The city is mostly famous for its nature and beaches, as most parts of Busan are directly next to the sea. I visited it in winter for 2 days and had a great time. But unfortunately that time was very limited, and I missed some other amazing sights.
My journey to Busan
My reason for visiting Busan in the first hand is quite unusual. I was in Tokyo around Christmas and didn’t realize that flight fares were rising quite much in the period between Christmas and New Year. It’s a holiday period in Japan. So I searched for a cheap flight out of Tokyo to another country, and the cheapest one was the flight to Busan.
I first thought, what should I do in this city? Nevertheless, I booked it without much imagination on what to expect. When you hear about South Korea, you usually refer to Seoul.
My flight to Busan was also not uneventful. When I was at the airport, I read that Air Busan cancelled many flights between Japan and South Korea due to a lower request. Luckily, my flight wasn’t one of them. I arrived in the evening and finally arrived at my hostel around 12am including a 7/11 snack.
Day 1
Taejongdae Ocean Walk
I found out about the beautiful ocean walks when I researched about Busan. Therefore, I decided that it would be my first destination. I opted for Taejongdae Resort Park which isn’t too far from the centre where I stayed. You have to take a 30 minutes bus ride from Lotte Mall to the final destination. When I arrived there, I first thought about getting on the train which is driving around the ring road in the park. But the weather was perfect, blue sky, no clouds at all. So why not walk? The overall distance is 4.5km, so it’s not too long and the street is well maintained.
The scenery is undeniably beautiful with massive cliffs on one side and a thick forest on the other side. The first major sight on the walk is the observation deck which offers great views of the ocean and Tea Kettle Island with its lighthouse. I think that there’s normally a shop or cafe in the building of the observation deck. But it was getting renovated or is closed in winter.
Only 200m farther is Yongdo Lighthouse. You can go up the lighthouse and descent down the cliffs to the ocean level. I chose the second option. It were quite many stairs but worth the effort. You can also see some fishermen who prepare the nets and other items on the big rocks next to the ocean. Next to the lighthouse is the most iconic installation of the park. It’s the Light Beyond Limitation statue of Ji Sul Won Kyung-Lee.
After my longer stop there, I continued to walk along the ring road to Taejongsa Temple on the right side. But it was quite hard to find the path to the temple at first. I was suddenly in a dead end in the forest. So I had to return and realized that there was another path on which a few people walked. I wondered why I haven’t seen that one before. Anyways, this way was finally correct and I arrived at a small temple with several loudspeakers playing prayers (I guess).
There are no real sights after the temple and I walked out of the park to the bus station.
Lotte Mall Observation Deck by day
I took the bus back to Lotte Mall, as this was my next destination. You might wonder what’s special about the mall, but I’ll come to that soon. I first had a noodles soup nearby and searched for the lift. The mall is quite big, and you have to go the actual shopping mall and not the Lotte Store to get to this specific destination.
The speciality about the mall is the spacious rooftop garden with a free observation deck. You have a 360-degree view of the harbor and surrounding city. It’s a must-see in Busan for me. Especially when you love photography and panoramic views.
The trip to Gamcheon Culture Village
For the afternoon, I planned a trip to Gamcheon Culture Village. The trip there was quite adventurous with probably the most extreme bus ride so far. First, I went to Toseong Station by metro and walked to the National University Hospital. There’s a bus station for mini buses which go to Gamcheon. After waiting for a few minutes I saw the first buses approaching, one at the front and the other one some metres behind.
The first bus was incredibly crowded, so I decided to wait for the second one. But it wasn’t much better in that one, and I had to stand in the middle of it with a few other passengers. I asked myself why they don’t use normal buses, but that became clear after a few minutes. The streets became narrower and steeper. Moreover, the curves became more and more extreme. I had to grab a pole with both hands to not fall down. It felt more like I was driving on an Alpine pass instead of driving to another part of Busan. When you get sick on a bus ride easily, that would be a horror trip for you.
Something about the history first, Gamcheon Culture Village is a former slum which was built by Korean War refugees. A few years ago, it was redesigned by artists and painted in bright colors. You also find hundreds of works and street art scattered around the district.
When you arrive at the bus station, I recommend you to take a photo of the map there. Otherwise you might get lost, or miss some sights on the first walk like me. The village is along a hill and the bus station is on top of it. You already arrive at a nice viewpoint when you get out of the bus and walk for a few metres. It gives you a first feeling of the small alleys and buildings you’re about to dive in.
Walking around Gamcheon Culture Village
My first walk around the village was very spontaneously, but I tried to avoid the main streets with the shops. It was an interesting experience although I arrived at a dead end, and I had to walk down to one of the main alleys.
A few viewpoints later, I saw a sign which said Stairs to See Stars. I’ve read about it before and decided that it would be my next destination. The first sight of it is very intimidating, 148 steps downhill. Except you would like to do a leg workout, I recommend you the same way as me, downstairs. It’s incredible to imagine that the people who live their use the stairs to carry all their items uphill.
When I arrived at the bottom of the village, and there wasn’t much more to see, I decided what every rational thinking person would do, going all the way up again. On the bottom of the village, I saw that there’s a big observation deck on top of the hill. I somehow missed it on my first walk. But instead of going uphill through the village again, I used the normal road next to it. It’s a possibility when you want to walk long distances there quickly without too much effort. After walking a few hundred metres, I went to another pedestrian street with lots of different shops. There’s a sign which shows the direction to the observation deck.
Arriving there, it surprised me that I didn’t have to pay any entrance fee. It’s like a big terrace with a great view of the district and surrounding hills. An amazing spot to see the sunet. I spent around 30 minutes there and captured the changing light conditions during the sunset. But you have to be aware that the observation deck closes before it gets dark. Otherwise, I would’ve stayed there even longer.
Randomly walking around Busan
I went back to the bus station for the next crazy bus trip to the metro station. But instead of taking the metro, I decided to walk a little through the city. It’s always a great experience to visit a city by foot. When you arrive at central Busan, you can see a change from the daytime hours. There are food stands everywhere, and the whole street seems to be a restaurant.
After having a small break at my hostel, I had dinner at a smaller restaurant in the centre. The main pedestrian street still had its amazing Christmas decorations although a few days have already passed. A beautiful sight with all the people, concerts and shows on the street.
Lotte Mall Observation Deck by night
My final destination for the day was Lotte Mall again. I wanted to check whether the rooftop is open in the evening, and I could see the illuminated city. To my delight, one part of the rooftop was still open. The view of the lights of the city was great. My hands froze quite much though. The temperatures went down quickly in the evening hours.
Later, I decided to take a walk around the sea side and finally ended the day by going back to my hostel and sleep.
Day 2
My second day didn’t start very early. I took some time to relax from the busyness of yesterday. The first stop was the train station, because I planned to go to Seoul on the next day. It was shortly before New Year, so the trains were quite full. Luckily I still got a seat.
Haedong Yonggungsa Temple
Afterwards, I continued my sightseeing trip to the most famous temple in Busan. The seaside temple of Haedong Yonggungsa. It’s one of the most well-known temples in all of Korea, but also one of the most visited ones. It’s on the outskirts of the city, so expect a long trip from the city centre. You first have to take the metro to Haeundae and then change to a bus. It took around 90 minutes for me.
When I arrived there at noon, the temple grounds were already busy. The path to the temple is very narrow, so expect a long queue. It surprised me at first, and I thought there would be a ticket office. But soon, I realized that it’s just the queue down the temple. I’ve visited many places before and this queue was even extreme for me. Luckily, the crowd spread some more in the actual temple, although it was still busy.
It was still a beautiful sight, especially the small bridge before the temple. You can see an open stone field to the left before the bridge where you can take the best photos of the temple. But it can become tricky around noon, because the sun is directly on top of the temple. You also have to be careful, as the stones can be quite slippery. I even saw one person falling down a few metres away from me.
After spending some time at the temple, I went up the entrance again. There you can see many small stands selling food. It was a good option for a lunch snack.
A short visit in Haeundae
I walked back to the bus stop and thought about what to do in the afternoon. Maybe take a cable car to another ocean walk? But instead, I decided to check out Haeundae. I was already nearby. It’s a famous seaside district with a large beach. Although it was a winter day, the beach was still quite crowded. Furthermore, walking on the beach in winter isn’t too bad either. No fear of getting your feet burnt.
Next to Haeundae Beach is Dongbaek Island which offers another amazing ocean walk. It’s relatively short, and you can visit it in 15-30 minutes. There you can see a small mermaid next to the ocean and a lighthouse in the south of the island. When you reach the lighthouse, you can also return to Haeundae Beach. The part after the lighthouse isn’t very spectacular. Nevertheless, I continued my walk to the next metro station which isn’t Haeundae.
Busan Tower by sunset
The goal for the afternoon was to catch a nice sunset. My option was Busan Tower in the centre of the city. You can’t miss it when you arrive there. It’s a 120m tall tower on top of a hill from 1973. I arrived there at around 4:15pm and paid 8,000 Won.
The view up there is nice, but there are some minor issues. First, the windows were slightly dirty, so it was sometimes hard to take photos. Especially when it became dark. Second, the space is very limited. I wanted to spend the full sunset on top of the tower which took around one hour. I always had to pay attention not to disturb others and tried to wait in corners which wasn’t too easy. One time, I accidentally stood next to a mascot, and a couple nearly took a photo of themselves with me.
After it got dark, I finally took the lift down and went back to the city where I had dinner. Later on that evening, I just randomly walked around the centre again. I watched people eating their food on the street, the merchants and shop owners packing up their goods, and others who were still shopping in some stores.
Conclusion of my visit
Finally, I have to say that Busan is truly a hidden gem which surprised me. I hadn’t have any imagination of the city beforehand and just chose it because of the cheap flight. In the end, I would’ve been happy to spend some more days in the city. Some people even say that they prefer Busan over Seoul, and I have to admit that I can understand them.