Crash Landing on You: What You Can Visit in Korea

Crash Landing on You premiered on tvN in December 2019 and finished its 16-episode run in February 2020 with a rating of 21.7%, the highest in tvN history at the time. Globally it became Netflix's gateway drama for many viewers, and Iseltwald—the small Swiss village where Yoon Se-ri sat on a lakeside bench—reportedly went from quiet local spot to crowded tourist site afterward. Before planning a Korea trip around the drama, the honest breakdown: roughly half of the most photographed scenes were shot abroad. Switzerland handled the romantic flashbacks and dream sequences. Mongolia provided the wide steppes and rural North Korean village exteriors. Korea handled present-day Seoul scenes, some east coast filming, and indoor sets including the North Korean village interiors built on a closed soundstage. This matters because tour operators sometimes blur the line. If you came to Korea hoping to find the bench from episode one, you'll need a flight to Switzerland instead. What Korea offers is the Seoul side of Se-ri's life and a few coastal scenes. That's a real trip, but it's a different one than the drama's most viral images suggest.

Seokchon Lake in Songpa-gu is the most accessible Crash Landing location in Seoul. The lake wraps around Lotte World and has a walking path of about 2.5 kilometers. Several scenes featuring Yoon Se-ri were filmed at benches along the eastern lake (Dongho), and fans still identify and photograph the spots. Getting there: Jamsil Station on Seoul Subway Lines 2 and 8, exit 3. Walk about 5 minutes to reach the lake. The path is open 24 hours and free. Cherry blossom season in early April draws large crowds; for a quieter visit, go on a weekday morning or late evening. The drama also used Apgujeong and Cheongdam in Gangnam for Se-ri's company offices and luxury lifestyle scenes. The production didn't publicly identify specific buildings, and most exterior shots used generic upscale architecture in the area. Walking around Apgujeong Rodeo Street or Cheongdam-dong gives you the visual context, but trying to find a specific 'Sehri Choi office building' is mostly guesswork. Treat the area as atmospheric reference rather than a checklist. For Seoul-based fans, combining Seokchon Lake with a Lotte World Tower observatory visit and a Gangnam walk makes a reasonable half-day itinerary.

Sokcho's Daepo Port (대포항) appeared in some seaside scenes. It's a working fishing harbor on the east coast known for raw fish markets and seafood restaurants rather than drama tourism, which is part of its appeal—you'll find local fishermen and seafood stalls, not a curated set. Getting to Sokcho: Intercity buses from Seoul Express Bus Terminal or Dong-Seoul Bus Terminal take about 2 hours 30 minutes. Alternatively, take KTX to Gangneung Station (about 2 hours from Seoul) and transfer to a local bus or taxi to Sokcho. There is no direct KTX to Sokcho yet. From Sokcho's central bus terminal, Daepo Port is a 15-minute taxi ride. Gapyeong, in Gyeonggi Province, served as the location for some outdoor scenes set in rural areas. Gapyeong is more commonly known for Nami Island and the Garden of Morning Calm, and Crash Landing's Gapyeong scenes are scattered enough that pinpointing them isn't practical for casual visitors. If you're going to Gapyeong anyway for Nami Island, the broader landscape is what the drama used, but don't expect a specific marked spot. The DMZ exterior shots used real border-area vistas, but the actual filming was done in safer, accessible zones rather than within the restricted military area.

Switzerland is where the drama's most viral scenes were filmed, and they cannot be visited from Korea. Iseltwald, a village on Lake Brienz near Interlaken, hosts the wooden pier and bench where Yoon Se-ri appeared in flashbacks. The local government has since installed a turnstile and small fee to manage tourist crowds. Lauterbrunnen Valley provided the waterfall scenes—Staubbach Falls is the most photographed. Sigriswil's pedestrian bridge over a deep gorge featured in the encounter scene between the two leads. To visit these requires flying to Zurich, then taking trains to Interlaken (about 2 hours). It's a separate trip and not feasible as a Korea side excursion. If you're combining Korea with European travel, Switzerland in late spring through early autumn is the standard window. Mongolia provided most of the wide outdoor shots used to depict North Korean countryside. The grassy plains, the village exteriors, and several long-distance scenes were filmed there. These locations aren't set up for fan tourism the way Iseltwald is, and Mongolia trips work as their own destination rather than a drama-tourism extension. The North Korean village seen so frequently in the drama was a constructed set, parts of it built in Korea on closed studio lots and parts filmed in Mongolia. The set is not open to the public and was not preserved as a tourist site. There is no 'Captain Ri's village' you can visit in Korea.

A realistic Crash Landing day in Seoul: morning at Seokchon Lake walking the eastern path and finding the bench area, lunch in nearby Songpa, afternoon walk through Apgujeong or Cheongdam for the Gangnam atmosphere, evening at Lotte World Tower's Seoul Sky observation deck for the city view. This gives you the Seoul half of Se-ri's storyline without overpromising. If you're extending east, build Sokcho into a 2-day Gangwon trip combining Daepo Port, Seoraksan National Park, and the local seafood scene. The drama connection is light, but the trip itself is worthwhile. For the North Korean storyline, the closest authentic experience is a DMZ tour from Seoul. Several operators run half-day and full-day tours to areas like the Third Tunnel, Dora Observatory, and Imjingak Park. Standard half-day tours start around 50,000-80,000 won. The JSA (Joint Security Area) tour, when available, is more restricted and pricier. None of this is where Crash Landing actually filmed, but it's the real version of what the drama dramatized. Final honest note: if your priority is Iseltwald's bench, book Switzerland. If your priority is experiencing Korea with Crash Landing as a soft theme, the Seoul-Sokcho-DMZ combination delivers a real trip without inventing locations that don't exist.