The west coast of Korea is not one I have explored in detail, even having lived on it during my first year back in Korea. I had never been further south along it that Incheon (hint, that’s not very south at all), until I visited the reigion of TaeAn and a spot for Wellness Tourism that is Farm Kamille.

Farm Kamille is a little bit of Europe nestled into the Korean countryside. With buildings that make you feel like you’re in Italy one minute and the Netherlands the next, Farm Kamille certainly offers something that is a little bit different, a little more rustic, and a whole lot more cottagecore than other touristy destinations, especially those on the Wellness Tourism list.

What to do at Farm Kamille

Farm Kamille began as a herb farm in 2004, and has grown to offer a range of activities and ameneties that aim to provide an insight into how to achieve coexistence between humans and nature. The grounds of the farm are around 39000m2 – so way more compact than the National Centre of Forest Therapy – and split into 10 gardens. It takes about an hour to finish the tour through all the different gardens, and each garden has its own unique beauty and lots of opportunity to take photos. For reference, the gardens are: Rose Garden, Cake Garden, Lavender Garden, Le Petit Prince Garden, Kitchen Garden where gardening classes take place, Chamomile and Sage Garden, Romantic Garden, Wetland Botanical Garden, Event Garden, and the Animal Garden where you can feed donkeys, turkeys, mini pigs, rabbits, and goats. Each garden has their own blooming schedule, but Farm Kamille makes sure to cultivate a variety of plants to keep the grounds beautiful throughout the seasons.

My favourite area was the more ‘wild’ garden with Pampas grass and Pink Muhly bushes. There’s a windmill lined path to a red and white watchtower-esque building that I think is such a beautiful setting. If you’re wondering whether or not to follow the path, I definitely recommend it as there is a lot to see and hidden things to discover that following the clockwise direction laid out from the entrance makes sure you don’t miss any of the sections. It’s easy to get caught up in the beauty of the flowers and the quiet tranquility.

Also, there are so many different sculptures and figures to see in the different gardens, especially Petit Prince.

Cafes & Classes

Farm Kamille has two cafe’s. One is in the grounds of the actual farm after entry, boasting beautiful garden interiors and a lot of locally produced goods to buy, as well as special wellness and beauty items. In this cafe you can choose to have a relaxing foot bath for 10,000W accompanied by a complimentary herbal tea or drink of choice.

The second cafe is outside the grounds of the farm, and gives a wonderful view of the different gardens from the outside seating area. If you plan on coming to Farm Kamille for a day trip, I suggest starting here to get your bearings on how to spend your time.

If more hands-on activities are more your thing, then Farm Kamille offers different classes to utilise the different herbs grown on the farm. As mentioned previously, there are gardening classes in the Kitchen Garden, as well as cooking, soap making, wood crafting, flower pressing, and extracting beauty water/oil workshops. Signing up for a workshop also gets you a free cup of herbal tea.

The cost varies between 18,000W and 26,000W depending on what you choose to make.

There is also a Cypress Room, where you can relax and enjoy wooden ambiance in a cave-like room covered in cypress wood for free for half an hour.

Accommodation:

Farm Kamille has on-site accommodation in the form of Le Petit Prince pension. There are 10 rooms that sleep between 2 and 8 people. We stayed in the Tea Tree room, which is on the 2nd floor and had beautiful views of the cake garden and the surrounding countryside. The rooms themselves are cosy and clean with a rustic, cottagey feel. There are also cooking facilities, which is useful as there aren’t any other food options once the cafe’s shut with the farms working hours. The cost of each room varies, but the Tea Tree room cost 140,000W for a Saturday night stay.

Overall I think Farm Kamille is a destination to add to your TaeAn or Chungcheongnam-do itinerary, go early to avoid those lunchtime crowds and snag people-free photos. Even though there were only a handful of people around at the time of my visit, we all seemed to be in the same garden, after similar photos. If you want a list of other places to check out then I really do recommend having a look at the destinations listed on the KTO wellness rosta. It’s important to make sure that we look after both our physical and mental health.

Useful links:

Farm Kamille’s website
KTO Wellness Tourism