Knee-high walls of black, pitted basalt run alongside the path. Behind them sit fields of root vegetables, and beyond those the sea is very pale over sand and dark over lava rock. Ribbons tied to fence posts mark the way in two colours. That is what Jeju Olle Routes 19 and 20 look like, and it is where the Jeju Olle Walking Festival takes place from November 5 to 7, 2026.
Three days on the northeast coast
The festival is a walk, not a stage show. There is no single venue. The “venue” is two connected stretches of the Jeju Olle trail network, and you walk them on foot along with everyone else who has registered.
Route 19 starts near Jocheon Manse Hill, the memorial to Jeju’s part in the 1919 independence movement. From there it heads east past Hamdeok Beach and ends at Gimnyeong’s small harbour. Route 20 picks up at Gimnyeong and follows the shore through Woljeong-ri and Pyeongdae-ri to the Jeju Haenyeo Museum near Sehwa. Each one is a full day’s walk for most people.
One geographic note: the festival carries Seogwipo in its billing, but these two routes are on the northeast coast. Seogwipo’s harbour town is on the far side of Hallasan, on the south coast. Many visitors stay in Jeju City or in the beach villages along the route instead.
Registration, not tickets
Entry is free, and walkers join by pre-registering. The festival is run under the Jeju Olle name, and the registration details and programme for each edition sit with the organiser, not with a ticketing platform.
There is no box office and no seat to pick. Registered walkers usually have a start point, a route and some company for the day. Anyone walking the same path without registering is simply on a public trail.
Blue arrows, orange arrows, and the pony
The waymarking system is the most useful thing to understand before your first step. Jeju Olle trails use a small set of markers you will learn within an hour:
- Blue arrows point in the standard direction of the route.
- Orange arrows point the other way, for walkers going in reverse.
- Blue and orange ribbons are tied to branches, poles and fences at junctions.
- The ganse, a stylised pony figure, marks the trail and gives Olle its emblem.
Stamp stations stand at the start, middle and end points of each route. Walkers with an Olle passport press a stamp into it at each one. Over three festival days, that gives you a filled page for both 19 and 20.
What the ground is like in November
The terrain is mostly gentle. You walk farm lanes between stone walls, short stretches of beach and boardwalk, village alleys and coastal road edges. There are no long climbs, but the full distance adds up across a day.
On Jeju, November falls in tangerine season. Orange fruit hangs over walls along the island’s rural lanes, and silver grass turns the open ground pale. The northeast coast takes the wind straight off the sea in autumn. Walkers usually wear a windproof layer even when the sun is out, plus shoes that can handle wet basalt.
Hamdeok, Woljeong-ri and Pyeongdae-ri break up the routes with cafés, convenience stores and toilets. The quieter farm sections between villages have little or nothing.
Walking with the Olle crowd
Olle etiquette is mostly about the villages you pass through. The trails cross private fields and run past people’s front gates, so a few habits are taken for granted:
- Keep to the marked path. Stone walls mark someone’s field, and the produce inside belongs to the farmer, tangerines included.
- Keep your voice down in the alleys. Many lanes run right past houses.
- Greet people. A quick annyeonghaseyo to the haenyeo (women divers) or the farmers you pass is normal and welcome.
- Carry your rubbish out. Bins are scarce between villages.
Card payment and mobile pay work in most cafés and convenience stores along the coast. Small village shops and stalls are where cash still comes in handy. Korean walkers tend to set off in the morning and finish in the early afternoon, then eat in the end village before taking the bus home.
Getting to the trailheads
The 201 bus is the key link. It runs the east coast road between Jeju City and Seogwipo and passes through Jocheon, Hamdeok, Gimnyeong and Sehwa. That means one line serves the start, the handover point and the finish of both routes.
A typical festival day goes like this: ride the 201 to your starting point, walk, and ride it back from wherever you finish. Taxis also work the coast, and the island’s taxi apps are widely used. A car is less use on a one-way walk, since you finish a long way from where you parked.
Before and after the walk
The Jeju Haenyeo Museum, at the end of Route 20, explains the culture of Jeju’s free-diving women. That culture is on UNESCO’s intangible heritage list, and the museum is a natural place to end the festival. The coast around Woljeong-ri is lined with cafés looking out over the water.
If you are staying longer, Seongsan Ilchulbong, the tuff cone at Jeju’s eastern tip, is a short ride further along the coast. Seogwipo itself, home to the Jeju Olle Tourist Center and the south-coast routes, is the next stop for anyone who wants to keep walking after the festival.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Jeju Olle Walking Festival in 2026?
It runs November 5–7, 2026, along Jeju Olle Routes 19 and 20.
Do I need a ticket?
No ticket is sold. Entry is free, and walkers join through pre-registration with the Jeju Olle organiser.
Where does the festival take place if it's billed as Seogwipo?
Routes 19 and 20 are on Jeju's northeast coast. They run from near Jocheon Manse Hill through Hamdeok and Gimnyeong to the Jeju Haenyeo Museum near Sehwa. Seogwipo town is on the south coast.
How do people get to the start and finish points?
The 201 bus runs the east coast road between Jeju City and Seogwipo. It stops at Jocheon, Hamdeok, Gimnyeong and Sehwa, so it serves both routes. Taxis are an easy backup.
How hard is the walking?
It is mostly flat: farm lanes, beach paths and village alleys, with each route taking most of a day. Walkers usually bring a windproof layer for the November coast and grippy shoes for wet basalt.
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