Gangneung Jungang Market: Travel Guide (4.0★)

A market that eats its way through Gangwon

Come here hungry and leave carrying a box. Gangneung Jungang Market (강릉중앙시장) is the city’s covered traditional market. Lanes of stalls sell produce, dried seafood, kitchenware and, above all, snacks. It’s one of the most-reviewed markets on Korea’s east coast, and on a weekend afternoon the aisles feel like it.

The market covers more than one level. Fresh and dried seafood takes up a large share of the space, which makes sense in a port city on the East Sea. Street-food stalls line the main walkways. Many visitors do a quick lap first, then come back to the stalls that caught their eye.

What to eat between the stalls

Gangwon-do is potato and squid country, and the snack stalls show it. Look for these regional staples:

• Dakgangjeong (닭강정): fried chicken tossed in a sticky sweet-spicy glaze. It’s the market’s signature takeaway and comes packed in boxes.
• Ojingeo sundae (오징어순대): whole squid stuffed with a rice and vegetable filling, then sliced.
• Gamja-jeon (감자전): a chewy pancake made from grated potato, a Gangwon specialty.
• Hotteok (호떡): griddled pancakes filled with brown sugar syrup.
• Hoe (회): raw fish from the seafood section.

The dakgangjeong keeps well because it’s eaten at room temperature. People buy a box to take onto the KTX back to Seoul. If you want hot food, eat it where you buy it, since fried snacks go soggy fast in a paper cup.

Beating the crowds at Jungang Market

Timing makes the biggest difference to your visit here. On weekdays the market is calmest from 8am to 11am. On weekends the quiet window is shorter, 8am to 10am. After that it fills up fast.

Try not to arrive between 11am and 7pm on a Saturday or Sunday. That’s when weekend crowds pack the lanes and queues build at the best-known chicken stalls. If a weekend is your only option, get there at the 8am opening. The market is open daily until 7pm, but individual stalls keep their own hours and some close before then.

Queues, payment and eating on your feet

Queues: Stalls with a line out front usually have one reason for it. Join the line and don’t crowd the counter. At the busiest dakgangjeong shops, a quick point at the box size you want is enough.

Payment: Most stalls take cards, and Korean-issued mobile payment is common. Carry some small-denomination cash for the smallest snack vendors. Don’t tip. Nobody expects it anywhere in Korea.

Eating and seafood: Grazing on your feet is normal in the snack lanes. Step out of the walkway to eat so shoppers can get past. At the seafood counters, Korean markets often let you choose a fish and have it sliced. Ask how it works before you point, because some vendors send you to a nearby restaurant to eat.

Language: Ordering is easy with gestures and the snack’s Korean name. “Igeo juseyo” (이거 주세요, “this one, please”) works at every counter.

Getting there from the station

The market is at 21 Geumseong-ro, in Gangneung’s old downtown. From Gangneung Station, the end of the KTX line from Seoul, it’s about 1.5km. That’s a flat 20-minute walk, a short taxi ride, or a few stops on the local buses heading downtown.

If you’re coming from Gyeongpo Beach or Anmok Coffee Street, a taxi is the simplest option. Both are on the coast, a few kilometres east. Driving in yourself is harder on busy days, when the streets around the market clog with cars looking for a space.

Pairing it with the old town

Give the market itself an hour to ninety minutes. Seongnam Market sits right next to it, so the two blend into one long shopping stretch. Wolhwa Street (월화거리) runs alongside as well. It’s a linear park built on the old railway line, good for eating your dakgangjeong on a bench.

Gangneung Daedohobu Gwana is a short walk away. These are the restored buildings of the Joseon-era government offices, and they’re far quieter than the market. A morning that starts at the market at 8am, then moves on to the Gwana and Wolhwa Street, is done before the weekend crowds arrive.