Hi guys! Here is my Busan weekend travel guide. I will give you some tips on how to spend 3 days in Busan. There are tons of things to do in Busan, but this i what I chose to do when I went with my family. We wanted to get a good variety of eating, tourist activities, and beach time, and I was happy with our experience.
Busan Weekend Travel Guide: How to spend 3 days in Busan (부산)
[DAY 1] Gamcheon Culture Village (감천문화마을)
This is my #1 thing to do in Busan. Gamcheon Culture Village is a former slum from the that was converted to an art village in 2009. It was a haven for Korean war refugees because Busan was one of the few places not held by the North during the Korean war. As a result, refugees poured into Busan and many people settled here when the main parts of the city became overcrowded. In 2009, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism launched a project to renovate Gamcheon. It was calledDreaming of Busan Machu Picchu. The government hired artists to paint murals and create art installations. The residents initially rejected the project and did not like tourists taking photos of them. They felt that their homes were modest and they didn’t want to show them off, but gradually they came to accept the changes. Gamcheon has been featured in a number of Korean dramas and TV shows, and is a hot spot for tourists. To get here, you have to take subway line 1 to Toeseong station and then from the take bus #2 or 2-2. We went on a weekday and it was extremely crowded, so I can only imagine how crowded the weekends are. You can watch a full vlog of my trip to Gamcheon culture village on my vlog channel.
Directions: Take subway line 1 to Toseong Station. Come out of Exit 6. Then take bus 2 or 2-2 to Gamcheon Culture Village.
Source: The Nomad Within
[DAY 2] The Markets
Jagalchi Market (자갈치시장)
Jagalchi Market in Nampo-dong is one of Korea’s largest seafood markets, and runs alongside Busan harbor. The market really established itself during the Korean War, and is run by tough women called Jalgachi Ajummas. They do all the dirty work of cleaning and preparing the seafood. If you walk through the market, you can tell that they work hard and really hustle as they call out to you to buy their products. The western part of the market is dedicated to selling live seafood, which is caught fresh and sold directly to consumers. You can watch as the fish get scaled, beheaded, chopped up, and dumped in a box of ice. The eastern part of the market is dedicated to dried seafood. Many restaurants line the side of the market, and you can get a meal for 5,000 KRW per person (fried fish that is likely not fresh enough to sell anymore) or you can pay more for things like live octopus, fresh abalone, sea cucumber and other delicacies. Adjacent to Jalgachi market, there’s a building where, if you go to the top floor, you can get a nice view of Busan harbor and take some cute photos.
Directions: take Busan Line 1 to Jagalchi Station. Go out Exit 10 & wall straight. At the second street, 자갈치로37번길 Jagalchi-ro 37-gil, turn right. You will walk under the Jagalchi Market sign over the road. Walk for three blocks.
Gukje Market (국제시장)
Gukje means International in Korean. Following the Korean War, refugees who fled to Busan set up stalls in order to make a living, and this was the beginning of the Gukje Market. Gukje Market is one of Korea’s largest markets and its alleyways connect to smaller markets such as Bupyeong Market, & Kkangtong Market. (Actually it’s hard to tell where one market begins and the other ends, but if you look up you can see the signs.) If your’e a foodie, this is a great place to try some of the foods that are unique to busan, like Ssiat Hotteok, Busan’s famous fish cakes, and pork belly kimbap. The market sells everything from kimchi, to clothes, to suitcases to electronics items and home appliances.
From Jagalchi Station (Busan Subway Line 1), Exit 7. Go 30m, turn left, and walk straight 5min to arrive at the market.
[DAY 3] The Beaches
Haeundae Beach (해운대해수욕장)
Haeundae Beach is the most famous beach in Busan. It has white sand and a shallow beach, making it a very popular place to visit in the summer. I have heard that although its a public beach, hotels will put up umbrellas and beach mats and rent out the spaces to people. Apparently it gets incredibly crowded in during peak summer season (which is the last week of July to the first week of August), to it’s probably best to go off season. When we went in March, the beach was completely empty.
*We took the Busan City Tour Bus (BUTI) to Haeundae, and it dropped us off right in front of the beach.
Dongbaekseom Island (동백공원)
Dongbaekseom Island (Cameilla Island is an Island located off of Haeundae Beach). Although sediment has now connected Dongbaekseom to the mainland, it’s still called an island. It’s just a calm, peaceful, pretty place to go for a walk. and you can see the camellia flowers blooming from winter to spring.
*We took the BUTI Bus to Dongbaekseom Island. It dropped us off at the entrance to the Island.
Gwangali Beach (광안리해수욕장)
Gwangali Beach is Haeundae’s less glamorous cousin. It boasts a better view of the Gawangan Bridge, and is supposed to be very pretty at night.
*We took the BUTI Bus to Gwangali Beach, and it dropped us off right in front of the beach.
Practical Information
Getting around
When we visited Busan, we used the subway system and the BUTI bus to get around. The BUTI bus is the Busan City Tour Bus, and it can take you to all the major sights in Busan. It’s a double decker bus. Some have open tops and some do not. There are 4 different lines, and you can go all over Busan for a fixed price, getting on and off where you please. The price is 15,000 KRW per person for adults and 8,000 KRW for children 4 and up. You can also get a discount if you take the KTX.
Where to stay
Because we took the KTX to Busan from Seoul, we opted to stay at a hotel near Busan station, so we didn’t have to lug our luggage too far. We didn’t want to take a taxi because of the car seat issue – we try not to take taxis whenever possible because its not safe for the kids since they aren’t in car seats.
There are a ton of hotels in the area but we decided to stay at this place called le Idea hotel. it wasn’t fancy but it seemed relatively clean and did the job. It was a little less than $100 per night.
We were deciding between staying near Busan station and staying at Haeundae Beach. We thought that Haeundae would be nice because the kids could play in the sand and we could be right next to our hotel, but we ultimately decided to stay near Busan station because 1. it was close to the KTX, 2. It was close to the BUTI bus stop, 3. It was closer to the local markets which we knew we wanted to visit.
And the beach is nice but we didn’t plan on spending a ton of time there playing in the sand. If you are from a place that has nice beaches, you won’t be super impressed by the Busan beaches anyway.
What to Eat in Busan
If you are looking for places to eat, check out my Busan Food Guide.
Concluding Remarks
There are other things to do in Busan but we were only there for 3 days and 2 nights. Overall I though Busan was really amazing, and I liked it better than Seoul because it has a more relaxed atmosphere, and its near the beach. LA is to Busan as NY is to Seoul. I also enjoyed hearing the Busan dialect which is different from the Korean dialect used in Seoul. Culturally, its a very interesting place and is distinct from Seoul. It appears to have been shaped very much by the Korean War. I hope you have a chance to visit, and I hope you find this guide helpful. Please leave a comment if you visited a place in Busan that I didn’t and you would recommend it to other people!