Busan Travel Guide: Beaches, Fish Markets and a Hillside Village

See & Do

Gamcheon, built on a slope by refugees

Gamcheon Culture Village climbs a hillside in Saha District in layers, its alleys twisting into each other and its houses painted in colours added decades after the fact. It began as housing for people displaced by the Korean War, and it now carries the nicknames Korea's Santorini and the Machu Picchu of Busan,. Go early: the staircases are the attraction.

Two beaches with nothing in common

Haeundae is the famous one, an urban beach in Haeundae District that runs all year and hosts the Sand Festival and the Busan International Film Festival. Gwangalli, west of it in Suyeong District, is a 1.4 km half-moon inside a cove spanned by the Gwangan Bridge, with 82,000 square metres of fine sand and a strip of restaurants and bars behind it.

Jagalchi, the largest fish market in the country

Jagalchi sits on the edge of Nampo Port and stretches about three kilometres, which makes it the biggest fish market in South Korea. The vendors are the Jagalchi Ajumma, women who have run the stalls since the years after the Korean War, and the upper floors will cook what you buy downstairs.

Beomeosa, and the mountain the city leans against

Beomeosa is one of the head temples of the Jogye Order, built on the slopes of Geumjeongsan in Geumjeong District, and it is the reason to ride the subway to the end of the line instead of staying on the coast. The hiking above it joins the fortress wall that runs the ridge behind the city.

The comparison is Seoul, and the surprise is that Busan wins the walking argument: nomads.com grades Busan Great for walkability and Seoul Bad. The Seoul guide covers what the capital costs, at USD 3,577 a month against Busan's 3,123.

Eat

Busan eats like a port, which means fish first and everything else after.

What a meal costs

Numbeo's 1 November snapshot puts an inexpensive restaurant meal at 10,000 won, about USD 8, a domestic beer at 3,233 won, about USD 2, and a fast-food combo at 8,900 won. Nomads.com's medians agree line for line: dinner USD 7, coffee USD 4, beer USD 4, cola USD 2.

What to order

Dwaeji gukbap, the pork and rice soup the city claims as its own, is breakfast food here and the cheapest full meal in town. At Jagalchi you pick the fish downstairs and pay a restaurant upstairs to cook it, which is the only way to eat there without guessing.

Where to Stay

Hotels and leases price very differently.

What a bed costs

Nomads.com's medians are USD 65 a night for a hotel, about USD 1,378 across thirty nights, and USD 143 a night for an Airbnb, which is USD 4,355 a month. The Airbnb figure prices a month above the city's own nomad tier, so a short stay costs more than living here.

Dong-gu, and Suyeong-gu next

Nomads.com names Dong-gu the best neighbourhood to stay and Suyeong-gu the one to watch, which is the Gwangalli side. A studio in the centre runs USD 724, and Numbeo's 1 November one-bedroom in the centre is 997,500 won, about USD 748, so the two datasets sit within four per cent on the same question. For the rest of the month, see the Busan cost breakdown.

Logistics

Gimhae handles the international traffic and sits on the light rail, so the airport is a train ride rather than a taxi decision. A single subway trip is 1,550 won, about USD 1, and the average taxi trip is USD 3, so install Kakao T.

Cards work almost everywhere and tipping is not a thing. Tap water is safe, soft at 50 mg/L and not fluoridated. Carry your passport anyway.