Escape to exotic locations with our handpicked collection of dramas where romance sparks on vacation. From the enchanting 'Encounter' to the mystical 'The Legend of the Blue Sea', set sail on a journey of love and discovery in picturesque settings. Dive into vacation romance dramas today!

Vacation Romance

Fuji TV

As a standup paddleboard instructor, summer is unquestionably Natsumi Aoi’s (Nana Mori) busiest season. Living and working at a popular seaside destination, it’s only natural for Natsumi to meet people from all walks of life. Little did she know that this summer, those people would ultimately change her life forever.

As Natsumi’s childhood friend, Takumi Makino (Fuju Kamio) has always been by her side. Never leaving his seaside home, Takumi is now a carpenter who still has a knack for being around anytime Natsumi needs him. Kento Mizushima (Shotaro Mamiya), on the other hand, is an out-of-towner who also works in construction. But his major company ties and degree from a prestigious university set him miles apart from Takumi. Joining him on this seaside adventure is Osamu Sasaki (Riku Hagiwara), a second-year clinical resident and Kento’s high school best friend. Enjoying a little seaside escape of their own are Airi Takigawa (Ai Yoshikawa), Mamoru Yamauchi (Alan Shirahama), Lisa Ogura (Sawa Nimura), and Sosuke Hayakawa (Koji Mizukami).

Coming from all walks of life, this group of young people finds their fates slowly entwining during their seaside adventures. Eventually forced to confront their complex feelings and bottled-up emotions, will any of them find the one thing they’re all so desperately searching for?

Everything a seaside summer romance should be, “Cinderellas of Midsummer” is a 2023 Japanese romance drama directed by Ryo Tanaka.

Cinderellas of Midsummer

⛱️ Summer Guys Team🌞

Misaki Sakurai (Mirei Kiritani) is down on her luck. Her dreams of becoming a top-level pastry chef with her own business seem as distant now as they have ever been and her love life appears to have stalled. To top it all off, she has just been fired from her job, and could find herself out of money and out of a home. But just when things are looking like they couldn’t get any worse, she finally gets a lucky break when her old high school flame Chiaki Shibasaki (Shohei Miura) appears on the scene and not only offers her a part-time job at his restaurant over the summer, but also a place to stay – in the house where her and his two younger brothers the cooking school dropout and womanizer Toma (Nomura Shuhei) and the unflappably patient Kanata (Yamazaki Kento) also live there.

The brothers, also talented cooks in their own right, and are as full of charm as Chiaki Shibasaki. And as Misaki Sakurai starts to live with them, she starts to realize that she might have romantic feelings not only for her former flame, but also his siblings. Will true love end up on the menu for Misaki Sakurai – and can she get her culinary dreams back on track?

“A Girl and Three Sweethearts” is a 2016 Japanese drama series that was directed by Hiro Kanai, Ryo Tanaka, and Tomonobu Moriwaki.

A Girl & Three Sweethearts

🍰Sweet Treat🍰-Team

Cha Soo Hyun (Song Hye Kyo) is the daughter of a powerful, political family. She recently divorced her wealthy husband from an arranged marriage. Tired of living life guided by others, she decides to travel overseas. She meets Kim Jin Hyuk (Park Bo Gum), a free-spirited young soul on the way. Despite their differences, they are undeniably drawn to each other.

Will the two find true love amongst their differences?

"Encounter" is a 2018 South Korean drama directed by Park Shin Woo.

Encounter

🌈 My Rainbow, After A Storm ⛈

When Joseon-era mermaid Sim Cheong (Jun Ji Hyun) follows her true love, she finds herself mysteriously transported into modern-day Seoul. Though separated from her true love, she soon crosses paths with his doppelgänger, Heo Joon Jae (Lee Min Ho). With nowhere else to go, Joon Jae takes the stranded mermaid in, though not out of the goodness of his heart. As a con artist, Joon Jae is quick to spot the priceless jade bracelet Sim Cheong wears. Determined to take Sim Cheong for all she’s worth, Joon Jae soon finds himself thinking twice about the mermaid after she helps him evade the lethal plans of his greedy stepmother. As the two draw closer together, will the charms of the ancient mermaid begin to melt the icy heart of a bitter conman? Inspired by a historical folktale, this 2016 South Korean drama series was directed by Jin Hyuk.

The Legend of the Blue Sea

The Blue Sea

iQIYI

Gui Xiao (Tan Song Yun) and Lu Yan Chen (Jing Bo Ran) fell in love in a middle school playground and became inseparable. But their love was put to the test when Xiao’s family circumstances changed and Yan Chen’s special police training took him to another country. As Xiao pursued a career in finance, their long-distance relationship gradually faded. Years later, Xiao finds a special reason to call her former sweetheart. Will this call once more open the door to love? This 2023 Chinese drama series was based on a novel by Mo Bao Fei Bao and directed by Yu Cui Hua.

Road Home

ღ Love is Back Home ❆ 

Beautiful, trendy, and intelligent, Ha Yeong Eun (Song Hye Kyo) is the epitome of a fashion industry icon. Content in both her work and her life, Yeong Eun is unfazed by others perceiving her pragmatic nature as cold. However, her life takes a turn when she meets Yoon Jae Gook (Jang Ki Young), a popular and charismatic freelance photographer who embodies perfection. Unable to ignore the feelings growing between them, Yeong Eun and Jae Gook fall quickly for each other. Yet, their romance faces challenges, showing that not all love stories have happy endings. A story that explores all the ups and downs of romantic love, this 2021 South Korean romantic series was directed by Lee Gil Bok.

Now, We Are Breaking Up

Are You The One Team

JTBC

Cellist Hae Won (Park Min Young) is warm-hearted but has closed the door to love after a number of unhappy experiences.

She lives in the capital but has grown tired of big city life – so one day decides to return to her hometown, a small village in the countryside, far away from the hustle and bustle of Seoul.

Returning to the countryside helps her regain some inner peace, but when she meets small, independent bookstore owner Eun Seop (Seo Kang Joon), her life – and outlook on love – begin to change bit by bit.

Eun Seop lives his life at a much slower pace than most of the people Hae Won knew in Seoul. Little by little, the two find themselves attracted to one another...

Will Hae Won find room for a little intimacy in her life? Can she learn to trust Eun Seop? And can the pair find love in the idyllic South Korean countryside?

“I'll Go to You When the Weather Is Nice” is a 2020 Viki Original drama series directed by Han Ji Seung.

I'll Go to You When the Weather is Nice

The warm-hearted team

Channel A

If you meet the same person over and over again over the course of many years, is it just coincidence or fate?

Han Yoo Kyung (Han Seung Yeon) takes a trip to Korea after graduating from college in the United States and ends up fighting with her boyfriend and breaking up. She meets Cha Hyun Oh (Shin Hyun Soo), who took an impulsive trip to Korea after quitting his job in Japan. The two share a walk on the beach and then part ways.

But Yoo Kyung and and Hyun Oh surprisingly keep bumping into each other over the course of three different trips and end up spending 12 nights together. Could this be just coincidence or something much more?

“Twelve Nights” is a 2018 South Korean Viki Original series directed by Jung Heon Soo.

Twelve Nights

Lee Yu Ri (Kim Bo Ra) is a young woman who has just been rocked by the death of her grandmother – the family member she loved the most. Heartbroken, she decides to try to make a new start by finding a job. She decides to attend a job interview at a cafe named Finland Papa, operated by a mysterious figure known only as “Papa.” When she arrives, the staff members give her a meal and eat with her. She proceeds to do so – only to discover that eating was actually her “interview!”

Lee Yu Ri lands the job, but is soon flummoxed to learn that the other staff members, like her, have no idea who Papa is. She also comes to learn that the staff members must take on “family names” – and must always dine together to maintain “family harmony.” This rule echoes sage words her grandmother once told her. And it also reminds her of her closest friend and first love Baek Woo Hyun (Kim Woo Seok). When they were younger, Baek Woo Hyun would never let Lee Yu Ri eat alone, and always did his best to raise her spirits. Their parting was sad. But could working at Finland Papa somehow lead to their reconciliation?

“Finland Papa” is a 2023 South Korean drama series.

Finland Papa

Lee Yeo Reum (Seolhyun) is a young woman whose career and life are going very well: She has just been awarded permanent contract status at work, and she has a boyfriend she likes very much. But work is starting to get stressful, and then she is hit with a double whammy of misfortune. Her mother dies in a tragic accident just moments after she is dumped by her boyfriend. Feeling utterly dejected and burned out, she decides to quit her job, head to the seaside, and do absolutely nothing for a while – at least until she can recharge her batteries and recover mentally.

She moves to a small seaside village named Angok. And it is here that she meets An Dae Beom (Im Siwan), a stuttering librarian who also has his share of skeletons in the closet. Many years ago, he was a math prodigy with a bright academic future ahead of him. But circumstances have forced him away from the big city and the scholastic life. What will happen when these two lost souls meet – and will a spell of “doing nothing” in this small town really cure their ills?

This drama was adapted from the web-based cartoon (webtoon) series by Joo Young Hyun.

“Summer Strike” is a 2022 South Korean drama series that was directed by Lee Yoon Jung.

Summer Strike

🍃 Let Me Be Lazy Team 🍃

Betrayed by his king, Kim Shin (Gong Yoo), a decorated military general from the Goryeo Dynasty, was forced to watch his family die before him. Saved by the Almighty, yet condemned to an eternal life as a goblin, Kim Shin uses his supernatural abilities to save humans, including the mother of Ji Eun Tak (Kim Go Eun), an optimistic high school student with a strange connection to the supernatural. When Eun Tak is repeatedly drawn to him, Kim Shin wonders if she might be the one he has spent an eternity searching for, the only one who can set his soul free, the Goblin Bride. Written by Kim Eun Sook, this award-winning 2016 South Korean fantasy romance series was directed by Lee Eung Bok and Kwon Hyuk Chan.

Guardian: The Lonely and Great God

The Immortal Team

Youku

Indifferent to the things most people crave, namely fame, fortune, and a thriving social life, botany professor Zhuang Yu (Vin Zhang) is interested in only one thing: his research. Having dedicated his entire life to the research and cultivation of sweet wormwood, Zhuang Yu cares for nothing else. So singularly focused on his work, it comes as no surprise that he would be devoid of social graces, which is how he came to break the heart of Yu Mei Ren (Esther Yu).

Having grown up in the countryside, Mei Ren and Zhuang Yu’s paths often crossed. After harboring a crush on Zhuang Yu for quite some time, Mei Ren finally worked up the courage to confess her feelings, only to have them completely rejected. Heartbroken, Mei Ren moved on with her life, eventually graduating from university with a doctorate in ornithology; but even as the years passed, she never forgot the pain Zhuang Yu had inflicted on her young heart.&nbsp;

Weary of the pressures that come with a life dedicated to scientific research, Mei Ren eventually decides to pursue a different route. Now a fashion blogger, Mei Ren is surprised when her path once again crosses with Zhang Yu. Having never forgotten him, Mei Ren is determined to use this chance to exact her revenge but the harder she tries, the more she finds herself falling for him. Has fate given her a second chance to win this botanist’s indifferent heart?

An adorably sweet love story, “A Romance of the Little Forest” is a 2022 Chinese romantic comedy directed by Cai Cong.

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