BTS Butter Beach: Otherwise Known As Maengbang Beach in Samcheok
I hadn’t headed to Samcheok to see the BTS Butter Beach per se, but while we were driving from our pension to a nearby viewpoint, we spotted the BTS sign and orange parasols and had to pull over to check it out. Off of peak swimming season and in the early morning, there were only a few locals taking walks on the shore of Maengbang Beach (맹방해수욕장) so we had the K-pop music video spot to ourselves.
Samcheok has beautiful beaches, but they were fairly quiet in this area as most tourists flocked to the Gangneung area for beaches, beauty, and fun. It was actually one of the least visited areas in the region for tourists until BTS popularized this coastal area in 2021. Samcheok was smart, they recreated the BTS set, set up props for photo-ops, and have welcomed more and more tourists ever since.
Get ready to learn everything you need to know about BTS Butter Beach, aka Maengbang Beach:
- How to get to Maengbang Beach from Seoul
- Where did BTS shoot Butter?
- What to know about Maengbang Beach
- When to visit
- What to do nearby
- Where to eat nearby
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How to get to Maengbang Beach from Seoul
Address: 12-1 Hamaengbang-ri, Geundeok-myeon, Samcheok-si, Gangwon-do (강원도 삼척시 근덕면 하맹방리 12-1)
Join a tour:
- Gangwon-do BTS Beach Day Tour from Seoul: KKday has a day tour that includes the must see BTS east coast photo-op spots including Maengbang Beach, Hyangho Beach, the Gapyeong Rest Area, and there’s a meal at the delicious Gangneung Jungang Market. The guides are great and they go out of their way to help you take great photos just like BTS!
- BTS Bus Stop and Butter Beach from Seoul: Viator has a day tour that includes the Gapyeong Service Area, Hyangho Beach, Gangneung Jungang Market, and Maengbang Beach.
By Public Transportation: You can take a bus from Gangnam Express Bus Terminal to Samcheok. A bus leaves every 30 to 40 minutes and takes four hours to get there. There are also buses from Dong Seoul Bus Terminal that leave every hour. There’s also a train option. You can take a train from Seoul Station or Cheongryangni Station out to Donghae Train Station. From there, you can take a bus or taxi to Maengbang Beach. Buses 21, 22, 23, or 24 go to Maengbang Beach from the Samcheok area.
Where did BTS shoot Butter?
The east coast of Korea is well known for featuring beautiful sand emerald blue water beaches but some are definitely more popular than others. Set out of the way and originally not the most popular beach in Samcheok, Maengbang Beach has become popular in recent years thanks to BTS featuring the seaside destination in their music video “Butter”.
With several concepts for the Butter teasers to choose from, the Maengbang Beach, now dubbed Butter Beach, was one of the most popular by far as BTS fans around the world pictured themselves enjoying the sea and sand right alongside their favorite BTS member.
Other movies filmed on Maengbang Beach
If you’re going to visit Maengbang Beach, you should know what else was filmed there because you might just recognize this stretch of beach from something else you’ve seen. “Road Movie”, “South of the Sun”, and “Indomitable Daughter-in-law”, as well as “Spring Day is Gone” were all filmed at Maengbang Beach.
What to know about Maengbang Beach
Maengbang Beach is about 1.2 kilometer long and isn’t as built up as other areas in Samcheok, but that makes it very special. During swimming season, there are tented stalls set up for beachgoers but other than that, it’s a very natural area to enjoy the summer sun.
After the BTS photos at Maengbang Beach were released, apparently the Samcheok tourism board was inundated with questions from fans about where the beach was. In a smart turn, they decided to recreate the photo-set to welcome the tourists interested in recreating the BTS photos for themselves. The area went from seeing 120,000 visitors annually to over 500,000 and they just keep coming.
When to visit
Visit in the spring
If you head to the area in the spring, you’ll get to see the Samcheok Maengbang Canola Flower Festival in addition to the fun seaside photo-op spot. Definitely make time to enjoy the flowers in the area if you visit in the spring.
Visit in the summer
The summer is the ideal time to visit to really take advantage of the beach and the activities in the area and get the BTS vibes on the chairs beneath the orange parasols. We visited at the end of the summer and the atmosphere was fantastic.
Visit in the autumn
Even though swimming season has ended, the autumn is still a fine time to walk along the coastline and enjoy a good beach day. Definitely plan to walk along the Deokbongsan Mountain Trail nearby. The breezes are stronger, but it’s never a bad day when near the beach on the east coast.
Visit in the winter
Last year we visited the east coast in the winter stopping by Haslla Art World before spending the day walking in the forests near the coast and even in the winter as the snow blankets the sand, the east coast is beautiful. Don’t discount a winter trip to the coast.
What to do nearby
If you want to see a bit more in the area and not just do a quick beach drive-by, here are some other places in the area you can visit on a day to Samcheok.
Deokbongsan Mountain (덕봉산)
Head up to the top of Deokbongsan Mountain for a beautiful observatory view out over the seaside and water. There’s a wooden boardwalk along Deoksan Beach which connects to stairs which can take you up to the scenic overlook. Follow the signs along Deokbongsan Trail (덕봉산 생태탐방로). It’s just as the southern end of Maengbang Beach. You can see this little mountain in the background of the BTS photos, too!
- Address: 136 Mt., Deoksan-ri, Geundeok-myeon, Samcheok-si, Gangwon-do (강원도 삼척시 근덕면 덕산리 136)
Where to eat nearby
There are a variety of restaurants nearby and convenience stores if you just want to pick something up on the go but you should definitely eat nearby if you can. Enjoy all of the fresh seafood.
Haengbok Fish (행복횟집)
A lot of the restaurants in the area serve up Korean-style raw fish dishes because it’s fresh and good. Visit Hangbok Fish for their specialty called mulhoe (물회), a cold seafood soup with a spicy and sour broth, vegetables, noodles, and of course raw seafood. There’s also one of my favorites, abalone porridge (전복죽), a warm rice porridge option.
- Address: 150 Deoksanhaebyeon-gil, Geundeok-myeon, Samcheok-si, Gangwon-do (강원 삼척시 근덕면 덕산해변길 150)
- Hours: Every day: 10:00am ~ 9:30pm
Samcheok Sujebi (삼척수제비)
If you’re looking for something a little more warm and hearty, definitely go get some sujebi (수제비). Sujebi is hand-pulled dough and in Samcheok, the dish is filled with fresh seafood. This restaurant is really good and only uses fresh ingredients and on top of that, they close up shop as soon as they run out so get there early. They also have a special fry-your-own jeon area. Take the ladle, spoon out some batter into the pans and make your own seafood jeon while you wait.
- Address: 126 Deoksanhaean-ro, Geundeok-myeon, Samcheok-si, Gangwon-do (강원 삼척시 근덕면 덕산해안로 126)
- Hours: Tuesdays – Sundays: 9:00am ~ 3:00pm
Jangho Makguksu (장호막국수)
A popular dish in the Gangwon-do region which you can find here is makguksu (막국수). This sour and spicy noodle dish is delicious, especially paired with their tender boiled pork (수육) dish.
- Address: 836 Bangjae-ro, Geundeok-myeon, Samcheok-si, Gangwon-do (강원 삼척시 근덕면 방재로 836)
The east coast of Korea is a great place to spend the day… or longer, and Butter Beach, or Maengbang Beach, once a local secret has gained a lot of attention in a good way. Hope you can find it too!
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