Gangneung Sand Main Branch: sand play zone fee and breakwater bread

🍪 Gangneung dessert spotlight: Gangneung Sand Main Branch 🍪

• Great pick for Gangneung travel souvenirs
• Look for the "Gangneung Sand" stamp on the cookies
• The main branch also has fun activities and things to see

Gangneung really is a food paradise, isn't it? But your stomach is only so big, so you have to prioritize what to bring home haha. One item that's both a great souvenir and genuinely tasty is Gangneung Sand. I made the trip out to the main branch and picked up the Chodang corn and strawberry flavors — here's my honest review.

Gangneung Sand Main Branch: a full three-story building

I'd tried Gangneung Sand before, but this was my first time visiting the main branch, and it turns out the whole building — all three floors — belongs to them?! It was huge!! I felt like I was witnessing the true scale of Gangneung Sand.

It kind of gave off Santorini vibes. If you have the time, I'd recommend stopping by the main branch — especially since there are things for kids to do too!!

There's plenty of parking, and you can get everywhere by elevator, so it's easy to get around even with a stroller.

Gangneung Sand is famous enough to have won awards from various places. By the way, each cookie has "Gangneung Sand" stamped right into it — worth checking out.

Gangneung Sand flavors and prices

Before touring the main branch, I ordered the sand cookies first. There are six flavors total.

• Coffee
• Persimmon
• Strawberry
• Black sesame
• Chodang corn
• Sweet potato

All flavors except coffee are ₩17,000 for a box of 10. They also sell some special items like Gangneung breakwater bread and persimmon jam.

🌟 How to store Gangneung Sand 🌟 14 days at room temperature, 30 days refrigerated. It keeps for quite a while.

I ordered two flavors: Chodang corn and strawberry 🌟

Here's a handy flavor guide: strawberry, which kids love; nutty black sesame, which parents love; the new purple sweet potato; sweet persimmon; and the signature coffee flavor.

There was also a variety of other items like persimmon jam and signature drinks. The persimmon jam is especially sweet, so I'd recommend it if you have a sweet tooth.

The breakwater bread really is shaped like a breakwater

Wait, isn't the breakwater bread just so cute? At first I heard "breakwater bread" and was like, where's the bread part?? haha, but it really does look like a breakwater.

This is how the breakwater bread, a Gangneung dessert, gets packaged! The packaging is adorable too.

Delivery shipping is also available. But somehow it feels like it's better to come buy it in person?!

Grabbing a drink and checking out the exhibition room

This was my first time at the main branch — it's quite spacious and a nice place to sit and have a drink.

It was quieter than I expected, so I'd recommend it if you want to relax without a crowd!!

There's also a separate exhibition room on the first floor, so there's something to browse too.

When the weather's nice, you can also rest outside.

How much is the sand play zone experience fee?

There's also a sand play zone. Maybe because it's called "Sand"...? There was quite a variety of heavy equipment toys haha. There's an experience zone and an event zone, and each comes with its own fee (₩7,000 and ₩10,000).

You can let the kids play here while you sip coffee.

There's also a rooftop viewpoint haha. The view from up there is great — you can see quite far out.

The building was bigger than I expected, with a lot to see. I'd recommend taking a look around at least once.

So how are the Chodang corn and strawberry flavors?

A good sand cookie needs a crispy shell, and Gangneung Sand's outer layer was sweet, nutty, and crispy — full-on buttery flavor ✨✨ The strawberry one actually tastes like strawberry, and the corn one has real corn in it.

Personally, I liked the strawberry one more. The strawberry flavor isn't artificial — it has that tangy taste of real strawberries, which paired nicely with the nutty crunch of the outer shell. If you're buying for kids or want something crowd-pleasing, I'd recommend strawberry! But if you're into more subtle, savory flavors, go for the corn — it's not too sweet, and you can actually feel the corn kernels as you bite in, which is nice.

I'm currently doing one-sand-a-day to relive my Gangneung memories 🥹