8 Best Places to Go Shopping in Yangyang

Yangyang Traditional Market is a historical “5-day market” that only takes place on days ending with a ‘4’ or ‘9’. You can stalls selling clothing, housewares, and fresh produce. The produce is always seasonal and comes directly from farmers who manage small plots or forage on local lands.

One week you may see farmers selling large baskets of foraged mushrooms or handpicked cherries. The week after, you may find radishes and blackberries. This Yangyang market is worth visiting because it’s a very calm place to browse – vendors won’t hustle or push you into buying something.

Naksansa Temple is a 1,300-year-old Buddhist temple complex perched on a cliff overlooking Naksan Beach. You can pick up souvenirs, such as bells, Buddha statues, and Buddhist wooden prayer beads, at the Naksansa Temple gift store as a reminder of your visit to this historic site.

The gift store also doubles as a teahouse. So, after a couple of hours of exploring the magnificent seaside temple, you can take a break with a cup of traditional Korean tea made from fruit and herbs.

If you are flying out of Yangyang International Airport and want to do some last-minute shopping, you can do so at the duty-free shops in the departure lounge before boarding.

The shops are small compared to other duty-free stores in South Korea. However, they still offer a reasonably good choice of perfume, cosmetics, ginseng products, liquor, stationery, and typical Korean foodstuffs. The airport is located 5 km southeast of Yangyang’s city centre.

Hujinhang Beach Market is a bi-monthly market that takes place at the Hujinhang Marina, which lies adjacent to Seorak Beach in Yangyang. Every 2nd and 4th Saturday, local vendors set up their stalls under white gazebos. You can find a wide variety of beautiful and inexpensive items, most of them handmade.

Items on offer include kites, textiles, lanterns, handbags, cat beds, wooden arts and crafts, and locally sourced produce. Between shopping, you can take a break and enjoy some traditional food, snacks, and drinks from the food vendors.

Jangnal is a store in Yangyang’s city centre selling various regional agricultural produce and specialities. Depending on the season, you can find juicy pears and apples, locally foraged pine mushrooms, plums, and potatoes. Jangnal is usually only open on days ending with a ‘4’ or a ‘9’ in conjunction with the ever-popular Yangyang Traditional Market.

After you’ve finished shopping, you can grab some local street food from one of the vendors. Choose from fried seafood, fried chicken, pork feet, Korean-style savoury pancake, and fluffy steamed buns filled with sweet red beans.

Yangyang-ro is Yangyang’s main street that runs east-to-west for some 2 km through the centre of town. The road is packed with local, traditional stores. And with a paved sidewalk, it’s a lovely pedestrian-friendly place to explore for a few hours.

You can find shops selling books, Korean cosmetics, children’s toys, shoes, and clothing, among others. There are also many restaurants, cafes, and convenience stores if you need a bite to eat or want to take a break. You can also pop into a beauty salon if you'd like to treat yourself.

A visit to the Yangyang Vegetable Market offers an excellent opportunity to enjoy a lively market atmosphere and mingle with locals as they do their weekly vegetable shopping. Depending on the month, local vendors can sell sacks of beans, potatoes, oranges, and various herbs in tiny pots.

If you visit in autumn, you can find Yangyang’s famous pine mushrooms foraged from the high-lying mountainous pine forests. If all that browsing makes you hungry, there are stalls at the market selling cooked traditional Korean food

Yangyang county is the surfing mecca of South Korea, with its shallow waters and constant swells. One of the most attractive destinations is Jukdo Beach, some 20 km south of Yangyang city centre. If you're looking for anything surf-related, the stores lining Jukdo's 2 km stretch of sand are bound to stock it.

Jukdo beach is said to have the highest number of surf shops in the area. You can find everything from surfboards and accessories to sessions and rentals. Some surf shops also double as cafes or bars in the evening.