
Stay in a tree house for adults at Surak Hyu, Seoul's new forest retreat
Advertisement
No longer tucked away in remote forests, these whimsical dwellings are now springing up in urban areas, offering a romantic escape into nature.
Seoul's first forest retreat with elevated cabins, Surak Hyu, officially opened in the northern district of Nowon on July 17, bringing that fantasy to life.
Despite it being a brand-new facility, demand has already outpaced supply. All rooms for July sold out in just three minutes during a reservation trial in June. The next round, for August, closed in about four minutes.
To experience the buzz first-hand, we visited Surak Hyu for a night, followed by a stop at Korea's original treehouse haven in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi province.
A night at one of the tree houses costs US$180 during peak season. Photo: Instagram/toypapa_seoul
Nestled within 9,800 square metres (105,000 square feet) of forest on the slopes of Mount Surak, Surak Hyu is the result of an eight-year, 21.37 billion won (US$15.5 million) investment by the Nowon District Office. The facility offers 25 rooms in 18 buildings, accommodating up to 105 guests.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Chinese tourists offered visa-free entry to South Korea from September
South Korea has rolled out a temporary visa waiver programme for Chinese tour groups in the latest effort to help strengthen fragile ties. Advertisement From September 29, members of Chinese tour groups will be allowed to enter South Korea without a visa until June 30 next year, the office of Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said on Wednesday. It is the first time that South Korea has allowed travel visa exemptions for Chinese tour groups, regardless of point of entry. Previously, only Jeju Island offered such access, allowing group visitors visa-free stays of up to 30 days. South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok announced the visa-free programme on Wednesday. Photo: EPA/Yonhap 'With South Korea's inbound tourism market recovering rapidly, the implementation of this visa waiver programme is expected to help boost demand for travel to Korea, revitalise regional economies and fuel domestic consumption,' a government official said, according to the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency. Chinese nationals made up the largest group of overseas tourists travelling to South Korea, with about 2.5 million arrivals in the first half of this year, The Korea Herald reported, citing the Korea Tourism Organisation. In November, Beijing announced a unilateral visa-free policy for South Koreans, allowing them to stay in China for up to 15 days until the end of this year. Advertisement The measure drove strong growth in South Korean travel to China, with passenger traffic from November to March up 20.4 per cent to 5.7 million visits, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in Seoul.


South China Morning Post
26-07-2025
- South China Morning Post
Stay in a tree house for adults at Surak Hyu, Seoul's new forest retreat
Once just the stuff of childhood dreams, tree houses are being reimagined as adult hideaways. Advertisement No longer tucked away in remote forests, these whimsical dwellings are now springing up in urban areas, offering a romantic escape into nature. Seoul's first forest retreat with elevated cabins, Surak Hyu, officially opened in the northern district of Nowon on July 17, bringing that fantasy to life. Despite it being a brand-new facility, demand has already outpaced supply. All rooms for July sold out in just three minutes during a reservation trial in June. The next round, for August, closed in about four minutes. To experience the buzz first-hand, we visited Surak Hyu for a night, followed by a stop at Korea's original treehouse haven in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi province. A night at one of the tree houses costs US$180 during peak season. Photo: Instagram/toypapa_seoul Nestled within 9,800 square metres (105,000 square feet) of forest on the slopes of Mount Surak, Surak Hyu is the result of an eight-year, 21.37 billion won (US$15.5 million) investment by the Nowon District Office. The facility offers 25 rooms in 18 buildings, accommodating up to 105 guests.


South China Morning Post
16-07-2025
- South China Morning Post
Who is Cari? South Korea-based YouTuber on content creator success, living abroad, books
By Emily Serby If you have ever fallen down a Seoul vlog rabbit hole, chances are you have come across the YouTuber Cari. Cari is the face behind both the 'cari cakes' and 'cari can read' channels on YouTube. Best known for her travel vlogs, the Seoul-based content creator does not shy away from processing personal ups and downs with her channel's 415,000 subscribers. She weaves themes of solitude and nostalgia through her videos, all delivered with a quiet vulnerability that makes her feel more like a friend than an internet personality. A California native, Cari originally came to Seoul as a student in 2012, fell in love with the city and decided to come back for work. She became one of the earliest big content creators in Korea, where fans eagerly tuned in for Q&A sessions and Korean office tours. 'There wasn't actually a lot of tourism information available at the time,' she recalls of her early days in Seoul. 'There was no TikTok . I had just got Instagram, so I just had to discover everything organically.'