Visiting the Boseong Green Tea Fields

When I stumbled upon the Boseong Green Tea Fields while planning my trip to South Korea, I was enthralled by its beauty and quickly added it to the list of places I wanted to visit in the country. I have always been interested in visiting a tea plantation, and despite living in Kenya, one of the world’s largest tea-producing countries, I never got to visit until this trip to South Korea.

I planned to travel from Jeonju to Namwon, with a pit stop in Boseong. The only problem? The Boseong Green Tea Fields are a little out of the way, especially for someone relying solely on public transportation.

As I tried to figure out the best way to get there from Jeonju, it seemed more and more inconvenient to make the journey. So Boseong fell off my itinerary several times but as it was a destination I couldn’t keep off my mind, it came back on several times as well! 🙂

How to get to Boseong Green Tea Fields from Jeonju

After a frantic last-minute night research, I decided on the following bus routes – Jeonju to Gwangju and Gwangju to Boseong. Each leg of the journey takes an hour and a half.

When I later checked on the Naver Navigation app, I found that a more efficient and cheaper way to make this journey might have been to take the KTX or Mugunghwa trains to Suncheon Station and then to Boseong Station.

My route back was somewhat similar, as I took the Mugunghwa train to Suncheon Station and the KTX train to Namwon.

The Boseong Green Tea Fields – Daehan Dawon Tea Plantation

Once I arrived at the Boseong bus station, I walked to the train station a couple of minutes away and got a taxi from there to the Daehan Dawon Tea Plantation (대한다원); (Public buses are also available). There are a few other tea fields in the area but Daehan Dawon is the biggest and most popular one.

I paid the entrance fee of ₩4,000 (about $3) and proceeded to tour the grounds. When I arrived at a fork in the road, one way leading to the observatory for the tea plantation and the other leading to the bamboo forest, I decided to follow the path to the observatory.

The views of the tea terraces were just as beautiful as portrayed in the images I had seen and I thoroughly enjoyed my casual stroll through the landscape.

Once I was done with that, I headed back down to the cafe close to the entrance. The universally-agreed activity for visitors after wandering around the tea plantation is to have a refreshing serving of a green tea beverage or dessert.

I opted for a cup of green tea ice cream but as someone with a sweet tooth, I have to admit that I was not a big fan of it. I’d be willing to give this another try though if the opportunity ever presents itself. 🙂

Next, I traced my way back to the fork in the road, this time, following the trail that lead to the bamboo forest, before finally exiting the grounds.

With an hour left of my allocated time in the area, I realized I had time for one more destination. My choices were between the Tea Museum of Korea and a quaint cafe I found online. They were at opposite ends from Daehan Dawon.

Boseong Green Tea Cafe – The World of Spreading Green Leaves

Worried that I might miss my train to Namwon, I decided to skip the tea museum and head to the cafe instead. (Naver Pin). Here, I ordered a cup of green tea and green tea biscuits and unlike the green tea ice cream, I enjoyed these.

Had I planned better, I might have been able to visit the tea museum as well. However, I thought that getting a cab back to the station would be difficult and that I could catch an earlier train to Namwon. I was wrong on both accounts and arrived at Boseong Station four hours before the next available train.

To while away the time, I wandered into another empty cafe and ordered a delicious croissant and latte. This turned out to be a pleasant experience and a wonderful ending to my time in Boseong.

South Korea Travel Resources

Getting a visa to South Korea

Solo Tripping in South Korea – The Beginning

A simple travel checklist for first-time visitors

Buy a SIM card online and pick it up at the airport or get an eSIM here.

Rent your Hanbok online

Hanok Stay Experience in Namwon

The best time to visit Boseong Green Tea Field

I was happy to read that these tea fields can be visited all year round. I visited at the beginning of October and I thought the scenery was gorgeous then.

Visiting Boseong Green Tea Fields – The Sum Up

Despite the relatively long journey it took to get to the Boseong Green Tea Fields and back, this stop was well worth it for me. Apart from enjoying the beautiful views of the tea plantations and bamboo forest, and the wonderful cafes I visited afterwards, I enjoyed the journey itself, and the kind people I interacted with along the way.

From the lady who helped me at the bus station to the station attendant who agreed to keep my bags while I visited the tea fields; to practising my broken Korean and laughing with cafe staff and to figuring things out on my own, this stop transcended the visit to the tea plantation and became more of an overwhelming reminder of what I love about travel in general and solo travel in particular.