What's on in Sokcho (Seoraksan), South Korea through the year

Busy — Winter break (gyeoul banghak) in South Korea, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Winter fish market season (1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually)), Yeongdong coast snow (15 Dec – 28 Feb (usually))

Busy — Winter break (gyeoul banghak) in South Korea

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Winter fish market season (1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually)), Yeongdong coast snow (15 Dec – 28 Feb (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Season

  Spring wildfire season

  1 Mar – 30 Apr · usuallySmoke seasonClosures

  Dry air and the hot downslope wind off the Taebaek range make March and April Gangwon's fire season. Seoraksan trails close on a red-flag day and the coast road has been evacuated before.

Busy — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Spring wildfire season (1 Mar – 30 Apr (usually))

Busy — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in May.

Peak crowds — travelers describe it as peak season, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in June.

Peak crowds — Beach season, Summer break (yeoreum banghak) in South Korea

• Season

  Beach season

  1 Jul – 20 Aug · usuallySummer season opensCrowded

  The east-coast beaches are supervised for seven weeks and shut down again in the third week of August. Sokcho is Seoul's beach for those weeks and the expressway proves it every Friday.

Peak crowds — Beach season, Summer break (yeoreum banghak) in South Korea

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Beach season (1 Jul – 20 Aug (usually))

Busy — Chuseok in South Korea, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in September.

Busy — Autumn colour at Seoraksan, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Autumn colour at Seoraksan

  1–25 Oct · usuallyCrowdedBook early

  Korea's colour starts here, usually in the first fortnight of October. Seoraksan is then the most crowded national park in the country — the cable car queues from before it opens.

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Season

  Winter fish market season

  1 Nov – 28 Feb · usuallyForaging season

  The port market is at its point in winter: squid, pollock roe, and the cold-water fish the town was built on. It is the one thing here that is better when the beach is unusable.

Busy — Winter break (gyeoul banghak) in South Korea, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Yeongdong coast snow

  15 Dec – 28 Feb · usuallyExtreme cold

  Cold air crossing the East Sea dumps on this narrow coastal strip in a way the rest of Korea never sees — a metre in a bad week. The passes to Seoul close first and reopen last.

Still on: Winter fish market season (1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually))