Renting a car is one of the easiest ways to explore Jeju Island, particularly if you plan to visit attractions spread across the east, west and south of the island. Driving in Jeju is generally manageable for first-time visitors: South Korea drives on the right, most main roads are well maintained, and rental cars commonly include navigation systems that warn drivers about changing speed limits and cameras.

Foreign visitors normally need their passport, original domestic driving licence and a physical International Driving Permit when collecting a rental car. Digital photographs or PDF copies of the IDP may not be accepted, so this is one document you should prepare before leaving home.

This guide is based on our experience renting from LOTTE Rent-a-Car and driving around Jeju ourselves. It covers the collection process, navigation, fuel, parking, winter driving, road rules and the things we wish we had understood before the trip.

Key takeaways

• Renting a car is one of the best ways to explore Jeju, giving you the freedom to visit attractions at your own pace.
• Driving in Jeju is generally easy, with well-maintained roads, clear English signage and plenty of parking.
• An International Driving Permit (IDP) is required for most visitors renting a car in South Korea.
• Navigation apps like Naver Maps make getting around straightforward, even if it’s your first time driving in Korea.
• Be aware of speed cameras and follow the posted speed limits, as enforcement is common across the island.
• For families, couples and travellers planning to explore multiple parts of Jeju, renting a car is usually more convenient than relying on buses or taxis.

Who is this guide for?

This guide is written for travellers who are wondering whether renting a car in Jeju is really worth it, especially if it’s their first time driving in South Korea.

It’s based entirely on our own experience exploring the island by car, so you’ll find plenty of practical tips alongside honest reflections on what we wish we’d known before picking up the keys. Rather than simply explaining the rules of the road, I’ll cover what driving actually feels like, how easy it is to navigate, what surprised us, and whether I’d recommend it over relying on buses or taxis.

I think you’ll find this guide particularly useful if you’re:

• Planning your first self-drive holiday in Jeju.
• Unsure whether it’s safe or easy to drive in South Korea.
• Travelling as a couple or family and want the flexibility to explore at your own pace.
• Wondering if renting a car is worth the extra cost compared to using public transport.
• Looking for practical advice based on real driving experience rather than just rental company information.

If you’re planning to visit popular attractions all around the island, enjoy discovering cafés and scenic coastal roads, or simply don’t want to spend your holiday working around bus timetables, I genuinely think driving is one of the best decisions you can make in Jeju.

Hopefully this guide will help you feel much more confident before you get behind the wheel!

How car rental works at Jeju Airport

One thing that caught me by surprise was that collecting our rental car wasn’t quite as simple as walking out of the arrivals hall.

Unlike many airports, most of Jeju’s major rental companies operate from large rental centres located a short distance away from the airport rather than directly inside the terminal. After collecting your luggage, you’ll first need to board your rental company’s complimentary shuttle bus, which takes you to their main depot.

Don’t worry though, the process is generally well organised. Shuttle buses run frequently throughout the day, and the journey only takes a few minutes.

Once we arrived at the LOTTE Rent-a-Car centre, everything was fairly straightforward. After presenting our booking confirmation, passport, driving licence and International Driving Permit, we completed the paperwork before being directed to our vehicle.

I’d recommend saving your reservation confirmation on your phone before you arrive. After a long flight, it’s much easier than searching through emails while standing at the rental counter.

If you’re travelling with young children, remember that you’ll also need to transfer luggage, strollers and child seats onto the shuttle bus before reaching the rental centre. It isn’t difficult, but it’s worth allowing an extra 30 to 45 minutes between landing and actually driving away.

Documents you’ll need for driving in Jeju

Before collecting your rental car, make sure you have:

• Passport
• Original driving licence
• Physical International Driving Permit
• Credit card used for booking

The International Driving Permit is particularly important.

Although many travellers carry digital copies of important documents, rental companies generally expect to see the original physical IDP together with your domestic licence. We kept ours together with our passports throughout the trip to avoid any last-minute panic at the rental counter.

It’s also worth double-checking that your licence has been held for the minimum period required by your rental company, as this can vary.

Pick a reliable car rental service

One of the most important parts of driving in Jeju actually happens before you even land on the island: choosing the right car rental company.

There are countless car rental options in Jeju, ranging from large established brands to smaller local operators. After comparing prices, insurance coverage, pickup convenience, and reviews, we eventually decided to rent from LOTTE Rent-a-Car at their Jeju Auto House branch, and overall the experience was smooth enough that I would comfortably use them again.

What stood out was not just the pricing, although the rates were competitive, but how straightforward the entire process felt. The car pickup was organised, the inspection process was relatively efficient, and the overall experience felt geared toward tourists who might be driving in Korea for the first time.

That said, not every Jeju rental company operates the same way, and this is where doing proper research beforehand matters. A cheaper rental price does not always mean a better experience once you actually arrive.

One thing worth checking carefully is how strict the vehicle inspection process is during return. Some companies are known for being extremely particular about tiny scratches or cosmetic marks, which can become stressful if you did not properly document the car condition before driving off. Taking clear photos and videos of the vehicle during pickup is always a good habit regardless of which company you choose.

It is also important to check what kind of support the rental company provides if something goes wrong during your trip. Breakdowns, flat tires, or minor accidents are stressful enough already, especially in a foreign country, so having access to 24-hour roadside assistance or emergency support can make a huge difference.

Another practical thing to confirm is navigation. Most rental cars in Jeju come with built-in GPS systems, but not all systems are equally foreigner-friendly. Some older systems work better with Korean phone numbers or map codes rather than English addresses. If the company does not provide reliable navigation, you may end up depending heavily on your own mobile data and apps throughout the trip.

If you are visiting Jeju during winter, snow equipment is another detail worth clarifying in advance. Roads around Hallasan and higher elevation areas can become icy, and not every rental package automatically includes snow chains or winter tires. Some companies charge extra for them, while others include them seasonally.

These details might sound minor while planning the trip, but once you are actually driving around Jeju in unfamiliar conditions, they become the difference between a smooth experience and a stressful one.

Getting used to left-hand drive in Jeju

One of the most important things you’ll need to take note of is that Jeju uses left-hand drive. This is the opposite of countries like Singapore and Malaysia which practise right-hand drive.

The good news is that switching over is not as difficult as it sounds. You can practise getting used to it by slowly driving the car (which is highly encouraged anyway – more on that later).

At an intersection, the driver needs to check on the left side, and then the right side. If you have passengers in the car, you can also get them to remind you!

Make sure your car’s GPS is in a language you’re comfortable with

When you’re checking your car before driving off, make sure to also check if your car’s auto-fitted GPS is set to English or Korean.

There are a good number of Koreans from other cities who also rent cars to drive around Jeju, so English is not always the default language set on the GPS.

If you’re unsure how to set the language to English or another language you prefer, check with the staff at the rental company before you drive off!

Use phone numbers, not addresses, to find your destination on GPS

It sounds a little counterintuitive that you don’t input addresses in the GPS to navigate, but this is true!

In Singapore, you can simply type postal codes into the GPS and it’ll bring you to a specific building. However, postal codes do not work the same in Korea. From what I understand, they’re not unique to each building and even the building name itself is not searchable on GPS!

If you don’t have the telephone number of, say, the café that you want to drive to, you still can try typing in the name of the café and see if it works out. This has worked for us when we were trying to find our way to famous eateries such as Seogwipean Bakery.

Otherwise, your best bet is to use your phone’s GPS, which brings us to our next point…

Use Naver Maps as a navigation backup – but Google may work too!

You can’t run away from installing Naver Maps on your phone if you’re travelling in Korea, and you’ll find that this comes in super handy when you have issues finding places on your car’s GPS.

A lot of travel websites have explicitly said that Google Maps does not work in Korea. While this is true to a certain extent, I have discovered in recent years that Google Maps is not totally unusable. There are some places that can be much easily located on Google – caveat being that these are popular and highly-searched attractions.

That being said, Naver Maps still trumps if you need reliable navigation in Jeju. It is also much better for finding local haunts and highly-recommended food places. Just don’t totally rule out using Google Maps if you’re desperate and don’t know how to use Naver!

Enjoy the simple road system & nice drivers in Jeju

For those who worry that Jeju’s roads are as complex and jammed as Seoul’s highways, fret not!

Jeju’s road system is fairly straightforward ,with only a few main roads connected all around Jeju. Road signs are generally in English and Korean, and all landmarks are signposted.

Roads are relatively flat and are rarely ever jammed. The ones further from the city (nearer the nature attractions or seaside villages) tend to be narrower and curve a lot, but the bends do keep you alert so you don’t doze off while driving on long stretches.

We drove in winter where it turned dark VERY early because the sun sets at around 4-5pm, but didn’t find much of a problem because all the roads were very well-lit.

Our main worry was the snow and frost that hit the roads, especially on days with snow flurries. Luckily the roads in Jeju are very well-maintained and our car’s tyres have a good grip. Hence, we didn’t have issues driving and didn’t need snow chains either!

I generally find that drivers in Jeju are much more patient than those in Seoul – they do honk sometimes if you’re making mistakes, but this is more of a friendly warning rather than angry raging.

Watch out for speed limits & speed cameras all over Jeju

Generally, the speed limit is 70 – 80km/h on most of the roads in Jeju. I have never seen any that allow beyond 80km/h when we were driving in Jeju, so most people do drive at a pretty relaxed pace!

However, do note that speed limits slow to 50km/h at elderly/silver zones. These are further reduced to 30 km/h in school zones!

The Jeju authorities take speeding pretty seriously. Many speed cameras are installed islandwide, even in the far-flung seaside villages. Your rented car’s GPS will also prompt you with loud warnings once you drive over the stipulated speed limit.

We sometimes did observe certain local drivers going over the speed limit by a little – but best to be safe!

Enjoy free/cheap & plentiful parking in Jeju

Before our trip, I assumed parking would end up being one of the more stressful parts of driving around Jeju. Thankfully, it turned out to be one of the easiest. Even our Airbnb came with its own parking space!

Almost every attraction we visited had its own dedicated car park, whether it was a waterfall, museum, café or beach. In many cases, parking was either free or very inexpensive, and we rarely had to spend more than a few minutes looking for a space. Compared to driving in Singapore, where finding parking can sometimes be the hardest part of the journey, Jeju felt remarkably relaxed.

One thing I particularly appreciated was that many cafés and restaurants also had their own parking areas. That meant we didn’t have to worry about circling the block or walking long distances after parking.

The only places where parking felt a little busier were in Jeju City and around some of the more popular markets during peak hours. Even then, we never found it particularly frustrating. Arriving a little earlier in the day usually made things much easier, especially at well-known attractions.

If you’re relying on your car’s built-in navigation system or Naver Map, you’ll often be guided directly to the attraction’s designated parking area rather than just the general address. We found this surprisingly helpful, particularly for larger attractions where the main entrance isn’t always immediately obvious.

Overall, parking was one of those things we probably worried about far more than we needed to. If you’re comfortable driving, I don’t think finding somewhere to park in Jeju should be a major concern for most visitors.

Pumping petrol at petrol kiosks may not be cheap (prices also differ!)

You’ll definitely have to pump petrol at some point in time when driving in Jeju. Driving around the island can really burn through your fuel pretty fast, especially if you’re driving for hours daily. You’ll also need to fill to full tank before you return your car to the car rental.

Petrol stations are easy to find throughout Jeju, especially around Jeju City and along the island’s main roads, so we never felt like we had to constantly keep an eye on the fuel gauge. Instead, we simply planned to top up the tank before heading back to the rental centre on our final day.

Before you drive away from the rental depot, it’s worth taking a quick look at the fuel type listed on the rental agreement or inside the fuel flap. Like anywhere else, make sure you’re using the correct fuel for your vehicle.

Most rental companies will ask you to return the car with the same amount of fuel it had when you collected it, so it’s a good idea to familiarise yourself with the fuel policy before setting off. We found it easiest to refuel shortly before returning the car rather than trying to guess how much petrol we’d need throughout the trip.

If you’ve never driven in Korea before, don’t worry if the fuel pumps initially look unfamiliar. Many petrol stations have attendants who can help, and even at self-service stations the process is generally quite intuitive. If you’re unsure, don’t hesitate to ask for assistance—we found people to be friendly and willing to help.

My advice would simply be to leave a little extra time on your final day. That way, you can refuel the car without feeling rushed before returning it and catching your airport shuttle.

Related Posts:

• Road 1100 – The best winter views in Jeju!
• Jeju Dongmun Traditional Market: oldest traditional market in Jeju!
• Iho Tewoo Beach: Jeju beach with famous horse lighthouses

---

PIN THIS!