Instead of taking the bus to Namhae like I did in 2014, I rented a car (70,000₩ a day) and was able to take in some pretty incredible sights!

We drove across the pretty Namhae Bridge:

The roads in this area are windy and narrow, so be cautious and drive carefully.

Sangju Beach (상주은모래비치) was gorgeous and there were a ton of people there. We ate at a Korean-Chinese restaurant by the beach called 상주반점 that I recommend. The young kid taking orders and serving food is a hustler and on the road to success, for sure.

Next, we drove to the American Village (미국마을):

What a bizarre place! This village in Namhae was designed to be “the last settling place for Korean-Americans who have dreamt of returning to and retiring in their homeland.” It even has a replica of the Statute of Liberty. Other than the sheer novelty of it all, totally not worth the visit. There’s a small coffee shop but nothing to do or eat in the area, and, yup, parking sucks.

Next, we checked out number 3 on CNN Travel’s list of beautiful places in Korea, the Darangee Village (다랭이 마을). It’s many-terraced farmland that descends down to a rocky shoreline below. There’s not much parking and the best we could do was stop the car to enjoy the view for a few minutes while an older Korean man yelled at us to move. Really pretty, though:

Our last stop was the German Village (독일마을), and it was just happenstance that it happened to be the Oktoberfest. The German Village has a whole lot more going for it than the American Village, as it has a bunch of fun cafes and restaurants in the area serving coffee, beer, and yummy sausages. We sat in traffic for 1-2 hours and had to park about 1-2 km away. The festival was kitsy and fun, but I wouldn’t say it’s worth the trip if you’re not already in the area. We weren’t served any beers or food we couldn’t find elsewhere in Korea. Buying a six-pack to take home was 50,000₩. Are any beers really worth that price?

Driving around Namhae was a blast. Definitely one of Korea’s gems. I’m often keen to camp on the beach, but there are some really lovely pensions in the area. An especially posh one I recommend is 해비치펜션. Treat yo self!