5 Best Places to Go Shopping in Goseong

Ganseong-ro is a high street filled with small independent stores and restaurants. You won't find many touristy shops, but there are plenty of opportunities to buy food products you can't get at home, try something from a local bakery, or just stroll around and window shop along the street.

You’ll see many locals frequenting Ganseong-ro’s colourful flower stores, stationery shops, and toy stores. If you've forgotten to pack anything, whether that's clothes, toiletries or electronics, you'll probably be able to find it on Ganseong-ro.

The Ganseong Traditional Market has been trading since the early 1960s, with 100s of traders making it one of the best places to go shopping in Goseong. Shops are spread across 2 floors, with food, clothing and household goods piled high around the stalls. Locals do their shopping at this marketplace, so it's an interesting place to soak up some authentic Korean culture.

The main focus of the market is fresh food, which ranges from local fish and vegetables to rice cakes, spicy cucumber salad and kimchi. It's also a good place to pick up reasonably priced clothes and toiletries. The entrance is tucked away between buildings – look out for the blue and orange sign on the pavement.

Wanggok Village is a traditional Korean village dating back to the 14th century, complete with ancient, thatched houses and time-honoured folk traditions. It's a wonderful insight into South Korea's history, as well as a good place to shop for traditional Korean wares. Come and browse, or have a go at the cultural experiences and get a souvenir to take home.

Wanggok Village has many artisans selling historical-style beaded jewellery. You can even take a jewellery class and make your own. There are also straw crafts, traditional toys, and various handmade goodies. You can also find many food vendors here – try the rice cake, tofu, or hangwa (traditional Korean dessert flavoured with fruit and honey.

The Daejin Port Fish Market is a huge, busy shopping destination that occupies a prime spot on Daejin’s waterfront. A staggering range of seafood comes freshly caught from the East Sea. What's available varies from season to season, though you can almost always find mackerel, seabass, red crab and pollock at this market.

One of the market's specialities is the giant pacific octopus. Popular choices include fresh squid, scallops, and sea urchins. Choose what you want from the tanks, and the stallholders will clean and slice it up for you. The Daejin Port Fish Market also has a restaurant on the top floor, overlooking the ocean.

The Hani Lavender Farm is surrounded by fields of soft purple flowers which bloom every spring. It's a great place to shop for anything made with lavender. The shop is filled with soaps, perfume, scented candles, and sachets of dried lavender for your sock drawer.

Take home a box of lavender tea, which is said to help you sleep and improve skin health. Goseong is known for growing gorgeously scented lavender – it even hosts a lavender festival in June. If you’re visiting in summer to try Hani Lavender Farm’s lavender lemonade or lavender-flavoured ice cream.