Seongsan by Bus: A Full Day on Jeju's Olle Trail 1 Without a Rental Car
My car was in the shop for a few days once, and I had no choice but to get around Seongsan by bus. I'll admit I expected it to be a hassle.
It wasn't. It turned out to be so easy that I've actually preferred traveling by bus ever since.
Driving has its perks, sure, but it also comes with a quiet inconvenience: you have to walk back to wherever you parked. That usually means retracing your steps, or cutting a walk short before you're ready. A bus doesn't ask that of you. You just hop on at whichever stop looks good and keep moving toward your next stop.
Today I want to share the route I'd recommend first to anyone visiting Seongsan: a full day out on Jeju Olle Trail 1, Jeju's famous network of coastal walking trails, entirely by bus.
This is for you if:
✔ You're traveling without a car
✔ You're exploring Jeju solo
✔ You want to slow down and walk Jeju rather than drive through it
✔ You want a full, satisfying day without a rental car
📅 Suggested Itinerary
| 9:00 AM | Arrive in Siheung-ri by bus |
|---|---|
| 9:10 AM | Start walking Olle Trail 1 (Dusanbong / Al-oreum) |
| 11:30 AM | Lunch in Jongdal-ri |
| 12:30 PM | Coastal road walk · Mokhwa rest stop |
| 2:00 PM | Gwangchigi Beach |
| 3:00 PM | Seongsan Ilchulbong |
| 4:30 PM | Wind down at ORRRN |
| 6:00 PM | Bus back to your accommodation |
※ These times are a relaxed example. Adjust freely based on your own walking pace.
🚍 How Do You Get There?
Seongsan is one of the easiest parts of Jeju to reach by bus.
From downtown Jeju City or Jeju International Airport, you have three main options.
- Express Bus 111
- Express Bus 112
- Trunk Line Bus 201
These three routes are the main connections to Seongsan's biggest attractions.
🥾 First Stop: Starting Olle Trail 1 from Siheung-ri
Get off at: Siheung-ri (often called "Siheung Elementary School stop")
Buses that stop here: 111 · 112 · 201
Olle Trail 1 is the very first course of the Jeju Olle Trail network, and the official start of the whole 425km system that circles the island.
But you don't need to walk all of it.
Honestly, I'd recommend walking only as much as feels right for your own stamina.
A lot of people assume they have to finish the whole course. They don't.
Jeju's buses reach almost everywhere along the coast, so walking exactly as much — or as little — as you want is completely fine.
| 😊 Easy | About 2–3km · 2 hours — Siheung-ri → Bus 201 → Seongsan Ilchulbong Entrance → Gwangchigi Beach → Seongsan Ilchulbong |
|---|---|
| 🚶 Recommended | About 5–7km · 3–4 hours — walk, then hop on Bus 201 from whichever stop is nearby → Gwangchigi Beach → lunch → Seongsan Ilchulbong |
| 🥾 Full course | About 15km · 4–5 hours — the entire Olle Trail 1 → Seongsan Ilchulbong |
🍚 After the Oreum, Lunch in Jongdal-ri
Once you've come down from the trail's first two oreum (volcanic hills) — Dusanbong, also known as Malmi-oreum, and the smaller Al-oreum right beside it — the trail leads into the village of Jongdal-ri, in Gujwa-eup.
After climbing two oreum back to back, you'll probably be hungry. Fortunately, Jongdal-ri has a couple of restaurants that are easy to walk into solo, even mid-hike.
🍱 For a hearty home-cooked meal: Jongdal-miso
A Korean-style buffet at the entrance to Jongdal-ri village.
You can help yourself to home-style side dishes that rotate daily — think stir-fried pork, grilled fish, and seasoned vegetables — which makes it perfect for refueling after a long walk.
It's especially welcoming for solo travelers, which is part of why it's popular with Olle Trail hikers.
🍜 For something lighter: Migwang Guksu
A noodle shop not far from Jongdal-miso.
It's an easy solo stop, and it serves the kind of dishes worth trying at least once on a Jeju trip — gogi guksu (Jeju's signature pork-broth noodle soup) and gogi gukbap (pork soup with rice), both at friendly prices.
If you'd rather not eat too heavily after coming down from the oreum, this is a good, lighter option.
Olle trails take more out of you than they look like they will. Eating properly here makes the coastal road that follows much easier.
🌊 The Second Half of Olle Trail 1: Walking the Coastal Road
Past Jongdal-ri, the mood shifts a little.
From here, the trail follows a long stretch of coastal road with Udo Island and Seongsan Ilchulbong in view the whole way. The open ocean views are genuinely beautiful, but there's almost no shade, so this section gets hot fast.
Bring a hat and water, and I'd plan a few breaks along the way.
🦑 Mokhwa Rest Stop
Anyone walking Olle Trail 1 ends up here at some point.
It's an official Olle rest stop, complete with the trail's stamp station and the little Ganse mascot, right in the middle of the coastal road.
You'll see a lot of travelers sitting at the outdoor tables, catching the sea breeze over half-dried squid, instant noodles, or a cold drink.
For me, this place isn't really a destination — it's more of a "pause in the scenery" kind of memory.
🚌 If You Get Tired, Take Bus 201
You are never obligated to walk Olle Trail 1 to the end. On my first walk, I remember my legs giving out partway through and thinking, "what if I can't finish this?" — but in Seongsan, Bus 201 runs frequently enough that there's really no need to worry about that.
- Board at: Siheung-ri stop (in front of Siheung Elementary School)
- Get off at: Seongsan Ilchulbong Entrance stop
- Bus: No. 201
- Frequency: roughly every 15–20 minutes
Bus 201 runs a long route with a lot of stops, but that also means it comes around often — which actually works in favor of anyone traveling car-free. Gwangchigi Beach is also on this route, by the way, so you can hop on right from there if you'd rather not walk the rest of the way.
📱 Before You Board
on the Jeju Bus Information System
🚶 Walk as much of Olle Trail 1 from Siheung-ri as feels right
🚌 Hop on Bus 201 whenever you're tired
🏖️ Take in the view at Gwangchigi Beach
🌋 Explore Seongsan Ilchulbong
🍚 Lunch in Jongdal-ri
☕ Unwind at ORRRN
🏖️ Gwangchigi Beach
Gwangchigi Beach is one of my favorite beaches on the whole island.
At low tide, the exposed basalt rock and shallow water create a landscape unlike anywhere else on Jeju, and on a clear day, Seongsan Ilchulbong rises up behind it like a backdrop.
It's a good spot to sit on a bench and rest for a while — and just as good for photos.
🌋 Seongsan Ilchulbong
After lunch, it's time to head to Seongsan Ilchulbong — Jeju's UNESCO-listed volcanic tuff cone, often called "Sunrise Peak."
Climbing to the summit is worth it, but if you're short on time or energy by this point, the view from the base is more than enough on its own.
☕ Ending the Day at ORRRN
After all that walking, a seaside café is exactly what you need.
ORRRN, a large bakery café right at the entrance to Seongsan, has floor-to-ceiling windows facing the ocean, making it a great place to recover after a long day. The seating is spaced out well, so it's comfortable for solo travelers too, and the fresh bakery items and coffee do a good job of bringing your energy back.
Sitting by the window watching the water, I always find myself half-debating: keep walking, or call it a day here? Somehow that little decision feels like part of the trip itself.
If you're driving, you have to keep an eye on parking time limits. On a bus trip, you can just take your time over a coffee and wait for the next one. That kind of ease, I think, is the biggest appeal of traveling by bus.
🚍 Bus Info Recap
| Stop | Bus Number |
|---|---|
| Siheung-ri | 111 · 112 · 201 |
| Gwangchigi Beach | 201 |
| Seongsan Ilchulbong Entrance | 111 · 112 · 201 |
✔ On the Olle trails, walking at your own pace matters more than finishing the whole course.
✔ Don't feel bad about hopping on a bus partway through — enjoying the trip matters more than completing it.
✔ Seongsan's bus network is solid enough that it's one of the easiest areas on Jeju to explore for a full day without a rental car.
Final Thoughts
There's more than one way to travel Jeju.
Renting a car and covering a lot of ground quickly is one kind of trip, and it has its own appeal. But taking the bus and moving through a single day slowly, on foot, is a completely different kind of experience.
Seongsan might be the best place on the island to start that kind of trip.
Get off the bus, walk the Olle trail, eat well in Jongdal-ri, follow the coastal road to Seongsan Ilchulbong, and end the day at a café by the water.
I don't think there are many ways to experience Jeju more slowly, or more fully, than that.