Gangneung gift shop: July ₩5,000 heritage discount—Gangneung Sand

I was hunting for a good Gangneung travel gift and found Gangneung Sand (강릉샌드)! It looks pretty and every piece is individually wrapped, so it seemed perfect as a souvenir. Here's where the original main branch is and how to buy it with a discount!

Where is Gangneung Sand Main Branch, and where do you park?

Gangneung Sand Main Branch (강릉샌드 본점) is at 31 Seonggokgoyang-gil 5beonan-gil, Gangneung, Gangwon, and there's a parking lot right next to the store, so parking was easy.

Gangneung Sand menu and purchase rules

This is the menu at the main branch. Gangneung Sand can't be bought as single pieces, and you can't mix flavors in one box.

How to store Gangneung Sand

• 14 days at room temperature
• 30 days refrigerated
• 90 days frozen

It tastes even better slightly frozen :) And the genuine product is the one engraved with "강릉샌드" (Gangneung Sand), so watch out for imitations!

Which of the 6 Gangneung Sand flavors should you pick?

Gangneung Sand, a Gangneung souvenir snack, comes in 6 flavors: coffee, persimmon, Chodang corn, black sesame, purple sweet potato and strawberry. As befits the original main branch, there were plenty of flavors. I liked that besides desserts made with Gangneung specialties like coffee and persimmon, you can choose to suit everyone's taste. And everything looked so good,,, that choosing was seriously hard!

• Coffee is the can't-go-wrong best seller! ☕️
• Persimmon has a subtle, not-too-sweet sweetness! 🍊
• Chodang corn is the nutty sweetness Gangneung is known for! 🌽
• Purple sweet potato is the new, different menu item! 🍠
• Strawberry has a fresh fruity flavor that women will love! 🌷
• Black sesame is nutty, and even adults who skip dessert will like it! 🌾

Discount and event tips at Gangneung Sand Main Branch

Review event

If you join the review event at Gangneung Sand Main Branch, you get a cute canned Americano.

National Heritage Visit campaign partner store

Gangneung Sand Main Branch is a partner store of the National Heritage Visit campaign, and during July the first 200 people get ₩5,000 off, so it might be worth joining in!

Sand Box claw event

They also run a fun event in the store. Pay ₩10,000 for the excavator event and you can dig for a prize in the Sand Box! haha The 1st prize is a whole box of Gangneung Sand, so trying it would make a nice memory!

Getting to Gangneung Sand Main Branch without mixing it up with copycat stores

Searching for Gangneung Sand Main Branch brings up several copycat stores, so be sure to set your navigation to the signature store at 31 Seonggokgoyang-gil 5beonan-gil, Gangneung, so you don't confuse it with them. The original post also lists these Gangneung Sand branches: Branch No. 1 Wolhwa (6 Geumseong-ro 12beon-gil), Branch No. 2 Chodang (249 Nanseolheon-ro), and Branch No. 3 Gangneung Sand Cookie Lab (23 Namgu-gil 30beon-gil).

Follow the signs and you'll reach the big white building that is the signature store of Gangneung Sand Main Branch. The parking lot is right beside it, quite wide and easy to park in. The store is huge, so you can spot it from far away. The white exterior looked a bit like Santorini in Greece, and it was pretty.

You can take the stairs on the right, but since it was so hot haha we took the elevator on the left.

Gangneung Sand Main Branch 2nd-floor counter & café

At Gangneung Sand Main Branch you take the elevator up to the 2nd floor, where the counter is, to order. Just open the door and walk in.

The ceilings are high, so the space feels wide and comfortable.

Gangneung Sand is designated a Gangneung tourist souvenir dessert, so it's a great snack for travel gifts. The breakwater bread (방파제 빵) is full of coffee aroma, and the whole store smelled of it, which made my mouth water.

Ordering was easy at the kiosk. The showcase also had canned coffee and persimmon syrup (곶감청).

Gangneung Sand Main Branch 3rd-floor Sand Box zone

The 3rd floor of Gangneung Sand Main Branch is the Sand Box zone, with a real sandy beach! You use a toy excavator to find the prize hidden in the sand and join the claw event. It seems like an event made to fit the name "sand cookie." Kids would love it lol

Gangneung Sand Main Branch 5th-floor observatory

I also went up to the wide-open observatory of Gangneung Sand Main Branch and enjoyed the unobstructed view.

I wandered around holding the canned coffee I got from the review event.

How did the coffee, persimmon and Chodang corn Gangneung Sand taste?

This time I ordered coffee (₩16,000), persimmon (₩17,000) and Chodang corn (₩17,000) Gangneung Sand.

After much agonizing, I picked three: coffee, persimmon and Chodang corn. The packaging is so pretty. It would feel great to receive as a gift.

The ones engraved with "강릉샌드" like this are the genuine product, and I'm told the genuine one has a higher content of top-grade gourmet butter haha

• Coffee: filled with smooth coffee cream.
• Chodang corn: yellow corn kernels are mixed in.
• Persimmon: chewy dried persimmon bits are studded throughout.

It tasted even better with an Americano. Mixed boxes aren't allowed, but everything is individually wrapped, so you can buy one box of each flavor and split them up to take with you haha

Overall verdict

I recommend Gangneung Sand, a dessert made with local specialties and a great Gangneung travel gift. As a Gangneung souvenir snack and as a gift-worthy Gangneung dessert, the original Gangneung Sand Main Branch was a good pick.