Gangneung Coffee Street

Gangneung's coffee story starts with vending machines. The seafront at Anmok had a row of them, and people drove over from inland to drink instant coffee while looking at the East Sea, which became a habit and then a reputation. Cafes and small roasteries opened along the same strip, some of them serious about single-origin beans and hand drip, and the town now runs a coffee festival in autumn and keeps a coffee museum inland. The beach itself is wide, grey-sanded and open to a cold sea. The combination of good coffee and a plain working coastline is the appeal, and nobody pretends the beach is tropical.

What you actually see

• The vending machines - a few still standing where the whole thing began.
• Hand drip counters - single-origin brewing taken seriously along the strip.
• Anmok beach - wide grey sand and an open, cold sea.
• The autumn coffee festival - roasters and brewing competitions in town.

When to go

Summer is beach season and the strip is packed; late spring and early autumn are better. Clear winter days are the local favourite, with a rough sea outside and warm cafes behind glass. The coffee festival falls in autumn. Sunrise over the East Sea is the reason to be there early, and 1 January draws a crowd for it.

Honest expectations

It is a row of cafes on a beach, and anyone expecting a coffee district finds one street and a car park. Prices sit above Seoul levels and the window seats go instantly at weekends. The sea wind is cold for most of the year. Gangneung itself is a plain provincial city with little else on its seafront.

Nearby

Gyeongpo lake and beach are north, with Ojukheon and the old town inland.