Cherry Blossom Season in South Korea: Everything You Need to Know

Cherry blossom season is easily one of the best times to visit South Korea. Each year, from around mid-March to mid-April, cherry blossom trees all around the country are in full bloom, blanketing parks, riversides, and mountaintops in a sea of pink and white.

In Seoul alone, you'll find seemingly endless places to experience this annual phenomenon, including the world-famous Yeouido Cherry Blossom Festival and Seokchon Lake Cherry Blossom Festival.

Explore outside of the capital city, and you can spot the first blooms of the season on Jeju Island, see flowering trees framing ancient palaces and tombs in Gyeongju, or attend the Jinhae Gunhangje Cherry Blossom Festival, the biggest spring festival in the country.

Planning a trip to see South Korea's famous cherry blossoms? This guide has got you covered with the top viewing spots in Seoul and beyond, as well as a few handy tips to help you make the most of your springtime visit.

As a general rule, the best time to see cherry blossoms in South Korea is from late March to mid-April. However, this changes year to year based on the weather and region.

Blooms start in the south, usually appearing on Jeju Island in mid to late March. Things then start popping off in the southern cities of Busan and Daegu before blooming further north in Seoul in early April.

This means that the entire cherry blossom season in South Korea only lasts about three weeks. Of course, this is all weather-dependent. Because the bloom period is short, timing your trip around the South Korea cherry blossom season is key.

Good to know: Cherry blossoms usually last for a week or a week and a half after they first appear on trees. If you're very lucky, you may get to experience them for a full two weeks.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of visitors flock to Seoul's Yeouido Park during the Yeouido Cherry Blossom Festival. Visit this floral wonderland, and it's easy to see why this is one of the best places to experience South Korea's beautiful cherry blossoms.

Take your time and walk for 1.7 kilometres along Yunjung-ro. The entire loop - which is closed to traffic during the festival - is fringed with more than 1,800 cherry trees. During peak cherry blossom season, this place does get very crowded. But it's worth braving the masses because experiencing the spectacle for yourself is a true bucket-list activity.

Of course, there's more to Yeouido Park than its cherry blossoms. At this time of year, you can also see a variety of other beautiful blooms, including azaleas, tulips, and yellow forsythia.

Seokchon Lake is one of the most iconic spots for cherry blossom viewing in Seoul. The two connected lakes are ringed with over 1,000 cherry trees that burst in an explosion of pink in spring.

Not only can you take in the flower-filled landscape from the pedestrian pathways in Seokchon Lake Park, but you'll get postcard-worthy photo ops of the blooms with the sky-high Lotte World Tower and the fairytale-like castle on Lotte World Magic Island in the background.

The Seokchon Lake Cherry Blossom Festival takes place here every year, so keep an eye out for the exact dates if you're planning on travelling to Seoul in early April. With live entertainment, delicious festival foods, and endless photo ops, this festival is always a good time.

Spanning 300 acres in Seongdong-gu, Seoul Forest is one of the largest parks in Seoul. The gorgeous green space is dotted with hundreds of thousands of trees, including an impressive number of cherry trees.

Given its size, there are plenty of popular places to enjoy the spring flowers and a whole slew of entertaining activities, too. Make a day of it and have a picnic under the cherry trees at the Culture & Arts Park, see the landscape from above from the Eco Forest footbridge, feed the deer in Deer Park, and don't miss the colourful tulips, which also bloom in the spring.

Thanks to its mild weather, South Korea's cherry blossom season typically starts on Jeju Island. If you happen to be here in late March, you might even be lucky enough to see Jeju's famous King Cherry Blossoms in peak bloom. These trees are native to Jeju Island and are famous for their large, vibrantly pink flowers.

One of the most iconic spots to see Jeju Island's rare King Cherry Blossoms is on Jeonnong-ro, where the tree-lined road forms a picturesque tunnel. This is also the main site of the annual Jeju Cherry Blossom Festival, which features live music and performances, cherry blossom-themed foods, and all sorts of family-friendly activities.

The biggest cherry blossom festival in South Korea takes place in Jinhae in spring. Typically held around the last week of March, millions of people descend upon the city to attend the Jinhae Gunhangje Cherry Blossom Festival and check out the area's 350,000+ flowering cherry trees.

There are so many incredible places to get dreamy views and photos, but Gyeonghwa Station is the most picturesque and popular. You can expect hordes of people to line up to take photos in front of the vintage Korail train car and pose for selfies on the abandoned railway tracks.

Don't let the crowds put you off too much - people-watching is all part of the fun. Other well-known viewing spots include Yeojwa Stream, lined with cherry trees, and the observation area at the top of Jehwangsan Mountain in Jehwangsan Park.

Visit the ancient capital of the Silla Kingdom during cherry blossom season and you're in for a real treat. You'll find blooms all around the city, including famous historic sites like the Daereungwon Ancient Tomb Stonewall Walkway, Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond, and Oreung Stonewall Walkway.

While you're here, you should also stroll down the famous Heungmu-ro, one of South Korea's many famous "cherry blossom roads," and enjoy the nearly 10,000 cherry trees surrounding Bomun Lake. Time your visit with the Gyeongju Cherry Blossom Festival, and you'll also get to enjoy live entertainment, nighttime light displays, pop-up markets, and plenty of festival foods.

The best places to see cherry blossoms in South Korea are in Seoul, including Yeouido Park, Seokchon Lake, Seoul Forest, and N Seoul Tower in Namsan Park. Outside of Seoul, you can also see endless cherry blossoms at Gyeonghwa Station in Jinhae, Bomun Lake in Gyeongju, and Jeonnong-ro in Jeju City, to name just a few options.

Typically, cherry blossoms bloom in South Korea from mid-March to early April and last from two to three weeks. However, this can change each year depending on the region and weather, with blooms typically lasting from seven to 10 days. Cherry blossoms usually appear in Jeju in the south in late March and make their way to the north, blooming in Seoul in early April.

There are so many photogenic cherry blossom viewing spots in and around major South Korean cities. You can see cherry blossoms in Yeouido Park in Seoul, Namcheon-dong (Cherry Blossom Road) in Busan, Incheon Grand Park in Incheon, and Chimsanjeong Pavilion in Daegu.

Travellers can make the most of their cherry blossom experience in South Korea by starting their journey off in the south in late March and ending their trip in Seoul in early April. That way, travellers can follow the blooms as they move northward.

Travel tips that visitors should know for planning a cherry blossom trip to South Korea are that the cherry blossom season changes from year to year and that you should be prepared for crowds. The most popular places to see cherry blossoms in South Korea get very crowded, especially during official cherry blossom festivals. To visit these sites with fewer people, it's always best to avoid weekends and visit early in the morning on weekdays, if possible.