Odaesan meditation village runs a workcation promotion during the summer vacation season.
For solo entrepreneurs and small-company CEOs who want to get away but can’t fully set things down and just enjoy their vacation, completely forgetting about work and resting isn’t easy. For people like them, workcation—balancing appropriate rest with minimal work—is needed. At Odaesan meditation village, you can work quietly and also take part in programs designed to help you heal by finding yourself again.
Odaesan meditation village, ideally located for a workcation.
As you pass through the mountain gate (Sanmun) and gradually rise in elevation, the texture of the air changes. In the foothills of Odaesan in Gangwon Province, the natural meditation village sits on a ridge at 700 meters above sea level, and slows your steps from the moment you arrive. On a wide expanse of land that stretches to the size of 14 soccer fields, lodging houses made of Japanese cypress are scattered low and wide. Between them, the cool, resinous scent of the fir forest seeps in. It feels less like a trip and more like a place to pause for a while.
A meditation village shaped by the Odaesan ridge, named OMV
The village’s official nickname is OMV (OMV). Named from the first letters of Odaesan, meditation, and village, it opened in 2018 when Jeongwolsa set it up as a space to help modern people heal their minds. Monk Seonggong, who led the founding, previously said he wanted to create a practice ground for people grappling with mental confusion amid rapid economic growth. Thanks to the way the monastery’s long-standing traditions of training were translated into a form with subtle religious coloring, even those who are not Buddhist can stay without feeling like they are stepping over a threshold.
Its biggest feature is the rooms. Inside lodgings built with Japanese cypress wood, each room includes a private meditation room. There is no TV or internet, and there is no refrigerator. From the start, the setup was designed for so-called digital detox—stepping away from screens and notifications. Once you set down the devices in your hands, you end up hearing more clearly the sound of the wind outside the window and the way the leaves rustle.
Fir forest trails and walking paths—where your steps become meditation
The meditation village’s schedule moves in step with nature’s rhythm. In the morning and evening, yoga and meditation programs run, slowly awakening your body and tying up the day in calm stillness. Because the approach focuses on breathing rather than formalities, even people trying it for the first time can follow along without difficulty.
All around the village, multiple walking paths wind through the area. If you walk down a narrow lane with a name like “the outer path of the wind” or one like “a secret garden,” your very footsteps become a meditation. If you go a bit farther, you reach the fir forest trails at the nearby Jeongwolsa. With centuries-old fir trees shading the sky, the path is one of Odaesan’s signature scenes—showing a different face across all four seasons.
While you stay, OMV visitors can view the Jeongwolsa Sacred Relics Museum for free, and you can also flip through books quietly in a literary hall set up inside the village. Meals are served at the restaurant Suvida, with fusion dishes that make use of wild greens. Instead of offering cooking in your room, a carefully prepared meal made with local ingredients helps keep the balance of your day.
Things to know before you stay
The meditation village has 89 rooms across 16 buildings made of Japanese cypress wood. The layout is divided into a main gageok house with beds and ondol floor-heating rooms, and separate villas for those who want independent time. Choose according to your group’s setup. Check-in is at 2 p.m., check-out is at 11 a.m., and parking is available.
Because accommodation fees and program operating schedules may vary by season, it’s best to confirm on the official site (omv.co.kr) or by calling the representative phone line (033-333-6500) and make a reservation. If you ask in advance about the number of people, room types, and whether programs are included, it becomes easier to plan your schedule.
There are two convenient ways to get there. If you use public transportation, take KTX from Seoul to the Jinbu (Odaesan) Station, then travel toward Odaesan. If you drive your own car, you can enter from the Jinbu intercity interchange on the Yeongdong Expressway and head in the direction of the national park. Because it’s a cooler highland area, it’s good for a summer getaway, and the fall foliage and winter snowy landscapes are especially beautiful—delivering a different kind of feeling in every season.
A day filled by emptiness, a time in the mountains you want to come back to
What Odaesan natural meditation village offers isn’t flashy sightseeing—it’s the experience of emptiness. Spend a night in a room where notifications stop, walk the forest paths slowly, and face a table of mountain-food cuisine. That simple rhythm ends up lingering in your memory longer than you’d expect. The virtue of this village is that its doors are open both to people who want to study meditation deeply and to those who simply want to rest their weary minds for a while. Since Odaesan’s four seasons always greet you with a different face, that’s also why people who have been here once return again when the seasons change.
At Odaesan meditation village, the village discounts room charges by 10% for people who apply for a workcation and stay consecutively for more than 3 days. It runs up to a maximum of 5 days and is only offered in July and August. The offer is for individual customers using rooms for 11 people, and reservations are possible only by phone.
Call for inquiries 033-333-6500
Homepage http://omv.co.kr/