A 2-year-late travel diary from Gangwon-do with the whole family
I was scrolling through my phone gallery the other day and stumbled upon a pile of photos from two years ago — our family trip to Seolhaeone Resort in Yangyang, Gangwon-do.
It was a quick 1-night-2-day getaway with my daughter Hayul, her aunties, and the rest of the crew. Looking at the photos brought back every single laugh, so I figured it's about time I actually documented it. Better late than never, right? 😊
📋 Trip at a Glance
📍 Where: Seolhaeone Resort, Yangyang, Gangwon-do
👨👩👧 Who: Family + Hayul's aunties
🗓️ Duration: 1 night, 2 days
🍖 The Night Before — Bossam Pre-Game Party
The trip actually started before the trip.
My cousin came over the night before since she lives far away and needed to crash at our place. And obviously, we weren't going to just… go to sleep quietly.
We set up a full spread of bossam (Korean boiled pork wraps) and cracked open some drinks. A proper eve-of-trip party. 🍺
Part of me thought, "We have a trip tomorrow morning, should we really be going this hard already?" But honestly — that's what makes Korean family trips so fun.
📅 DAY 1
🍜 Yeonggwangjeong Buckwheat Noodles — Road Trip Pit Stop
Thanks to the expressway, Yangyang is only about a two-hour drive from the Seoul metro area. Not bad at all.
On the way to Seolhaeone, we stopped at Yeonggwangjeong Memil Guksu (영광정 메밀국수), a famous buckwheat noodle restaurant that's been run by the same family for three generations. It even appeared on the Korean food show Wednesday Food Talk (수요미식회).
We ordered buckwheat noodles, potato pancakes (gamjajeon), boiled pork slices — and of course, makgeolli (Korean rice wine). Because apparently, drinking before noon is acceptable when you're on a Gangwon-do trip. 😋
The dongchimi (radish water kimchi) broth was refreshingly cold, the potato pancakes were crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, and the pork was clean and tender. A perfect first meal.
And Hayul? She demolished everything on her plate. That kid has always been a champion eater. 😂
🏠 Restaurant Info
📍 446 Jinmi-ro, Ganghyeon-myeon, Yangyang-gun, Gangwon-do
⏰ Daily 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM
🚫 Closed: 2nd & 4th Wednesdays
🍦 Seolhae Bakery — Arrived at the Resort!
We got to Seolhaeone a bit early, so before check-in we headed to the Seolhae Bakery on the basement level of the resort.
We tried the Sangha Farm ice cream, coffee, and salt bread (sogeum-bbang) — and everything was genuinely good. The ice cream was rich and creamy, and the salt bread had that perfect crispy-outside-soft-inside texture with a beautiful butter flavor.
Meanwhile, one of the aunties was still hungover from the night before and just melted into her chair. The pre-game party consequences were real. 😅
The resort also has a convenience store and a gift shop downstairs, which was super handy.
🏊 Private Hot Spring Pool — The Main Event
Here's the real reason Seolhaeone is so popular with families: Private hot spring pools are available only in the ground-floor rooms.
No strangers, no crowded communal pools — just your family, warm natural spring water, and zero judgment for being as loud as you want.
The water temperature was perfectly warm, and once the kids got in, there was absolutely no getting them out. Hayul was in paradise. 😂
We splashed around, took a million photos, and even attempted a family group shot
… taken by Hayul herself. The angle was… creative, to say the least.
🦀 Sokcho Market — The Dinner Supply Run
After swimming, we drove to Sokcho Traditional Market to grab dinner supplies. Korean market shopping for a hotel room dinner is honestly one of the best parts of any East Coast trip.
Here's what we picked up:
- Manseok Dakgangjeong — the famous sweet & spicy fried chicken
- Tigaktaegak — crispy snacks
- Red snow crab (hongge)
- Fresh sashimi (hoe)
- Sulbbang — traditional rice wine bread
- Ojingeo Sundae — squid stuffed with rice & vegetables
We originally wanted to get the famous squid sundae from Monyeo Garibi, but the line was insane. So we grabbed it from another shop next door — still delicious.
http://blog.naver.com/briyo/224235040773
Hayul tried sulbbang for the first time and loved it so much she literally did a little dance. 😂
🥃 Room Dinner — Whisky, Crab & Pure Happiness
Back at the room, we spread everything out on the table, opened a bottle of whisky, and went to town.
Red snow crab, fresh sashimi, fried chicken, squid sundae — the table was absolutely loaded.
Sitting around with family, eating market food, sipping whisky, talking about everything and nothing — honestly, this is the best part of any Korean trip. No fancy restaurant can beat this feeling. 😊
👘 Modern Hanbok Room Wear — Cuteness Overload
One cool thing about Seolhaeone — they provide room wear in a modern hanbok (gyeryang hanbok) style.
The adult sizes are nice enough, but the kids' versions are absolutely adorable. I almost bought a set from the gift shop downstairs.
Hayul put hers on and immediately started doing taekwondo kicks. I'm pretty sure she was reenacting an episode from the Korean cartoon Kongsuni where the character goes to a taekwondo class. 😂
🌙 Night Swimming — Adults-Only Round 2
After dinner, the adults headed back to the pool for Round 2.
Here's the genius part: the pool comes with an in-water table, so you can literally sit in the warm hot spring water and drink. Soaking in warm water under the night sky with a glass in hand — absolute paradise. 🌊
If this isn't the Korean definition of healing, I don't know what is.
📅 DAY 2
🍜 Godeun Restaurant — Resort Brunch
The next morning (well, closer to lunchtime), we ate at Godeun Restaurant inside Seolhaeone's clubhouse.
We had jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup) and a few other dishes. They also had a kids' menu with hamburger steak and chicken fried rice, which was a nice touch.
Honestly, my memory of this meal is a bit fuzzy. The whisky from the night before was still very much present. Worth it though. 😅
☕ Badavyu Bakery — The Ocean View Café Everyone Talks About
After checkout, we drove to Badavyu Jeppangso (바다뷰제빵소) — literally "Ocean View Bakery" — which is one of those must-visit cafés in Yangyang.
And the name does not lie. The ocean view from the second floor is stunning.
We grabbed coffee and pastries, settled into a window seat, and just… existed for a while. Watching the waves with a warm drink in hand after a packed trip is the perfect way to decompress.
There are photo spots scattered throughout the café, so we ended up taking a ton of family photos here too. 📸
🏠 Café Info
📍 Jung Chef Badavyu Bakery (Yangyang Main Branch)
📍 3296 Donghae-daero, Ganghyeon-myeon, Yangyang-gun
⏰ Daily 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM (Last order 7:30 PM)
🅿️ Parking available (front lot + seaside lot)
🎲 Epilogue — The Rummikub Showdown Back Home
You'd think the trip ended when we got home, right? Nope.
Everyone came back to our place, we threw together a simple dinner, and then someone pulled out Rummikub.
What followed was a surprisingly intense board game tournament. This game requires way more brainpower than it looks — everyone was staring at their tiles with furrowed brows, complaining that their "brain had stopped working."
From bossam party → road trip → hot spring → market feast → whisky night → ocean café → board game war. Now that's a complete Korean family trip. 😂
📝 Final Thoughts
Even though this was two years ago, going through the photos brought everything back — every laugh, every bite, every splash.
The pre-trip bossam party. Buckwheat noodles with makgeolli at 11 AM. A private hot spring pool that the kids refused to leave. Sokcho Market's greatest hits laid out on a hotel room table. Whisky in a pool under the stars. And a Rummikub game that nearly broke everyone's brain.
It was a trip of eating, playing, eating more, and then eating again. But with family, every moment was pure happiness. 💕
Hayul loved the private hot spring pool so much that we actually went back to Seolhaeone later that same year — I should write about that trip next!
If you're looking for a family-friendly resort in Gangwon-do with private hot spring pools, Seolhaeone is hard to beat. Highly recommended. 👍
🏨 Why Seolhaeone Resort Works for Families
✅ Private hot spring pool in every room
✅ On-site bakery, restaurant, convenience store & gift shop
✅ Modern hanbok-style room wear (kids' sizes are adorable)
✅ In-water tables for the pool (genius for adults)
✅ Close to Sokcho Market & Yangyang ocean-view cafés
✅ About 2 hours from Seoul via expressway
#GangwondoTravel #SeolhaeoneResort #YangyangTrip #KoreanFamilyTrip #PrivateHotSpring #SokChoMarket #KoreanFood #Bossam #BuckwheatNoodles #OceanViewCafe #TravelWithKids #KoreaTravel #Rummikub #KoreanLifestyle #GangwondoResort