I am officially a fan of 봄 (bom)! Not just the lead vocal of the very famous Korean girl group 2NE1 박봄 (Park Bom) but the season itself. A lot of K-Pop fans would probably know that 봄 means spring in Korea. This year I am fortunate enough to travel again to South Korea. It is my 6th time to visit South Korea and March 2014 marks my 3rd time to experience spring.
What makes me more excited now is that I will be traveling down to 진해 (Jinhae), a small town in the province of 경상남도 (Gyeongsangnamdo). Just a bit of information on naming places in Korea, 도 (do) is province in Korean. In the name 경상남도, 남 (nam) means south and so Gyeongsangnamdo is Province of South Gyeongsang. If there is south, the likelihood of having a north version is almost always there and north is 북 (buk). With that, North Province of Gyeongsang would be– 경상북도 (Gyeongsangbukdo) where the booming city of 대구 (Daegu) is located.
The town of Jinhae is where the biggest cherry blossom festival is held every year. For this year, the festival is happening from April 1-10, 2014. Based from the research I made, this is one of the most sought after festival in Korea. Now I realize what my long lost language exchange partner had been talking about. He was so proud of their province Gyeongsangnamdo, he mentioned that the biggest cherry blossom happens in their place. The traffic can be very heavy during this period but the good thing is the KTX makes a special direct route to Jinhae during festival period. We will be a day earlier from the festival and hopefully we see the cherry trees in almost its full bloom.
The weather forecast kept on changing for the past weeks but as of today, the forecast during our stay shows a no rain during our period of stay. According to the people I talked to last year when we visited Jeju, cherry blossoms disappears as soon as it rains. This is why experiencing cherry blossom would be a bit tricky if you are a foreigner like me who will need to book in advance to travel to Korea. The cherry blossom festival is usually announced within the month of March which is relatively near the actual date of the festival. The spring festivals is announced by the Korean Tourism through their website. During spring there are several other places in Korea that is worth a visit.
Spring here I come!
It Started with Hangul 
Hi,
Is my first time to experience Spring in Korea and i have booked my tickets 3 april – 11 april 2015. Super excited but will I be able to see cherry blossom? I also would like to know how to get to Jinhae from Seoul? As I see from your photos is beautiful.
Hope to hear from you soon^^
you can take the KTX during the actual festival it goes straight to Jinhae but outside of festival you can get off masan and take a bus to jinhae. If you plan to take bus from seoul go to nambu bus terminal green line of subway and take bus to jinhae. trip is daily.
Your excellent blog with the exquisite photos of lovely South Korea in springtime brings back memories for me. The famous Cherry Blossom is featured as “Pink Snow” in my debut novel, “Johari’s Window”, available on Amazon and Kobo!
Hi, I will be going to korea during this year cherry blossom too 😀
30 Mar to 1 Apr I will be in Busan then 2 Apr in Andong, then 3 Apr to 8 Apr in Seoul
Actually planning to going Jinhae from Busan on the 31 Mar but not sure whether can make it to see the Cherry Blossom
I think the timing is good. there is good cherry blossoms by that time.
Hi, I’d love to experience Spring in Korea!
After reading your blog, i plan to see the Cherry blossoms at Jinhea..
I haven’t book my flight tickets yet, can you advise the best travel date to South Korea + Jeju? Other than Jinhea, is there any other nearby places which can see the cherry blossoms?
Thank you.
Best time to go to Jeju is March 27-29 this is the King Cherry Blossoms Festival. This is when the King Cherry trees are in full bloom. Although early April is too early for cherry blossoms in Yeouido, its also worth a visit but I highly suggest you go to Jinhae if you take end of March to early April flight.
Last week of March is best weekt o go to Jeju as the King Cherry Trees will be in full bloom. You can visit Yeouido even if its early on there could be some trees blooming already but going to Jinhae could be a good choice.
Thank you for your info. I’ve booked my flight tickets from 1-5 April, yeah finally…Since we only have 5 days then my hubby & I decided to stay at Seoul instead of going Jeju.
I’ve totally out of my mind and I don’t know how to plan my 5 days trip schedule ..
Need your suggestion on these:
1)We plan to go Jinhae on Day2, is there any attraction at Masan?
2) After the visit of Jinhae, can we direct go Busan for a night stay? by KTX can? (optional tour)
3) Is there any nice place to visit at Seoul city?
4) is there any nice food/restaurant you recommended ?
4) I want to book my hotel at Seoul, which area you recommended ? (priority convenience & nearby the heart of attraction)
5) Is the airport transfer (I mean Taxi rate) very expensive at Seoul ?
6) Is there any night street which sell local products at Seoul?
Hope to hear from you soon. Tq!
Cheers
The forecast is out.
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/FU/FU_EN_15.jsp?cid=1991997
Hi! We are also planning a trip to Jinhae this April and your blog got me super excited! You only stayed for a day right? We’re also planning to do the sAme thing, Is one day enough to be able to experience the cherryblossoms? And do we need to buy bus or train tickets in advance or we can just buy them on the day? We’ll be in Incheon from April 3-9 and we were planning to visit Jinhae on April 6. Do you think cherry blossoms are in full bloom by then?
Thank you much in advance and hope to hear from you soon!