When people think about traveling in South Korea, places like Seoul, Busan, and Jeju Island usually come to mind first.
But Korea has another side that many overseas visitors rarely get to see.
I live in Yeonggwang, a rural county in Jeollanam-do, and one of the most beautiful places in this area is Baeksu Coastal Road.
It is a road where the countryside meets the sea.
On this particular day, I didn’t take photos of the coastal road itself. Instead, while driving along the coast, we stopped at a cafe overlooking the sea. After having coffee, we walked down to a small beach just in front of the cafe.
It was nothing complicated — just a drive, a cup of coffee, the sea, and a short walk along the shore.
But this simple afternoon showed another beautiful side of rural Korea.
A Beautiful Coastal Road in Rural Korea
Baeksu Coastal Road runs for about 16.8 kilometers along the western coast of Yeonggwang.
The road passes through a landscape of rocky coastline, tidal flats, small islands, hills, and wide views of the West Sea.
It is especially well known for its sunsets.
Baeksu Coastal Road was selected as one of Korea’s 100 Beautiful Roads in 2006 and later received the top prize at Korea’s first Natural Landscape Awards in 2011.
But you don’t need to know about awards to understand why people enjoy this road.
Once you start driving, the reason becomes obvious.
The sea appears beside the road, disappears behind hills and curves, and then suddenly opens up again.
Unlike driving simply to reach a destination, the drive itself is part of the experience here.
For someone visiting rural Korea, it is also a chance to see a landscape very different from the dense streets and high-rise buildings usually associated with modern Korea.
Driving Along the Sea
Baeksu Coastal Road is best enjoyed without rushing.
You can drive along the coast, enjoy the changing scenery, and stop when somewhere catches your attention.
There are also cafes along the coastal route, making it easy to take a break, have a coffee, and enjoy the sea before continuing the drive.
That is exactly what we did.
During our drive, we stopped at a Pascucci cafe overlooking the coast.
Pascucci is a familiar franchise cafe in Korea, so what interested me wasn’t simply the cafe itself.
It was the setting.
Outside were green hills and the sea, while the large windows inside the cafe opened toward the coastal scenery.
It was a combination that I often find interesting about rural Korea.
The countryside here isn’t completely separated from modern Korean life.
Sometimes you can be surrounded by farms, mountains, or the sea and still find the same everyday conveniences that people use in Korean cities.
Coffee With a View of the Sea
From inside the cafe, we could look through the windows toward the water.
It wasn’t the kind of dramatic view you might expect from a luxury seaside resort.
There were trees, a narrow strip of sand, the sea, and small islands in the distance.
That was part of what I liked about it.
It felt quiet and ordinary.
We could sit inside with a cup of coffee while still feeling very close to the coast.
A Small Beach Below the Cafe
After leaving the cafe, we walked down to the small beach in front of it.
This wasn’t a large, developed beach filled with umbrellas, restaurants, and crowds.
It was much smaller and simpler.
There was a narrow sandy shore, shells scattered across the beach, trees behind us, and small waves rolling in from the sea.
From one part of the beach, we could also see a bridge rising above the green coastline.
The interesting thing is that we hadn’t planned to visit this beach.
We simply saw it while we were at the cafe and decided to walk down.
Moments like this are one reason I enjoy driving along Baeksu Coastal Road.
Not everything has to be planned.
Sometimes you see somewhere interesting, stop the car, and discover a small place that wasn’t on your itinerary at all.
More Than Just a Road
Part of Baeksu Coastal Road can also be enjoyed on foot.
Below the road is a coastal walking route known as Noeul-gil, or Sunset Trail, which stretches for about 3.5 kilometers and allows visitors to experience the coastline closer to the sea.
And because this is Korea’s western coast, the area is particularly famous for watching the sun set over the sea.
But I don’t think you need to arrive at sunset to appreciate this place.
We visited during the daytime.
There was no spectacular red sunset that afternoon.
Instead, there was a blue sea, green hills, small islands, and long white clouds stretching across the sky.
For us, that was beautiful enough.
A Different Side of Korea
When Korea is shown overseas, the images are often of Seoul’s skyscrapers, busy shopping streets, K-pop, technology, or famous tourist attractions.
All of those things are part of Korea.
But they aren’t the whole country.
Places like Yeonggwang show another side.
Here, you can drive along a quiet coastal road, stop for coffee with the sea outside the window, and walk down to a small beach that you hadn’t even planned to visit.
There wasn’t anything extraordinary about our afternoon.
We drove.
We stopped for coffee.
We looked at the sea.
And we walked along a small beach.
But these ordinary moments are part of what real life in rural Korea looks like too.
Sometimes the best way to experience the Korean countryside isn’t to search for a famous attraction.
Just follow the road and see where it takes you.
For us that afternoon, it was Baeksu Coastal Road in Yeonggwang.