The Slow Way

Jeju 2025

– · 26 days

Hilltop view of Jeju farmland with Hallasan and Sanbangsan

Jeju Island has an oval shape and is 73 km (45 mi) east-west and 31 km (19 mi) north-south, with a gentle slope around Hallasan in the center. The length of the main road is 181 km (112 mi) and the coastline is 258 km (160 mi). On the northern end of Jeju Island is Gimnyeong Beach, on the southern end Songak Mountain, the western end Suwol Peak, and the eastern end Seongsan Ilchulbong.

Illustrated map of Jeju Olle Trail's 27 numbered routes

The Jeju Olle Trail (Korean: 제주올레길) is a long-distance footpath on Jeju Island, in Jeju Province, South Korea. The trail consists of 21 connected numbered main routes, 6 sub-routes, and a short spur that connects to Jeju International Airport. On average, the routes are 16 km in length and total 437 km. They mainly follow Jeju’s coastline and around its outlying islands, passing beaches, fishing villages, indigenous forest, tourist destinations, and urban centers. The exact length and locations change over time as trails are modified or re-routed. Jeju Olle Trail was envisioned and developed by former journalist Suh Myung-sook. It is named after olle (올레), which are short alleys connecting houses to main walkways in traditional Jeju folk architecture.

  1. Jeju, day 0Wandering misty Seogwipo after 30 hours awake
  2. Jeju, day 1A proper do-not-enter fence, not the Japanese kind
  3. Jeju, day 2Build your own hot pot, pay by weight
  4. Jeju Olle, day 1Lost on the rerouted Route 7, and not alone
  5. Jeju Olle, day 2A hummus plate balanced in all five colors of wuxing
  6. Jeju Olle, day 3Green barley fields of Gapado in a freezing wind
  7. Jeju Olle, day 4Water whose color no picture can catch
  8. Jeju Olle, day 5Dropped the backpack, ran back up for the crater
  9. Jeju Olle, day 6Caught in the tea museum’s tourist trap, with pleasure
  10. Jeju Olle, day 7Stumbled upon a café with a Ukrainian name
  11. Jeju Olle, day 8Planes overhead between the airport and the ocean
  12. Jeju Olle, day 9Turned away at the ferry to Chuja islands
  13. Jeju Olle, day 10My map pin was a few kilometres off
  14. Jeju Olle, day 11Spare time, so I climbed a couple of small mountains
  15. Jeju Olle, day 12Still amazing views, but by now all the same
  16. Jeju Olle, day 13A cute ondol room – sleeping on the floor
  17. Jeju Olle, day 14A short walk up Sunrise Peak, minus the sunrise
  18. Jeju Olle, day 15Over 500m of sand between the road and the water
  19. Jeju Olle, day 16A stranger stops his car, hands me rice cakes
  20. Jeju Olle, day 17A whole day of rain and a stormy sea
  21. Jeju Olle, day 18Back where I started, the citrus now in bloom
  22. Jeju Olle, day 19Route 7 properly this time, and the thru-hike is done
  23. HallasanUp the highest mountain in South Korea
  24. Jeju, days 23 to 25–Olle certificate and the final days on the island