8 Best Family Things to Do in Pyeongchang

Ocean 700 Water Park in Pyeongchang Alpensia Resort is a family water park located in Daegwallyeong some 700 metres above sea level, in which biorhythms are said to be the most active. You can enjoy various water activities while feeling the mood of the tropics and oceanic waves on the clean highlands.

Enjoy a variety of water activities with your family and friends at the Lazy River Pool where you can ride a tube like you’re rafting, the Wave Pool where you can feel the movement of seven kinds of waves throughout your entire body, and the Aqua Play Pool. If you want something more dynamic, have a thrill on the rollercoaster-like tornado and body slides without tubes. You can take a break and enjoy the warm sunshine stretched out on indoor family sunbeds, outdoor sunbeds, and gazebo-style cabanas decorated with tropical palm trees. Enjoy a variety of foods at Korean, Japanese, noodle and dessert corners in the restaurant area on the first floor.

Phoenix Pyeongchang, a comprehensive leisure resort, has a sledding park where children can ride sleighs and play in the snow to their heart’s content. The Snow Village Sledding Park is located right behind the Phoenix Hotel. All children are required to wear helmets. When you go through the entrance and enter the sledding park, you will first see the kids playground. There are play houses shaped like igloos and houses. The playground is equipped with snow playing toys such as tongs and shovels.

Kids enjoy making snowmen and building up walls of igloos. You can reach the snow playground by taking the escalator up. Take photos of beautiful memories at the Snow Cone and Snowball photo zones in the playground where you will see the iconic large snow cone. After the kids have fun sledding at the kids sledding slope and tube sledding slope, stop by the lounge for snacks and instant noodles.

Korea Botanic Garden, located 650 metres above sea level on Odaesan Mountain, is the nation’s first and largest native plant botanical garden that preserves more than 1,500 species of rare native plants and endangered species. In particular, it collects, preserves and manages more than 30 endangered species and 250 species of special plants. This botanical garden was the first private botanical garden established in 1989 by director Kim Chang-yeol, the founder, to protect native plants. In 2021, Director Kim donated the garden to the Korea Forest Service and it became the Korea Botanic Garden.

The site consists of 5 buildings covering over 74,000 square metres, and there are botanical gardens with unique names, a gallery, and a book cafe named Bian with a collection of more than 20,000 books. Admire rare native plants at the Rare and Endangered Plant Botanical Garden, Special Plant Botanical Garden, Botanical Gardens having animal and human names, Ecological Botanical Garden and Hemlock Conservation Garden. You can enjoy the painting exhibition for flowers in Korea and the photo exhibition at Solbaram Gallery. Book Cafe Bian is a rest area to drink coffee and read books with family. Take photos and capture memories at the overbridge and the 100th Marathon Park, which was designed for the founder who loves marathons, in the botanical garden.

Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre hosted the ski jumping events of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. The centre is located at Alpensia Resort, which means the Alps in fantastic Asia. Ski jumping is a sport in which players slide downhill, fly in the air off a jumping ramp and land on the ground. This is called the “flower of the skiing competition” because going downhill and taking flight are showy and dynamic. There is one basement level and four ground levels and consists of a Ski Jumping Platform that was turned from a ski jumping stadium into a viewing platform, Ski Jumping Tower, and Stadium.

At the Ski Jumping Platform, there are two jump stands for official games, the 94 metre normal hill for downhill and 125 metre large hill, and three jump stands for practise. The Ski Jump Tower behind the Ski Jumping Platform is a 90-metre-tall and four-storey building, and on the 2nd and 3rd floors, there are access roads to the starting lines for athletes participating in Normal Hill and Large Hill events. When going up to the viewing platform on the 4th floor open to the public, you can take a look around the beautiful Alpensia Resort at a glance. Don’t miss the Olympic Memorial Museum, where you can enjoy VR experiences of bobsledding and ski jumping with your children.

Peak Island, the first alpine-themed water park in Korea, is a paradise for water activities at Yongpyong Resort fun for the whole family. The park has one basement floor and four above-ground floors that include a water playing zone with various playing facilities and a spa zone for relaxing your tired body.

The interior with a northern Europe flair in winter welcomes visitors with polar bears, dog sleds and penguin figures. Water bombs pouring from the top of the Snow Adventure fill the space with the shouts of adults and children. In the indoor wave pool, you will be unaware of time when you ride the rushing of constant waves. Feel the thrill of speed on the cylindrical body slide and the tube slide that start indoors, briefly go outdoors and then come back indoors. Visit the sauna zone on the 2nd floor and the Jjimjilbang on the 4th floor, which has an oxygen herb room, red clay room and charcoal room, to break the fatigue from having fun in the water with your family.

Blue Canyon, a Mediterranean-themed high-quality water play area, is a large water park full of water playing facilities that can be enjoyed both indoors and outdoors. With a capacity of 10,000 people, it is a place to play where you can enjoy swimming in any season in the fresh air of Pyeongchang. The park uses Grade 1 natural mineral water that is comparable to hot spring water.

The indoor Wave Pool is a space where the whole family can play, and you can feel the waves of various shapes through your entire body. Children especially like the Frog Pool and the Kid’s Pool, where they can play on slides and in the splashing water. The Wave River, a pool that spans more than 2 km, gives riders pleasure floating in the water with its fast currents and waves. The Uphill Slide, where you can have the thrill of riding a rollercoaster, and the Speed Slide, which cuts through the water like a flash from a height of 4 storeys, are the most popular with young people. The Family Slide, designed for the whole family, is also loved by many users.

Yongpyong Resort located at the foot of Balwangsan Mountain, a famous mountain in Pyeongchang, is the country’s first resort and is a comprehensive resort with ski slopes, golf courses and water park facilities. The site also hosted the alpine skiing events of the Asian Winter Games, and the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and Paralympics. This is a good destination to visit for all seasons with amusement facilities and accommodations including 28 ski slopes, Peak Island, which is a water playing facility, premium condominium, hotels and youth hostels. Additionally, there are many fun and convenient facilities including a mountain sledding slope, a survival game field, a mountain bike path, a forest bathing path, an archery field, and a campsite.

Balwangsan Skywalk, which resembles an airfield floating in the sky, is the highest viewing platform in Korea. If weather permits, you can see as far as the downtown area of Gangneung. There are many beautiful and unique tourist spots around the resort including Odaesan National Park, Daegwallyeong Museum and ranches. It is a famous sight to enjoy the best amusement facilities and rest with your family in the beautiful mountains and nature.

Lee Hyo-seok Culture Village was designated as the first national cultural village in 1990 to commemorate Gasan Lee Hyo-seok, the author of “When Buckwheat Flowers Bloom.” The Lee Hyo-seok Memorial Hall on Hyoseongmunhak-gil has a literature exhibition room, a literature class, and an image room, among others. The Literature Exhibition Room exhibits valuable photographs and documents that show his life, the world of his works, and the literary scene of that time.

There is a statue of Lee Hyo-seok writing, a beautiful literary garden, and a buckwheat flower path outside the exhibition hall, so it is a good place to take a walk with your family. The Hyoseok Moonlight Hill Exhibition Hall, which makes reproductions of the time in literary contents and the novel, is not to be missed. Take a look around the Modern Literature Experience Centre, enjoy the view at the Moonlight Donkey Observatory and take a break with coffee at the Moon Cafe. The Hyoseok Cultural Festival, which is held every September, makes this place a paradise for entertainment. You can enjoy a variety of attractions and programs including background tours, writing contest, street folk performances, photographic contest and play performances. Make special memories with your family while enjoying early autumn when buckwheat flowers are in full bloom.