WHEN?
Since it is a city near the sea, the ideal time to visit Busan is certainly summer. Fall and spring are also great, in fact during these seasons the weather is very nice. If you go in early September you may be able to have a swim!

HOW LONG?

5 days ~1 week (during summer) would be the best vacation. You will have time to relax at the beach but also to go around and visit the city. However, how this article wants to show you, one weekend is enough to enjoy Busan.

HOW TO GO THERE?
There are two ways:
by BUS or by TRAIN (both ways will take around 5 h).

 There is a FREE Bus from Seoul to Busan. You should book tickets at least 10 days in advance and you should be foreigner (no Korean friends). 
HERE you can find detailed info about it.

As for your second option, you can take a train for Busan from Seoul station. Although, there are three types of trains: Mugunghwa, Saemaul, and KTX, (from the cheapest to the most expensive one). 
KTX costs around 50,000 KRW (one way), but it takes only 2 hours to arrive. As for Mugunghwa and Saemaul, they cost less and the journey will take 5 hours. If you want to save money and you don’t mind staying on the train longer, then you should book one of these two. 

WHERE TO STAY?
The area near the train station (Busan Station) and Haeundae (
해운대) are the most accessible and they also have a quite range of Motels, Hotels and Guest Houses.
Busan Station is a central area, therefore is very easy to move around and take all kinds transportation. As for Haeundae, even though it is a little bit far away from the center, it’s a great area where to stay as you can find a lot of restaurants and shops. Also, you will be near the sea!

TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM:

BUS, METRO or TAXI.
Some areas are not accessible through subways or buses. Therefore, you may need to take the taxi (basic fee from 2,800 W). Also, please remember that you can use your T-money from Seoul, but you won’t be able to recharge it. 

OUR SUGGESTED ITINERARY (3 days and 2 nights):

You should depart from Seoul around 9.00 or 10.00 am, in order to arrive by 3.00 pm.

Your hotel/guest house is near Haeundae? Well, why don’t you start from there! This area is very pretty, plenty of shops and coffee shops. There is also a popular restaurant where you can go if you are up for lunch or dinner: Wonjohalmegukbab (
원조할매국밥). It’s one of the best places in Busan where you can eat Sogoghigukbab (소고기국밥).


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Also, if you are staying in Haeundae don’t forget to visit the beach! And if you go at night you can enjoy the romantic view of the Gwangalli (광안리) bridge’s lights reflecting on the water.

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The next morning you can go visit Taejongdae (태정대): a natural park over the sea, with a lighthouse and an observatory. You can reach the park thanks to a tourist bus-train, called ‘Danubi’. It goes up and down from the hill, and there are 6 stops, you can decide where to get out following which part of the park you want to see first. After, you can get back on the next train if you don’t want to walk to the next attraction.


A small piece of advice: you should stop at the observatory first, enjoy the view of the sea and get a snack at the cafeteria nearby. Then you can walk (2 min.) to the next place, the lighthouse.
After, you must visit the last stop of the train, a Buddhist Temple.

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Next, take a taxi from Taejongdae to Yonggungsa (용궁사), the water temple.
Yonggungsa is one the most beautiful temple in Korea. It's set on the rocky shore on the outskirts of Busan and the views of the ocean and the temple itself are incredible. 


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For the third and last day, you should visit Nampodong (남포동), which you can reach by subway. This area is famous because of its big fish market, Jagalchi raw fish market. You can eat there, since every market-stall functions as a small restaurant too. This is certainly the best place to eat fresh fish (10,000 KRW per person)!


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The International Market and PIFF (Pusan International Film Festival) Square, are other two popular spots in Nampodong. These are the right places to buy last-minute souvenirs or to enjoy a little bit of shopping. Plus, there a lot of street-food stands where you can have your last snack from Busan. 
Our last destination in Busan would be Busan Tower. It takes few minutes walking from PIFF Square, you just need to go through Yongdusan Park (용두산공원).

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Even if it’s just for 3 days, we really recommend you to visit Busan!! We hope that our suggested itinerary will help you!

MORE TOURIST DESTINATIONS IN BUSAN:

§  Beomeosa Temple 범어사

§  Songdo Beach 송도해수욕장

§  Gamcheon Culture Village 감천문화마을


TYPICAL FOOD:

§  Dwejigukbab\sogoghigukbab 돼지국밥~소고기국밥

§  Milmyeon 밀면

§  Omuk 어묵 

§  Hoddok 호떡




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