Winter Sonata in Nami Island, Chuncheon and Beyond: 15 Spots (6 Confirmed)

Where the Hallyu wave began

Winter Sonata (겨울연가) aired on KBS2 from January 14 to Mar 19, 2002, starring Bae Yong-joon as Kang Joon-sang and Choi Ji-woo as Jung Yu-jin. After it aired in Japan the following year, fans began traveling to its filming places, and press reports credit it with starting the Korean wave in tourism. Nami Island and Chuncheon, where the story’s school years are set, are still the places most visitors come for.

Six places are confirmed by two or more independent official or press sources: Nami Island, Chuncheon’s Myeongdong, Yongpyong Resort, Chuam Beach, Bukpyeong Catholic Church and Oedo Botania. The rest are fan-spotted: Korean fan researchers matched them to scenes, and we say only that they appear in the drama. The drama is more than 20 years old, so where a place has changed since filming, the card says so.

Nami Island

Nami Island sits in the Bukhan River; it belongs to Chuncheon but you reach it by ferry from a wharf in Gapyeong. Press reports name it as the setting of the bicycle scene of Joon-sang and Yu-jin and of scenes on its snowy tree-lined paths, and it is still on most first-time visitors’ lists. Ferry times, tickets and island rules are on the official Nami Island site.

Chuncheon

Chuncheon’s Myeongdong is the city’s main shopping street; the city’s tourism site and press say it was filmed for the drama and drew visitors because of it. The dakgalbi alley just behind it makes an easy lunch stop. Fans also list the Soyang 2 Bridge area on the river, and street scenes were reportedly filmed in the old-town lanes nearby. The house used as Joon-sang’s home is gone (see Lost filming spots below).

Pyeongchang

Mona Yongpyong (Yongpyong Resort) says much of the drama was filmed there and points to the Sky Garden at the top of its gondola. It is a working ski and mountain resort, so check its official site for gondola days and tickets before you go.

East coast and beyond

Chuam Beach in Donghae, with its candlestick-shaped sea stacks, is named by Donghae City and the press as a filming location, and Bukpyeong Catholic Church in the same city is named for the drama’s wedding scene. Far to the south, Oedo Botania, an island garden off Geoje, is where the final episode was filmed, according to Geoje City. You can only get there by cruise boat from Geoje; combine it with Gajodo from our Doctor on the Edge guide for a Geoje day.

Seoul

Fans place several scenes in Seoul: Marronnier Park in Daehangno, the Seogang Bridge over the Han River, Huam-dong Catholic Church, the Plaza Hotel and a few old cinemas. Street scenes were also reportedly filmed around Sogong-ro, Namdaemun-ro 1-gil and Sejong-daero 18-gil near City Hall, and Bukchon-ro 8-gil in Bukchon. The Daehan Cinema and Myeongbo Theater no longer run as cinemas.

Lost filming spots

Joon-sang’s house, Chuncheon. The tiled-roof house in Chuncheon’s Giwajipgol neighborhood played Joon-sang’s home and drew hundreds of visitors a day in the Hallyu boom. In 2021 the city said the redevelopment union would buy and preserve it, but later that year local papers reported it would disappear with the neighborhood; in 2023 the buildings there were being demolished for an apartment complex. It is not a place to visit.

Getting there

• Nami Island and Chuncheon: from Seoul, the ITX-Cheongchun and the Gyeongchun Line run toward Chuncheon. Get off at Gapyeong for the Nami Island ferry, or ride on to Namchuncheon or Chuncheon for Myeongdong. Check times and fares on Korail.
• Oedo: from Busan, take an intercity bus to Geoje, then a cruise boat from a Geoje terminal listed on the official Oedo Botania guide.
• Donghae and Pyeongchang: check Korail or search the route on Naver Map (English UI).

Sources