Beaches and hot springs

Busan is above all famous for its seven beaches and three hot springs.

• Haeundae Beach (해운대), near subway/KNR Haeundae. One of the most popular summer destinations in South Korea. Haeundae attracts tourists from all around the country, 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. m--is beside the beach (₩16000 for adults). 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. Many showings and events for the Pusan International Film Festival (Pusan, not Busan) are in this area which typically runs the first 10 days in Oct. Haeundae Tourist Info. Center is a good place to get a lot of info. about the area. If you're interested in sailing [7], Haeundae has the biggest leisure marina in Korea located about 10 minutes from the beach walking in the direction of Chosun Beach Hotel.

• Hur Shim Chung Spa (허심청 Heosimcheong), subway Oncheonjang (exit 1, cross the street and make a beeline for Hotel Nong Shim; it's connected by a walkway), [8]. This massive hot spring complex claims to be the largest in Asia: Noboribetsu might disagree, but it certainly is huge, with hot, tepid, cold and strawberry milk-filled baths, saunas, pools, and an outdoor section. On the 3rd floor is a large jjimjilbang resting area, containing (among other things) a restaurant, a beauty salon, an oxygen room, and three 'igloos' heated to 81°C, 51°C and 0°C. You'll get a key when you come in, use it to open your shoe and clothes lockers and pay for any purchases inside. Men's and women's spas are segregated but the resting area is shared, so pick up a robe before you head downstairs. There's also some signage in English to guide you around. Entry to the spa is W8000, plus W1000 for the jjimjilbang on Sunday/holidays only. You can stay as long as you want, but it gets quite crowded and noisy on weekends.

• Gwangalli Beach (광안리 Gwangalli), near subway Geumnyeonsan (exit 1). 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. Cost should be at 8,000 WON.

Tourist Attractions

• Busan City Tour All-day ticket available for double-decker tour buses. Popular pick-up from Busan Station. Kids ₩5000, adults ₩10000.

• Taejongdae (Busan Monument #28) 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 Pusan, 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. [reference lifeinkorea.com]

• Yongdusan Park - Busan Tower This is a park located at the heart of Busan. If you go up the Busan Tower, you will get to see an awesome, if not, the best panorama of the entire city.

• Indoor skiing. In Mt. Hwangryung you can enjoy skiing any time, any season.

Hiking

The mountains around Busan have some good hiking trails. Probably the most popular route is from the South Gate (Nammun) of Geumjeong Fortress, reachable by cable car from Oncheongjang, through the North Gate (Bukmun) and down to Beomeosa Temple, a distance of 8.8 km (3-4 hours).

• 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 (W900, 20 minutes, every 15 min). Entry W1000.

• 40 Steps (40 Gyedan), subway Jungang-dong. A few streets of a grubby district have been 'restored' to their condition in the post-Korean-War 1960s, with wooden lamppost and bronze figures illustrating scenes of hardscrabble street life.

• Yongdusan Park, subway Nampodong (take the hillside escalator up). This pleasant little park is home to Busan's one true tourist trap, the creaky 118m Busan Tower (W3000). 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 (aka Busan Municipal Art Museum) (Line 2, Art Museum stn) has 2 full floors (one exhibit on the basement level) 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. ₩7000. Closes at 8PM.

• Chungryeolsa (Shrine) (Line 1, Myeongnyun-dong stn) Take a bus no. 29/29-1/89/129 and then walk 5 minutes. ₩200 adults, ₩100 children.

• UN Memorial Cemetery (Line 2, Kyungsung Univ. & Fukyong Nat'l Univ. stn) Take bus from in front of Memorial Park after subway exit.

• Nakdong River Estuary Migratory Bird Sanctuary (Line 1, Hadan stn)

By plane

Busan's Gimhae Airport [2] (IATA: PUS) fields flights around the country and some international flights as well, mostly to Japan and China but also to Manila, Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City. The airport is quite old and very small for a city of Busan's size. Though a new 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 airforce base.

Airport limousine buses connect to various points in the city for a flat ₩5000. The trip takes 30-40 minutes (in good traffic) and there are departures on all lines every 20-30 minutes. City buses leave for downtown quite regularly. They are even cheaper, around ₩1000. Be sure to visit the information desk at the international arrival terminal if your Korean is not very good. It is one of the few places that has English-speaking assistance.

A taxi to the city center will set you back about ₩15000 (daytime) including tolls.

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 (although sadly if you're looking for Korean food, Busan Station may not be the best option as many of the restaurants across the street are Chinese, Russian, etc.).

Gupo Station is also in Busan. It's a 1 minute 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.

KTX [3] trains connect Seoul to Busan via Daegu and Daejeon in about 175 minutes (₩51700). Tickets can be purchased at the counter but automated English-language machines are available to make purchases with too. Passengers tend to be extremely quiet so it's best to avoid making excess noise if possible. Snacks can be purchased on the trains using the vending machines or from an attendant. Other trains, such as Saemaeul and Mugunghwa, connect Busan with other major cities as well. They're cheaper but slower than KTX. Head to the First Class car for a free-of-charge water vending machine.

By car

1. Gyeongbu Highway: connecting Busan with Seoul via Daejeon and Daegu.
2. Gumi Highway: alternative highway to Daegu.
3. Namhae Highway: connecting to 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 (동부시외버스터미널), Nopodong Station (Line 1). For points north and east (eg. Daegu, Gyeongju, Seoul, Ulsan).
• Seobu Intercity Bus Terminal (서부시외버스터미널), Sasang Station (Line 2). For points west (eg. Jinju, Masan).

By boat

Befitting Busan's status as a major port, there are regular international ferry services to Japan, Osaka, 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 hours. There are also domestic ferries to Jeju which take about 11 hours and run daily.

By subway

The three lines of the Busan Subway [6] --Red (1), Green (2) and Brown (3)-- connect with the bus terminals and nearly all sights of interest together. Rides are ₩1100 or ₩1300 depending on distance (hang onto your ticket until you exit), and both signage and announcements are in English so finding your way is easy. Travelers who've visted Seoul will likely be happily suprised to find automatic ticket machines available to make purchases from--and these are much easier to use than those in the capital. Also, the cars tend to be a bit cleaner and less crowded than Seoul's. One-day ticket costs ₩3,500.

By taxi

There are plenty of taxis prowling the streets of Busan. Regular taxi flag drop is ₩2200 for the first two kilometers, then the meter starts ticking at ₩100 for each 143m or every 34 seconds if the taxi is going under 15 kmph. Deluxe "mobeom" taxis (black and red) charge ₩4500 for the first 3 km and then ₩200 for each 160m or 38 seconds. (price increase as of 10-01-2008) Fares increase 20% between midnight and 4am.

Rip-off warning to travelers coming from Japan

Warning: If you enter off a ship from the Busan Port, since the taxi drivers at the port's taxi stand know how expensive taxis were from your departure city (that is, somewhere in Japan) they'll assume that you won't mind taxis being nearly as expensive here. They'll also assume that you won't know what the true prices for taxis are in Busan. Therefore, the regular taxis will attempt to charge you ₩10000, and the mobeoms will attempt to charge you ₩20000.

What you can do is find a Mobeom driver who speaks English or Japanese, and if he starts speaking English or Japanese and attempts to charge you the ₩20000, tell him insistently to turn the meter on and only go by the meter. Even the Mobeom taxi's true fares are cheaper. If they are stubborn, find and hail a taxi from the street, as they may be more willing to only charge by the meter.

On foot

Busan as a whole is far too large to walk around, but some areas like Gwangalli Beach and Yongdusan Park are best covered on foot.

• Ja-galchi Fish Market (Line 2, Jagalchi stn) If you're in Busan, then you must visit Jagalchi Fish Market, which the city is famous for. This market displays freshly caught fish and various other sea creatures that are still alive. Better yet you can visit restaurants on the 2nd floor of the main multi-storied fishing complex and eat fish you've picked out from the first floor.

• Can market(Ggangtong market) is an old market near Jagalchi Market in Nampo dong. People can’t easily notice there since it is located in a deep corner. There is nothing this market doesn’t serve. Since Busan has a big harbor, many foreigners have visited, so that it was quite early when citizens of Busan began to accept exotic culture and products. Ggangtong Market is a kind of evidence of that history. At the end of the Ggangtong market, there is a narrow street which reminds us of the period from 1960 to1970. That is the Book Street of Bosudong, which contains many secondhand books.

• Gukje Market, Gwangbok-dong Market, and Nampo-dong Market Three major shopping districts connected to each other. Very much similar to Seoul's Namdaemun Market and MyeongDong shopping district. Various shops geared towards young and old people with many brand name stores and underground stores. You will be able to bargain with the people who are selling on the streets or underground.

• Lotte Department Store, subway Seomyeon. An over-the-top temple to consumerism (check out the fountains and statues at the basement entrance), this is Busan's largest department store and the place to pick up some W500,000 ginseng or perhaps a Spam gift set for the folks back home. The basement has good food court/delicatessen/supermarket section.

• Choryang Foreigner Shopping Area, opposite Busan station. This is a strange duck indeed, namely a combined China-and-Russiatown with ornate Chinese gates and Russian shops selling pickles and vodka. The overall feeling is distinctly downmarket, and if you want to take the name literally there are ladies of many nationalities enticing sailors and other customers in the doorways; you may get more than you bargained for though, as the area is notorious for ripoffs and even the occasional robbery at night.

An affordable and popular Busan treat is dong-nae pajeon (동래파전), a seafood and green onion pancake.

Budget

• Gimbap Cheonha (김밥천하), a block to the north of Busan station (orange-yellow-white sign). Serves up gimbap from W1000 and all sorts of noodles for W2500-4000. No English menu or sign, but if you can say it they'll make it, and it's open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

• welly&, Busan station 3F. This food court serves all the usual Korean favorites, with plastic food and English menus making ordering a snap. Meals from W5000.

• Seoul Kakkduggi, Nampo-dong. Specializes in beef soups and kakkduggi side dish. Meals around W6000.

• Seamen's Club; located on the port side of Busan Station, walk through the parking lot above the train tracks then head down the stairs and take a left. This is a western style restaurant that caters to homesick sailors, with your typical family restaurant/ diner kind of menu, along with some special treats like pumpkin pie. It's cheap and very delicious. You can also drink at the bar with a bottle of Guiness only costing around $3.00. They also have a store that sells some basic essentials like deodorant and shampoo, along with Reeses cups, a very rare find in Korea. You may need a US Military ID to get in, as a sign on the door specifies a 100% ID check policy in place.

• Amby's, Texas St (Russia Town). European, N. American, Russian, and S.E. Asian dishes; try the borscht stew. Popular with sailors and their lady companions, the best time to go is after midnight. A small shop offering a limited and over-priced selection of dust-covered western goods is located in the front.  edit

• Dave's Fish and Chips. Mon-Fri 7-10PM, Sat-Sun 9AM-10:30PM. The menu covers more than you'd think from the name, including tacos, burritos, nachos, Chicken and Beef burgers, Indian curry sauce, all homemade, plus many imported beers, including Newcastle Brown Ale. Run by Dave from Manchester. Full English breakfast 6000 won (Sat/Sun 9 AM-1:30 PM only).  edit

Splurge

Busan is famous for raw fish (회'Hway'), which the Koreans eat in the same style as bulgogi, namely topped with kimchi and gochujang and wrapped in a lettuce leaf. One of the best places to sample this is the Millak Town Raw Fish Center, a large brown building at the northern end of Gwangalli Beach. The first floor is the actual fish market and the floors above are packed with nothing but restaurants serving it up. This can get expensive, so order a set or specify your budget to avoid surprises.

• Four Season Raw Fish (Sakyeocheol Hoetjip), Millak Raw Fish Center 2F. The owner, Mr. Jun, speaks English, and ordering here is easy: it's either set A, B or C at 30/40/50,000 won per head. Even Set A is huge, while C will feed a family of North Koreans for a year. Be warned: this is as real as it gets and dishes will include still-moving octopus tentacles and other stuff most Westerners would not readily categorize as "food".

• Ventanas Grill Steak and Seafood, Novotel Ambassador, Haeundae, tel. (051) 743 1234. Steak, fresh seafood, premier wine. Sephia style interior design, cozy atmosphere, and ocean view.

Busan has thousands if not tens of thousands of drinking places scattered throughout the city. Popular spots include Nampodong and the area around Pusan National University. Drinking spots popular with the foreign community include:

Kyungsung University area:

• Ghetto, Probably the cheapest drinks in Busan. 1000 WON shots of your preferred liquor. The music is loud and sometimes obnoxious, but this place always draws a dancing crowd.
• Vinyl Underground, A good place to meet Korean girls. [9]
• Ol'55, A usually quiet western style bar with a free to use billiards table. [10]
• Kino-Eye, Darts and a big bar, occasionally there's dancing.
• 302, Small, but there's (pretty good) live jazz on the weekends.

In Haeundae:

• MURPII, Novotel Ambassador Busan, entirely renovated, the trendiest night entertainment on Haeundae Beach [11]
• U2 Bar, across from the Novotel Ambassador Busan.
• Starface Bar, Dalmaji Hill. Pool table and cool Americans aplenty.
• Maktum, A bit of a flashy dance club that brings in Foreign DJs http://maktum.co.kr/.

PNU:

• Crossroads, A chilled out sit-down bar with an excellent music selection
• Moe's, A funkier atmosphere, sometimes live music
• Soultrane, A dancey, loud place.
• The Basement, An ultra smokey bar with pool tables and plenty of expats and food.
• Camel Bar, Miniature billiards and rarely a second customer in the place.

In Gwangalli:

• Hollywood Star, Pool table and darts available. Talk to Jun, he's friendly and knowledgeable and speaks great English. Usually has sexy girls working there.
• Fuzzy Navel, A lot of fun in summer but dead in winter. Beware of the Long Island Ice Tea, famous for its blackout-inducing potential.
• Beach Bikini
• Thursday Party, Gwangalli classic. On a good night the foosball table area becomes a dancefloor and in summer the party spills onto the beach.

Seomyeon also has a lot to offer:

• O'Briens Irish Bar and Restaurant, A variety of Beers, Live Sports, & sometimes Live Music together with Good Western food available til late. [12]
• Foxy's, Formerly Hollywood Star. There are two floors, three bars, and a balcony.
• Cowboy Bar, There's a cheesy wild west theme going on, but it has a good selection of drinks.
• Miller Time, Order pitchers of Miller Genuine Draft and eat some HOF style snacks.