With island groups dotted all around Korea’s southern and western coasts, you may feel it prudent on a South Korea trip to forgo the three-hour ferry-ride to a small turret of land between Korea and Japan, and head instead to a closer isle. However, this would be a mistake – Ulleungdo (울릉도), covered in a rich, green cloak of trees and fringed with juniper, is refreshingly unspoilt and simply stunning. Its volcanic origin and the flora splashed around on its nutritious soils mark it out as a mini Jeju, but while increasingly popular with Korean travellers, Ulleungdo’s isolation has kept it largely free from the ravages of mass tourism. Its armies of middle-aged Korean tourists are here mainly due to its proximity to Dokdo, an even smaller speck of land claimed by both Korea and Japan, and a focus of nationalistic demonstrations. With no Family Marts or five-star hotels, and just one bumpy main road tracing a vague parallel to the coast, the only time that the island’s pulse seems to quicken is in the half-hour window surrounding ferry arrivals, when ajummas race around trying to draw tourists back to their minbak accommodation.
Few islands in Korea can provide as spectacular an arrival as Ulleungdo’s main settlement, Dodong-ni, whose port appears suddenly in a dramatic cove encircled by steep mountains and squeezed between valley walls. Ulleungdo’s second main settlement, Jeodong-ni, lies just up the coast, slightly smaller but more open and rather different in character. Together, these two villages, both an untidy but appealing mix of minbak and fish restaurants, give visitors a taste of the island’s rugged charm.
Naribunji, in the north, is a farming area of tremendous beauty, its flatness coming as a surprise after the island’s bumpy coastal road. Along the way, picturesque fishing settlements dot the shore, while the volcanic peaks in the island’s centre offer excellent hiking through landscapes that still feel largely untouched by modern life. For 14-day South Korea trips, Ulleungdo can add a remote island chapter with dramatic arrivals, coastal villages, mountain trails, and a very different rhythm from the mainland.
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