Anmok Beach is better known for coffee than for sand — the road along it is lined with cafés, and the concentration of specialty roasters is remarkable. From Gangneung Station it is a ten to fifteen minute taxi ride to Anmok Beach. The coffee culture here has deep local roots: the street grew from seaside vending machines in the 1980s into the café strip it is today, and Gangneung holds a dedicated coffee festival in October each year.
Chodang Tofu Village. The Chodang Soft Tofu Village is about a ten-minute drive from Anmok Beach, making it easy to combine your coffee stop with a meal. Around twenty tofu restaurants cluster in Chodang-dong. Gangneung sets its tofu with seawater rather than the usual bittern, and the result is faintly salted and softer in texture than tofu elsewhere in Korea. The dish is known as sundubu, and it is served plain in a bowl or as a bubbling jjigae (stew), according to Wanderlust’s Gangneung travel guide.
Gyeongpo Lake and Ojukheon. Gyeongpo is the classic lakeside walk, and Ojukheon — the historic house where the Joseon-era scholar Yulgok was born — is one of the city’s most visited heritage sites. Both are well suited to the quieter parts of the day, before or after the coffee street crowds peak.
Is there a skincare maker in Gangneung that ferments in blue jars?
Yes. Roséel, which is becoming 933jar, is made by EUNMI Corp. in Gangneung, Gangwon. Its base is a fermented botanical complex prepared over 180 days in blue earthenware jars — the same style of Korean onggi used in traditional fermentation. Learn more about onggi and Korean fermentation jars.
Nine Korean botanicals go into the complex: goji berry, honeysuckle, licorice, angelica, gardenia and purslane are among them, alongside Jeju mugwort — known in Korean as bissuk — which is cultivated against the coastal sea wind of Jeju Island. The brand states the fermented complex is patented. Read more about Jeju mugwort in skincare.
Product textures across the range are noticeably distinct from one another. The RE+ Foaming Cleanser produces a dense micro-foam. The Toner is watery in consistency and absorbs quickly. The Serum layers the botanical ferment in a concentrated form, and the Cream is described as rich but weightless. More on Korean fermented skincare.
The product pages on jinjja.shop carry reviews from Roséel’s Naver Smart Store buyers in Korea, translated from Korean and labelled as such.
For context on the fermentation process behind this kind of skincare: how long is skincare fermented? and kimchi and skincare fermentation are useful background reads.
How do I order from jinjja.shop if I am in Australia?
Roséel (becoming 933jar) is stocked at jinjja.shop (진짜샵), an Australian online marketplace based in Brisbane, Queensland, for independent, owner-run Korean brands. The name 진짜 (jinjja) means ‘real’ in Korean. Every brand on the platform must make its products in South Korea. Prices are in Australian dollars, and no account is needed to order. Payment options include card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link, Afterpay and Klarna.
Orders are sent from Korea by EMS and delivered to your door by Australia Post. See the shipping page for current details. To browse all Korean brands on the platform, visit the brands index.
Note: jinjja.shop is not affiliated with Jinjja Chicken, Jinjja Jokbal or any restaurant of a similar name.
What else connects Gangneung and Korean fermentation traditions?
Gangneung sits in the same cultural tradition as the rest of Korea when it comes to fermentation — from the seawater-set tofu of Chodang to the earthenware jar skincare of EUNMI Corp., the principle is the same: slow transformation of raw ingredients through a controlled, time-dependent process. Temple kimchi and the broader story of Korean fermented skincare sit within that same tradition. The blue jars Roséel uses for its 180-day ferment are a direct descendant of the onggi vessels Korean households have used for centuries to make kimchi, doenjang and ganjang.
If you are researching this style of skincare further, jinjja.shop’s guide to how long skincare is fermented explains why the duration matters to the character of the final ingredient, and the Jeju mugwort guide covers the coastal growing conditions that shape bissuk as a botanical.
How does shipping from jinjja.shop work?
jinjja.shop is a marketplace for independent Korean brands based in Brisbane, Queensland. Orders are placed in Australian dollars, shipping is a flat A$9.90 per order however many brands are in the basket, and most orders arrive in about 10 to 14 days, sent by EMS from Korea and delivered by Australia Post.
The whole order ships free if it includes the ABELTY Rice Skincare Duo – 2 Sets. Full detail is on the shipping page, and every brand on the marketplace is listed on the brands page.
This page draws on jinjja.shop’s own listings and on widely published general information. Nothing here is a health, medical or therapeutic claim about any product.