When Winter Pyeongchang Makes Sense for a Trip to Korea

This is not a guide that recommends Pyeongchang.
It looks at whether Pyeongchang fits into a winter trip to Korea, depending on your itinerary and travel style.
By the end, you should be able to decide for yourself whether to include it.

Ski lift operating over snow-covered mountains in Pyeongchang during winter

A winter view of a ski lift in Pyeongchang. ⓒ한국관광공사 포토코리아-이상윤

Pyeongchang is not a destination that comes up often in conversations about travel in Korea. After the 2018 Winter Olympics, interest in the area gradually faded, and recent travel guides or blogs rarely focus on it in detail.

Still, when planning a winter trip to Korea, the name tends to resurface. It might appear while searching for places with snow, or while thinking about what winter outside Seoul might look like. At some point, the question comes up quietly: What kind of place is Pyeongchang, really?

In foreign travel communities, questions about Pyeongchang have not disappeared entirely. They usually do not come from travelers who have already decided to go, but from people trying to figure out whether it should be part of their itinerary at all.

The questions tend to repeat in similar forms.

Is Pyeongchang worth visiting just to see snow in winter?
Does it make sense to go there if I don’t plan to ski?
Can Pyeongchang realistically be done as a day trip?
Is the trout festival enough to build a winter visit around?

The difficulty is that clear, up-to-date answers are hard to find. Most existing content focuses on the Olympic period or on skiing alone, which makes it hard to apply directly to a typical winter trip to Korea today.

This article does not aim to introduce Pyeongchang as a must-see destination. Instead, it looks at what kind of travel style winter Pyeongchang fits into, and how a day there tends to unfold in practice.

Why does winter travel in Pyeongchang feel hard to judge?

Many travelers recognize the name Pyeongchang because of the Olympics. They know it exists, but when thinking of it as a travel destination, it often feels unclear whether it is worth visiting or easy to fit into a trip.

Unlike major cities, Pyeongchang does not have a clear central area. It is also not a place defined by one or two iconic attractions. Because of this, travelers tend to ask not “What can I see there?” but rather “Does it make sense to include it at all?”

What are foreign travelers usually expecting from winter Pyeongchang?

When foreign travelers think about Pyeongchang in winter, they are usually not expecting a packed sightseeing schedule or a long list of famous landmarks.

Instead, they imagine snowy landscapes, a winter atmosphere that feels different from the city, and a day that moves at a slower, simpler pace. It is less about seeing many places and more about experiencing winter itself.

Within this context, skiing is rarely the main goal. For most travelers, it is simply one possible activity among others. That is why questions tend to focus on practical conditions such as accessibility, equipment rental, or whether beginners can participate.

What many travelers are really evaluating is not the quality of the ski slopes themselves, but whether a day that includes skiing can realistically fit into their overall itinerary. Even travelers who do not plan to ski often start by asking whether Pyeongchang works as a viable option at all.

Does the Pyeongchang Trout Festival change the experience?

Pyeongchang does have a major winter event of its own: the trout festival, which has been held for more than a decade.

Some foreign travelers plan their visit around this festival, using it as a way to experience winter in Pyeongchang more directly.

The festival includes ice fishing on frozen rivers, as well as sledding, snow-based rides, and hands-on winter activities. Because the activities are easy to join, the festival tends to attract families as well as mixed-age groups.

Participation requires a fee, and the area can become crowded during the event period. For travelers interested in joining, checking details in advance is often more practical than relying on on-site availability.

If you want to learn more about the Pyeongchang Trout Festival or check reservation options, you can find official information at the link below.
→ https://festival700.or.kr/

Can Pyeongchang realistically be done as a day trip?

In terms of distance, Pyeongchang can be reached as a day trip. In winter, however, travel time and physical fatigue often feel more significant than expected. Road and weather conditions can also cause delays, which may affect planned schedules.

When activities like skiing or the trout festival are included, a day trip becomes even more limited. Visiting the festival alone can take up a large portion of the day once travel and waiting times are considered. Adding skiing means accounting for equipment rental and additional movement.

For these reasons, Pyeongchang tends to work better either as a place where you spend most of a full day, or as a stop included while moving between regions. Whether it feels worthwhile depends less on distance and more on what kind of experience you expect from the day.

Places often mentioned alongside Pyeongchang

If you plan to spend a full day in the area or include Pyeongchang as part of a longer route, these places are often mentioned together with it.

Woljeongsa Temple
Odaesan National Park
Daegwallyeong Forest Trail
Baekryong Cave Eco Experience Center