What to Do in Busan: Beaches, Temples and Colourful Hillsides

If Seoul is all palaces and neon, Busan is the sea. Korea’s second city sprawls along the southern coast in a string of beaches, fishing harbours and steep, colourful neighbourhoods, with a slower, sunnier feel. It is the easiest add-on to a Korea trip, and many people end up liking it more than the capital.

Here are the sights worth your time, ranked roughly by how unmissable they are, plus a two-day plan and the fastest way down from Seoul.

Gamcheon Culture Village

Busan’s signature sight, and rightly so. Gamcheon Culture Village is a hillside of houses painted in pastel blues, pinks and yellows, stacked in tiers up the slope, threaded with murals, tiny galleries and cafes. It earned the nickname the Santorini of Korea, though it started life as a refugee settlement and the art project that transformed it is recent.

My honest tip: it gets busy and it is genuinely a residential neighbourhood, so go in the morning, keep your voice down, and wander the back lanes where the crowds thin out. The classic photo spot, the Little Prince statue looking over the rooftops, has a queue, so be patient or come early.

Haedong Yonggungsa temple

Most Korean temples sit in the mountains. Haedong Yonggungsa is the rare one built right on the coast, its shrines perched on the rocks with waves breaking below, a setting that makes it one of the most striking temples in the country. It dates back centuries and entry is free.

You reach it down a flight of 108 steps, said to represent the 108 worldly desires in Buddhist belief, then back up again, so wear decent shoes. It is on the northeast edge of the city, a fair way out, which is exactly why arriving early pays off: you beat both the tour buses and the midday heat.

The beaches

Busan is a beach city, and the two big names have different characters.

• Haeundae is the famous one, a broad arc of sand backed by high-rises, busy, lively and well set up with cafes and restaurants. It is the place to swim in summer and stroll year-round.
• Gwangalli is the one I would steer you to for an evening. The sand is good, but the draw is the view across the bay to the Gwangan Bridge, which lights up after dark, with bars and seafood spots lining the front.

If you visit in summer, the beaches are packed; outside high season they are far calmer and just as photogenic.

Jagalchi and Nampo markets

For the soul of Busan, head to Jagalchi, Korea’s largest seafood market, a loud, briny sprawl of stalls where you pick your catch downstairs and have it cooked upstairs. It is as much a spectacle as a meal. Right next door, the Nampo-dong district and the BIFF Square (home to the Busan film festival) are good for street food, shopping and people-watching. Come hungry and adventurous.

The best views

Busan rewards a high vantage point. The slick option is BUSAN X the SKY, an observation deck in one of the Haeundae towers with a sweeping coastal panorama. The free option, and my preference at dusk, is simply the Gwangalli beachfront as the Gwangan Bridge lights come on. For a daytime walk with views, the Igidae coastal trail hugs the cliffs with the city skyline across the water.

Busan in 2 days

Two days covers the highlights without rushing if you group them by area.

Getting there from Seoul

Busan is an easy trip from the capital. The KTX high-speed train links Seoul to Busan in about two and a half hours, dropping you near the centre, and it is the option I would choose every time for the comfort and speed. Express buses are cheaper but take roughly four to five hours. Book the KTX ahead on busy weekends and around the blossom and foliage peaks, when seats sell out.

Where to base yourself

The neighbourhood you sleep in shapes the trip, because Busan is long and strung out along the coast. My quick steer by traveller:

• Haeundae: the resort end, with the best beach, plenty of hotels and easy access to the temple and the sky deck. The simplest first-time base.
• Gwangalli: a touch more local, with the bridge view, good bars and seafood, and a younger evening crowd.
• Seomyeon: the central transport hub where the two main metro lines cross, handy if you want to reach both ends of the city fast and care less about a sea view.
• Nampo-dong: the old downtown by Jagalchi market, best for street food and the markets, busier by day than night.

For a first visit of two or three days, Haeundae or Seomyeon make the cleanest base. Wherever you land, the metro connects them all on a T-money card.

Getting around and staying connected

Busan’s sights are spread along the coast, so you will move between them by metro, bus and the occasional taxi. The metro is straightforward with a T-money card, but the temple and Gamcheon need a bit of route-planning, and that means Naver Map or KakaoMap, plus Kakao T for taxis. None of it works without data, and Google Maps is restricted in Korea.

Rather than hunt for a SIM card on arrival, activate an eSIM for South Korea before you leave home. You step off the KTX or the plane already online, on Korea’s 4G/5G network, among the fastest in the world.

With Orange, the service from a brand trusted by over 300 million customers, you travel with peace of mind: 200+ destinations covered, 24/7 human support, and a full refund if you never use your eSIM.