Neighborhoods and attractions in Busan - Overview


I didn't know much about South Korea and nothing about Busan before I arrived. However, I found Busan to be an incredibly interesting, lively, livable, and beautiful city. What I loved most was its natural setting, that it has many forested hills that offer fantastic hikes and breathtaking views, while at the same time it boasts a stunning coastline with bays, beaches, and islands. I originally planned to stay for about five days but ended up staying for ten — and even that wasn’t enough.

Busan is a vast, spread-out city with many distinctive hubs. Below is an overview of its key areas and attractions.

Choryang-dong (1) - This is where Busan Station is located and the International Ferry Port is also nearby. There is also a Chinatown here and an entertainment hub known as Texas Street.

Busanjin-gu (2) - Also referred to as downtown, it is the new center of the city, a lively and youthful area with cafés, restaurants, bars, food stalls and trendy shops. Its center is the Seomyeon neighborhood. 

Jung-gu district (3) - Busan's old port and historic center with Jagalchi Market, Korea’s largest seafood market; BIFF Square, named after the Busan International Film Festival; the lively Gukje Market selling virtually everything; Busan Tower and Busan Film Museum; 40 Steps Cultural and Tourism Theme Street.

Beaches - From north to south: Songjeong Beach and Haeundae Beach (4 & 5), Gwangalli Beach (6), Songdo Beach (7), and Dadaepo Beach (8).

Coastal walks and mountain hikes - There are many beautiful coastal walks, some are easy such as the short Songdo Coastal Trail (7) or the longer Haedong Yonggung Coastal Walk (4-5), but others are more like a proper hike, such as the Igidae Coastal Trail (9). There are also great mountain/hill hikes and viewpoints. For the best panorama head to Hwangnyeongsan Mountain (10), while the Geumjeongsan mountain range (11) offers many longer trails as well as cultural atractions such as Seokbulsa Temple (see next), Geumjeong Fortress, and Beomeosa Temple.

Cultural attractions - I only visited two temples, the quite touristy Haedong Yonggungsa (12) located next to the sea, and the mountain top Seokbulsa Temple (13) featuring beautiful rock carvings. For more temples, visit Nick Kembel's blog post. An interesting, and in Asia unique, attraction is the Gamcheon Culture Village (14).

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