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If you’re travelling to South Korea, chances are you’ll visit at least two places: Seoul and Busan. And these two cities couldn’t feel any more different. Travellers may know a little about what to expect from Seoul, but I feel that Busan is a different story. So, what are the places to visit in Busan that showcase what the city is like?
I admit there are many places in Busan that are not here simply because I didn’t get to them. From the Oryukdo Skywalk to the Busan Museum and the Diamond Tower, there are many more places to see in Busan beyond what I can share with you now. Still, these are the attractions you’ll want on your Busan itinerary for your first visit to get a feel for this complex Korean city.
How to get to Busan
As South Korea’s second-largest city, Busan isn’t a hard place to reach. The only challenge travellers may encounter is that the city sits on the far side of the country from Seoul.
If you’re coming from abroad, it’s worth looking at flights into Busan. International flights from many major Asian cities connect to Gimhae International Airport, mostly with different Korean airlines.
When travelling in South Korea, where you’re coming from will determine if the bus or train is the better choice. To travel from Seoul to Busan, the train is the way to go, with lots of daily direct train services. Coming from Jeonju or Gyeongju, bus services run regularly to the Busan Intercity Bus Terminal.
How to get around Busan
It’s easy to underestimate just how large and sprawling the city of Busan is. Hills, bays, and peninsulas mean that Busan has a very organic layout and you rarely travel in a straight line.
The layout of the city means that the main things to do in Busan are found in all sorts of places. You can’t just stay in the city centre and see everything.
To start, travellers should use the Busan Metro to get around. While the Seoul Metro is a bit messy to understand at first, I found the Busan Metro quite easy. Lines 1 and 2 are going to be the most useful for most visitors. Line 1 runs from the Busan Intercity Bus Terminal to downtown and Jagalchi, while Line 2 heads from downtown out to the beaches.
But you also will need to use buses in Busan. Take the green buses from outside the Toseong metro station to visit the Gamcheon Culture Village, while various buses go from Jagalchi station to the Songdo Cloud Trails. Use a transit card such as T Money to pay for your public transport trips.
Where to stay in Busan
Since Busan and its attractions are so spread out, that makes deciding where to stay in the city challenging. Do you pick somewhere central with good public transport access? Or do you go somewhere more interesting that’s close to a few attractions?
I stayed longer in Busan than planned after storms blocked my trip to Jeju island. The silver lining is that this allowed me to try both approaches. First, I stayed at the Seomyeon Brown-dot Hotel Gold, an affordable and spacious hotel south of Seomyeon, the downtown area of Busan. Later, I stayed in the Jung-gu District in a disappointing (and more expensive) hotel but enjoyed the area.
Both approaches work, but my advice would be to look at Nampo-dong, Toseong-dong, and Bupyeong-dong in the Jung-gu District. These areas felt more interesting to explore honestly. It’s also common to stay by Busan’s beaches, both at Haeundae and Gwangalli, but these places are much less central.
Looking for safe options to quickly book for your trip? These are some of Busan’s most highly-rated hotels:
- Good Ol’ Days Hotel (in Jung-gu)
- Stay Gaon (in Jung-gu)
- Signiel Busan (in Haeundae)
Things to see in Busan
As mentioned earlier, most of the main Busan attractions are found scattered around the city. This means you won’t be spending much time in the downtown area unless you want to. Jeonpo Cafe Street is worth a look, but for the most part, you’re sightseeing in Busan to many different parts of the city.
Gamcheon Culture Village
Most travellers coming to Busan know the city for one attraction, the Gamcheon Culture Village. This hillside community in the city’s southwest is famous for its colourful homes that cascade in levels down and down.
Between the tiers of vivid homes, some of the streets are lined with murals and art installations, often added for photo opportunities. In a sense, it’s similar to the Jaman Mural Village in Jeonju, just on a much greater scale.
Because this is the most famous place to visit in Busan, it gets very busy with visitors. Lines form at most viewpoints and “photo spots” along its main street Gamnae 2-ro. Just remember, this is a residential area, so act how you’d like people to behave in your neighbourhood.
During my Busan trip, I visited Gamcheon Culture Village twice. The first time I went, it was submerged in fog, so I couldn’t see anything beyond the main street. Coming back on a better day was worth the view though, even if the crowds were a bit much.
While the upper areas are packed with tourists, I enjoyed walking down to the lower parts of the village more. It’s quite there and you get a sense of community life. Locals seemed happy to see me here, asking me where I was from with a smile. I even sat down for some freshly made gimbap in an empty little yellow store prepared by the amused owners.
168 Stairs of Choryang Ibagu-gil
My knowledge of things to see in Busan was quite limited when I arrived. I knew of its famous attractions, but beyond that, not much. So I needed to do some GoogleMaps browsing when I wanted to start sightseeing.
One place that caught my eye was the 168 Stairs, just a few blocks from Busan Station. As its name suggests, this is a long urban stairway located among the jumbled homes of Choryang Ibagu-gil. Make your way to the top and you’re treated to some fantastic views over Busan’s rooftops. Just up the road nearby there’s another viewing terrace at the Sky Eye Observatory.
To get to the top, you have several choices. One is to just climb straight up the stairs, but that’s a little boring and tiring. Normally, the easy option is to take the local monorail up, but the monorail was out of operation until June 2024.
My approach was to take the stairs and step off at each terrace, finding a series of viewpoints and meandering alleys to explore along the way. If you do this, keep your eyes peeled for Thor’s hammer randomly lodged into the pavement.
Gwangalli Beach
Busan is famous for having some of South Korea’s most famous beaches, one of which is Gwangalli Beach. This long but narrow strip of sand is one of the popular beaches in Busan. I honestly can’t tell whether its views of the immense Gwangan Bridge help with that or not.
Gwangalli Beach is a very accessible city beach with a relaxed promenade just behind it. Across the road, a row of cafes, restaurants, and bars provide somewhere to sit to enjoy views of the beach. At the very southern end of the beach in the Namcheon-dong neighbourhood, you’ll find a popular place to see spring blossoms.
Haeundae Beach
Busan’s other famous beach is Haeundae Beach, a larger beach backed by high-rises, an aquarium, and a restaurant precinct. It’s easy to see why people often choose to stay in the area around Haeundae Beach.
A long paved promenade wraps around the beach, offering clear views out along Busan’s coast. Visiting Busan in May, it was starting to get warm enough that people were coming down for a beach day, although few were brave enough to swim. The beach even had a bunch of giant sand sculptures mid-sculpting as part of Busan’s now-failed bid for the 2030 Expo.
One thing I missed while visiting Haeundae is the Haeundae Blueline Park to the park’s west. There you can ride the Sky Capsule along the coast for panoramic views.
Dongbaek Park
One Busan attraction I didn’t know about, but would highly recommend, is Dongbaek Park. Follow the coast around from Haeundae Beach and you’ll see a boardwalk leading across rocks and into a forest. I only walked over to the park to get a better view of the beach, but once I saw the boardwalk wiggling along the coast, I felt compelled to take a look.
The boardwalk wanders up and down the coastline, popping into several viewpoints. It takes you past a mermaid statue and leads right up to the Dongbaekseom Lighthouse. From there, you can see right across the bay and if you squint past the Gwangan Bridge you may spot Gwangalli Beach.
Songdo Cloud Trails
Another of my unexpected stops during my sightseeing was the Songdo Cloud Trails at Songdo Bay. Heading down the coast to visit the Songdo Yonggung Suspension Bridge, I had to first reach this nice beachside community.
While Songdo Beach seemed nice enough, it was the elaborate elevated walkways known as the Songdo Cloud Trails that seemed popular here. Leaping off the shore onto small rocky islands, the walkways provide nice views of the coast and the local yellow lighthouse.
Now, this is just one of many places in Busan where you can enjoy coastal views. What sets the area around Songdo Bay apart for me is the feel of the place. It feels like you’ve left the city and are now in a resort town.
Songdo Yonggung Suspension Bridge
Exploring the coast was high on my agenda for visiting Busan and one of the easiest places to do that was the Songdo Sky Park. Following a morning at Gamcheon Culture Village, I took the bus down to Songdo Bay and took the Songdo Aerial Tram across.
At this stage, I was too tired to walk the coast down to the park as first planned. And I was almost put off by the busy lines for the Songdo Aerial Tram. Thankfully, I put up with them because it’s worth it.
You immediately see why it’s worth visiting as you sit admiring the aerial view from the cable car. The ride’s sweeping views are all centred on the Songdo Yonggung Suspension Bridge reaching out from the coast to an island in the bay.
While you have to pay a little to walk on the Songdo Yonggung Suspension Bridge and there’ll likely be a line, don’t let that stop you. What should stop you is if you’re afraid of heights. The walk on the bridge is pretty high up, but it’s the raging wind that will leave you most nervous. I could barely stay still long enough to get photos it was that strong.
Besides the suspension bridge, Songdo Sky Park offers a pretty wooded hill with nature trails to explore. Some are mild, others involve a lot of steps, but the views were worth it.
If you’ve visited, what do you think are the best places to visit in Busan? Is visiting Busan on your bucket list, and if so, why? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
