I had heard about the Boseong Green Tea fields before I even moved to Korea. I love tea, and I was enamored by the photos I saw of the rolling green hills full of green tea bushes. And the place did not disappoint.

Get some more information on the Visit Korea website (English) or the Plantation's website directly (Korean).

The Boseong Tea fields was the first stop on an Korean Road Trip adventure. I got to Boseong early, like at 6:30am. Everything I read said the place didn’t open until 9:00, but I figured I’d explore what I could before the crowd appeared.

Luck would have it, there was a guy at the gate who helped me get my ₩4,000 ticket from the kiosk, and I was the first one to cruise the grounds that day.

As you enter, it’s about a 5-minute walk until you get to the stairs to green tea heaven.

Making my way through the fields was awe-inspiring. It was a foggy morning in the mountains; only me and a few owls were awake, wandering the mountainous wonderland of green. As I make my way through the path between the mountains of green, I can’t see too far because of the fog. It looks like the fields go on forever, faintly disappearing into the mist.

I climb to the top of the main mountain and spend a few minutes taking in the peace and beauty. I love this. These moments. This is why I don’t mind, and even at times prefer traveling and exploring solo. The quiet, the peace, the nature. The focus is on the scenery and environment around you, not on another person, not taking the perfect profile picture, but just basking in it. In nature. Where you are right now.

As I was up there, the fog began to burn off. It was as if I was watching the mountains grow. Rows and rows and rows of green tea plants just appeared on the mountainside, appearing out of the fog. As I made my way down, I saw my first fellow explorers. Decked out in typical Korean hiking gear, with fancy digital camera, tripod and selfie stick. That was my cue. I walked the rest of the park and headed out.

About the Boseong Tea Fields

Boseong, known as the green tea capital of Korea, is in the South Jeolla Province, almost as far south as you can get on the peninsula. The region is one of the rainiest places in Korea, making it conducive to growing massive amounts of high quality green tea. In fact, it’s the largest tea producing area in the country, accounting for 40% of the nation’s tea production.

Green tea has been produced in the Boseong region for more than 1,600 years. It wasn’t until the 1930s when it began to be mass produced for sale. The 5,000,000 square meter Boseong Green Tea Plantation was opened in 1957 and is the only tourist tea plantation in Korea.

Fun Fact: Boseong Green Tea passed the strict quality inspection of the Russian Medical Biology Lab, and was officially recognized as a drink suitable for an astronaut’s special diet.

Getting to the Boseong Green Tea Gardens

The nearest city to Boseong is Gwangju. You can catch a bus or train to Gwangju from Seoul and most other major cities. From there, grab a bus from the Gwangju bus station to Boseong. Once you’re in Boseong, you can either take an hourly bus to Yulpo Beach and get off at the Green Tea Fields, or you can catch a taxi, which will cost you about ₩10,000 (about $10).

I went to Boseong on a Korean road trip and recommend you do too.

There are tours that take you to the tea fields and arrange all the transport. If you're not driving, the next best thing is to book a tour with a company like Trazy.com.