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Busan

Country
Korea
State
Korea, South (General)
City
Busan
Type of Location
Multiple
About Location

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Places to Visit
How to Reach

By plane

Busan's Gimhae Airport (IATA: PUS) fields flights around the country and some international flights as well, mostly to Japan and China but also to Manila, Bangkok, Taipei and Ho Chi Minh City. The airport is quite old and very small for a city of Busan's size, though an international terminal has been constructed next to the domestic terminal. You are not allowed to take pictures of the airport (both from the plane and outside) because it also serves as an air force base.

The Busan Gimhae Light Rail serves as a new way to enter the city, and connects to both Metro lines brown and green.

By train

Space-age Busan Station looks like a UFO that has accidentally landed in the somewhat grubby stretch between the bright lights of Nampodong and Seomyeon. Still, it's easy enough to get in or away with Subway Line 1, and there are lots of cheap motels and eating places in the vicinity.

Gupo Station is also in Busan. It's a 1-min walk from the Gupo stop on Subway Line 3. It's much smaller than Busan Station and usually uncrowded. A ticket from Gupo to Seoul is a thousand won cheaper than a ticket from Busan Station to Seoul. Gupo Station is ideal if you are coming or going from a place far away from Busan Station, such as Hwamyeongdong.
 

By boat

Befitting Busan's status as a major port, there are regular international ferry services to Osaka and Shimonoseki, and especially Kyushu island. Kanpu Ferry's [4] daily overnight runs to Shimonoseki are the cheapest, but JR Kyushu's Beetle [5] hydrofoils to Fukuoka run five times a day and take just under 3 hr. There are also domestic ferries to Jeju which take about 11 hr and run daily.

By car

    Gyeongbu Highway: connecting Busan with Seoul via Daejeon and Daegu.
    Gumi Highway: alternative highway to Daegu.
    Namhae Highway: connecting to Gwangju via Jinju and Sacheon.

By bus

Almost all cities and counties in South Korea have an express bus to Busan. There are two major bus stations:

    Dongbu Intercity Bus Terminal, Nopodong Station (Line 1). For points north and east.
    Seobu Intercity Bus Terminal, Sasang Station (Line 2). For points west
 

Key places to visit
Haeundae Beach, Songjeong Beach, Gwangalli Beach, Lotte Aquatique Show, Taejongdae, Yonggung-sa Temple, Yongdusan Park, Busan Museum of Modern Art


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Places to Visit

Haeundae Beach

    One of the most popular summer destinations in South Korea. Haeundae attracts tourists from all around the country and is a hotspot for internaional tourists, and gets overcrowded in late July and early August. There are numerous hotels nearby. The Busan Aquarium--South Korea's largest at 13,000 sq beside the beach. Besides the beach, there are some excellent restaurants, both Korean and non, in the area, and a wide variety of shops, although many are hidden away. Explore the streets behind the beachfront boulevard

Songjeong Beach

This smaller beach is accessible from Line 2 at Haeundae Station via bus (take bus 100, 100-1, 139, 142, or 181 to Songjeong Station, with 181 taking one directly to the homely main street section and just meters away from the beach) or Jangsan Station via a short cab ride. This beach is also connected to KORAIL at Songjeong Station (not to be confused with Songjeong-ri Station), although this station is very close, it is not visible from the beach or most of the surrounding areas.
Songjeong is a sandy cove-beach that is about 1.2 km long. This is a free beach but renting the umbrellas which are already crowded on the sand can run as much as ?10,000. Songjeong Beach is open during the warmest months.

Gwangalli Beach

   Near subway Geumnyeonsan Best experienced at night when the massive Gwangan Grand Bridge behind it is illuminated. Overall, similar to Haeundae but smaller and less upscale. Nevertheless, some interesting restaurants, bars and shops in the area. Also, you should try visiting one of the the tall, newly built hotels on the beach. They have really nice Sauna and Jjim Jil Bangs overlooking the bridge
 

Lotte Aquatique Show

   Yet another of Lotte's shrine to consumerism, the Nampo-dong outlet hosts a roughly 10 minute long cascading musical fountain show on the hour, 11 times per day. The water falls from the celing 4 floors up and is even used to draw pictures and display words so it's quite the interesting watch. Supposodly the largest cascading musical fountain in the world. Technically free to view, but naturally the goal is to sucker you into loosening your purse strings nearby.

Taejongdae

   The park was named for King Taejong Muyul (654-661) of the Silla Dynasty who practiced archery here after unifying the Three Kingdoms. During the Joseon period, King Taejong (1400-1418) is reputed to have visited here for recreation and pleasure. The magistrate of Dongnae also came here during a major drought to offer prayers for rain. Taejongdae is one of the famous tourist attractions in Busan, with its white lighthouse overlooking the green sea. Many people enjoy eating fresh raw fish on the rocky shore, taking a boat around the Olyuk ('five or six') Islands, and seeing the famous 'Suicide Rock.' When the weather is nice, Daema Island can be seen in the distance, 56 km away. The scene from the observation deck is beautiful and the white lighthouse together with the green sea looks very exotic. The walk from the entrance to the lighthouse is quite long. However, a shuttle bus runs from the shops


Yonggung-sa Temple

 This Buddhist temple complex is situated on top of a large rock along the ocean making it rather unique in Korea. To get there, take bus 181 from outside Centum City or Haeundae subway stations


Yongdusan Park

 subway Nampodong This pleasant little park is home to Busan's one true tourist trap, the creaky 118 m Busan Tower . There are some decent views even without going up the tower, and you can buy some corn to feed the resident population of ravenous pigeons.


Busan Museum of Modern Art
 
  has 2 full floors of modern art. You can probably feel pretty good about spending 2-3 hours here and feel like you've seen it all. A few minutes walk from Busan Youth Hostel Arpina.

Beomeo-sa Temple

subway Beomeosa. One of Korea's Great 5 Temples, this large temple complex is located up in the mountains, seemingly much further away from the big city than the few kilometers it is. Founded in 678, the buildings have been destroyed and rebuilt many times, but they're still atmospheric. Watch out though, as the temple gets packed with worshippers, hikers (see Do) and tourists on weekends. To get there, take exit 5 from the station, make a U-turn, turn left and take bus 90 from the station a few hundred meters up

Right Time to Visit

June - September

Temperature

Information not available


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