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- Why Crash Landing on You Still Draws Visitors in 2026
- What Made Crash Landing on You a Cultural Landmark
- The Swiss Alps Scenes You Can Actually Replicate on Nami Island
- Seoul’s Quiet Corners: Capital Filming Locations
- The DMZ and Northern Atmosphere: Getting as Close as You Can
- Jeju Island: Where the Story First Took Flight
- 2026 Budget Reality: What a CLOY Filming Tour Actually Costs
- Planning Your Route: Combining Locations Without Burning Out
- Frequently Asked Questions
Why Crash Landing on You Still Draws Visitors in 2026
Six years after its original broadcast, Crash Landing on You (사랑의 불시착, Sarangeui Bulsichak) remains one of the most searched K-drama travel topics online. In 2026, the challenge isn’t finding information — it’s separating what’s still accessible from what has changed. Some locations have added entry fees specifically targeting drama tourists. Others have been redeveloped. A few, honestly, look nothing like the show anymore. This guide gives you the current, ground-level picture so you don’t waste a day chasing a scene that no longer exists in the form you imagined.
What Made Crash Landing on You a Cultural Landmark
The 2019–2020 drama follows South Korean heiress Yoon Se-ri, who accidentally paraglides into North Korea and falls into the life — and arms — of North Korean military officer Ri Jeong-hyeok. What made the show extraordinary wasn’t just the romance. It was the audacity of humanizing North Korean characters at a time when the two Koreas had almost no cultural dialogue. Audiences in Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, and across Southeast Asia watched in enormous numbers, and Korea’s tourism board later confirmed it was the single biggest driver of drama-based travel in the country’s history.
The locations weren’t chosen randomly. Director Lee Jeong-hyo used the Korean landscape to carry emotional weight. Wide, cold riverbanks stood in for the north. Familiar Seoul alleyways showed the contrast between the two worlds the characters inhabited. Swiss mountain villages — shot partly in Switzerland and partly replicated on Nami Island — became the neutral emotional ground where the love story was allowed to breathe. When you visit these places, you’re not just finding a backdrop. You’re standing in the physical grammar of the story.
The Swiss Alps Scenes You Can Actually Replicate on Nami Island
Several of the most iconic CLOY scenes — Ri Jeong-hyeok cycling alone through a snowy European-looking landscape, Se-ri wandering near a lakeside — were filmed partly in Switzerland and partly on and around Nami Island (남이섬, Namiseom) in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. The production team built or dressed the island’s existing European-style architecture to double as Swiss scenery. The strategy worked perfectly on screen, and the result is that you can recreate those visuals without leaving Korea.
Nami Island sits in the North Han River, accessible by a short ferry from Gapyeong Wharf. The ride itself takes about five minutes, and on a cold morning the mist sitting on the water creates exactly the kind of atmospheric stillness that defined the drama’s quieter moments. The island’s famous tree-lined paths — especially the metasequoia road — were used for several background shots, and the birch tree avenue near the island’s northern end appeared in at least two identifiable scenes.
The Garden of Morning Calm (아침고요수목원), about 40 minutes north of Gapyeong by shuttle bus, also featured in the Swiss section of the drama. Its curved garden paths and European-influenced landscaping filled several frames. In winter, the garden’s light festival runs from November through January, and the atmosphere genuinely echoes what you saw on screen.
Getting there from Seoul: Take the ITX-Cheongchun train from Cheongnyangni Station to Gapyeong Station (about 80 minutes). The ferry to Nami Island departs regularly. In 2026, Nami Island charges a combined entry and ferry fee of 16,000 KRW (~$11.85 USD) for adults.
Seoul’s Quiet Corners: Capital Filming Locations
The Seoul sequences in CLOY are mostly set in residential back-alleys and riverside parks — the kind of ordinary places most tourists walk past without a second look. That’s precisely why they’re worth seeking out. Finding them feels like a small discovery.
Seongbuk-dong (성북동) neighborhood provided the setting for several scenes depicting everyday Seoul life contrasted against Se-ri’s luxurious world. The hilly, low-rise streets here feel genuinely different from central Seoul. There are old walls, stairway alleys, and small independent cafés with the kind of worn-in character that production designers love. Walk up from Hansung University Station (한성대입구역) on Line 4 and explore the streets climbing northward toward the mountain. The area has gentrified modestly since 2020, but the bones of the streetscape remain.
Yeouido Hangang Park (여의도 한강공원) appeared in several emotionally significant scenes near the river. The park runs for kilometres along the south bank of the Han River. In spring, the cherry blossoms here are overwhelming — crowds of Seoulites spread picnic mats right where drama scenes were filmed, completely unaware (or completely aware) of what happened there. The sound of the park at night — distant traffic, the low hum of a bicycle passing, laughter from someone’s Bluetooth speaker two benches away — is its own kind of Korea.
Bukchon Hanok Village (북촌한옥마을) contributed brief background street scenes and continues to be one of the most visitor-dense areas in Seoul. Arrive before 9 a.m. to get anywhere near the quiet the drama projected. From 2026, Seoul City has officially restricted photography on certain residential lanes between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m. to protect residents — take that rule seriously.
The DMZ and Northern Atmosphere: Getting as Close as You Can
No drama location section for CLOY would be honest without addressing the obvious: the North Korean settings were not filmed in North Korea. They were created using locations in the Cheorwon (철원) area of Gangwon Province, the Imjingak (임진각) site in Paju, and studio sets. But visiting these places still delivers something that no studio tour can match — the actual weight of the division.
Imjingak Park (임진각), about 50 kilometres north of Seoul near Paju, is accessible by direct train from Seoul Station (Gyeongui-Jungang Line). The site sits just south of the DMZ and includes the Mangbaedan altar where separated families hold ceremonies, the rusted Freedom Bridge, and the bridge that prisoners of war crossed in 1953. The visual vocabulary of this place — barbed wire, fluttering yellow ribbons, the silence of a landscape that cannot be entered — informed the whole emotional register of CLOY’s North Korean sequences.
Cheorwon (철원) in northern Gangwon Province, deeper inside the former war zone, provided the flat, cold agricultural plains that stood in for North Korean countryside. The Cheorwon Peace Observatory (철원 평화전망대) gives you a direct view across the DMZ. Getting here requires your own transport — it is not accessible by public transit from Seoul — but the landscape is genuinely striking and unexpectedly moving.
Note for 2026: DMZ tour regulations were updated in late 2025. Independent entry into certain DMZ-adjacent areas now requires pre-registration through the Ministry of National Defense portal. Organized tour buses from Seoul handle this automatically, but self-driving visitors must register online at least 48 hours in advance.
Jeju Island: Where the Story First Took Flight
The drama’s opening sequence — Se-ri’s paragliding accident that sends her across the border — was filmed on Jeju Island (제주도). Specifically, the cliffside launch scenes used the coastal areas near Seopjikoji (섭지코지) on Jeju’s east coast, a basalt lava headland with low grass, wild wind, and ocean views that the camera made look like the edge of the world.
Seopjikoji has been a drama filming location since long before CLOY — it featured in the older drama All In — but the CLOY connection intensified visitor numbers significantly. A glass structure designed by Tadao Ando (the Genius Loci building) sits on the headland and has become the anchor point for visitors recreating the sequence. The wind here is rarely gentle. On most days, you’ll understand immediately why a paraglider might lose control.
Getting to Seopjikoji: From Jeju City, take Bus 701 toward Seongsan and alight near the Seopjikoji entrance. The walk to the headland takes about 15 minutes. Entry to the headland area itself is free.
2026 Budget Reality: What a CLOY Filming Tour Actually Costs
Visiting all the major locations across two to three days requires some planning. Here’s an honest breakdown:
- Budget tier: Using public transport exclusively, self-guided. Nami Island + Garden of Morning Calm day trip from Seoul costs roughly 35,000–45,000 KRW (~$26–$33 USD) including train, ferry, and entries. Seoul locations (Seongbuk-dong, Yeouido, Bukchon) are essentially free beyond transport. Total for a 2-day Seoul + day trip: 80,000–120,000 KRW (~$59–$89 USD) excluding accommodation.
- Mid-range tier: Adding an organized DMZ tour from Seoul runs 55,000–90,000 KRW (~$41–$67 USD) per person through licensed operators. Jeju requires a separate flight (from 40,000 KRW / ~$30 USD one-way on budget carriers like Air Busan or Jeju Air when booked in advance in 2026).
- Comfortable tier: A full private guided CLOY tour covering Seoul, the DMZ corridor, and one overnight near Gapyeong runs 350,000–500,000 KRW per person (~$259–$370 USD), depending on group size. Several specialist K-drama tour operators introduced dedicated CLOY itineraries in 2025 that remain popular through 2026.
Accommodation near Gapyeong for the Nami Island day is typically guesthouses at 40,000–70,000 KRW per night (~$30–$52 USD), or you can do the whole area as a day trip from Seoul.
Planning Your Route: Combining Locations Without Burning Out
The instinct is to try everything in three days. Resist it. The locations are spread across Seoul, Gangwon Province, the DMZ corridor in Gyeonggi Province, and Jeju — a geography that covers hundreds of kilometres. Rushing between them produces a blur, not a memory.
A practical structure for most visitors:
- Day 1 — Seoul locations: Start early at Bukchon, walk to Seongbuk-dong in the afternoon, end at Yeouido Hangang Park at sunset. All accessible on Seoul Metro.
- Day 2 — Gapyeong / Nami Island: Take the early ITX train from Cheongnyangni. Nami Island in the morning, Garden of Morning Calm in the afternoon. Return to Seoul in the evening or stay overnight near Chuncheon.
- Day 3 — DMZ corridor: Imjingak by train, or a full organized DMZ tour if you want access to sites closer to the actual border. Cheorwon requires a separate day with your own transport.
- Separate trip — Jeju: Seopjikoji works well as part of any Jeju itinerary centered on the island’s east coast, combined with Seongsan Ilchulbong and Udo Island.
The GTX-A line, which fully opened its extended northern corridor in 2025, has reduced travel time between central Seoul and the Paju/Imjingak direction noticeably. Check current schedules at Korail’s website, as connections are still being refined in early 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are the North Korean village scenes from CLOY accessible to tourists?
The actual North Korean-looking village set used indoors was a studio construction. The outdoor landscape scenes were filmed near Cheorwon and Imjingak in South Korea. Both areas are accessible — Imjingak by train, Cheorwon by private vehicle — though DMZ-adjacent zones require advance registration as of 2026.
Is Nami Island worth visiting just for Crash Landing on You?
Nami Island is a genuinely beautiful destination regardless of the drama connection. The tree-lined paths, river views, and seasonal changes make it worthwhile on its own. The CLOY connection adds context, but the island doesn’t depend on it. Visit in early winter if you want the atmosphere closest to how it appeared on screen.
Do I need a guide for the CLOY filming locations, or can I self-navigate?
Seoul and Nami Island locations are fully manageable without a guide using Naver Map and the drama’s episode screenshots for reference. The DMZ corridor benefits from an organized tour, primarily for access permissions and historical context. Jeju’s Seopjikoji is straightforward by public bus.
Has anything changed at these filming locations since the drama aired?
Yes. Bukchon has new photography restrictions protecting residents. Certain DMZ-adjacent access points now require pre-registration. Nami Island’s entry fee increased in 2025. The Garden of Morning Calm remains largely unchanged. Always check current conditions before traveling, as drama-tourism popularity continues to drive policy adjustments at popular sites.
Which single CLOY location is most worth visiting if I only have one day?
Nami Island combined with the Garden of Morning Calm gives you the most visually recognizable scenes in a single manageable day trip from Seoul. The landscape directly evokes the drama’s most emotional sequences, and the journey through Gapyeong by train is pleasant in its own right.
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