Tom On day 2 of our South Korea Travels, we took the opportunity to visit the attractions in Busan! In this post, we’ll cover attractions in Busan such as 40 Steps, Yongdusan Park, Busan Tower, Jagalchi Market, Gukje Market and Songdo Beach! Stay tuned for day 2 of our South Korea Travel Itinerary!
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Breakfast at Home Hotel Busan
There were 2 major advantages of staying at Home Hotel Busan. Firstly, the location was excellent. Seomyeon station was minutes by foot and allowed us to explore Busan fairly easily. Secondly, breakfast! Always a great way to start the day with coffee which was available – complimentary for hotel guests.
From Seomyeon Station, we took Line 1 to Jungang Station about 15 minutes away. Thereafter, we took a short walk and arrived at our first Busan attraction – 40 Steps!
Busan Attractions – 40 Steps Culture and Tourism Theme Street
At this juncture, you must be wondering whats the significance of these 40 steps right? During Korean War, there were only 2 cities that did not fall to the North during their invasion of the South. Busan was one of them. Hence, many refugees travelled far south to Busan, in search of peace from the on-going war. This was also the reason why some movies depicted trains that left from Seoul to Busan during the Korean War. It was also at these 40 steps that many refugees came to meet separated family members. 40 Steps also came to symbolise the sorrow and grief of the times during Korean War.
Today, 40 Steps is not only an attraction that shows the history of Korean War and Busan, it is also an open-air museum, featuring 5 iconic statues.
Busan Attractions – Yongdusan Park and Busan Tower
From 40 Steps, it’s actually just a 15 minutes walk to Busan Tower via Yongdusan Park. After a short walk, we arrived at the foot of Yongdusan Park. The climb up from the north of Yongdusan Park was a steep climb. Thankfully, there were sloped pathways. However, if you enter Yongdusan Park from the south, you’ll be able to do so via the escalators…
After a leisurely stroll up the gradual slopes, we finally arrived at Yongdusan Park! Here, you’ll find picture perfect shots of Busan Tower in the background and Admiral Yi Sun-sin…
Admiral Yi Sun-sin was a famous naval commander who won several battles against the Japanese during the Joseon Dynasty. Because of his exploits, he became the embodiment of values such as courage and loyalty. Next, we headed to Busan Tower to enjoy the fantastic views over the entire Busan City!
Busan Tower Admission Prices
The entrance to Busan Tower is only 8000krw for adults and 6000krw for children. However, for more value, you can opt for
1 Ticket + Bacon Cheeseburger + 1 Drink + Fries – 14900krw
2 Tickets + Large Popcorn + 2 Drinks – 19500krw
This time, we opted for the “best” package! 2 Tickets + Large Popcorn + 2 DRAFT BEERS!
Most times, tower entry prices would already cost 20bucks per person. Given the price and the size of the popcorn, this package was super worth it. Next, it was time to enjoy the view from Busan Tower!
The views from Busan Tower was really interesting. We were able to see the Busan Gamcheon Culture Village and its iconic colourful buildings and even Oryukdo Island in the distance. We also found Gukje Market next to Jagalchi Market because of the entire row of tentage-like roof. This led us to visit Gukje Market as well.
As we moved to the lower level of the viewing gallery, we stumbled upon a “gaming machine”…
All you have to do is try to mimic the body position featured on the screen. You can even choose to play the game with visitors at Seoul tower, live! After completing the pose, you can also get vouchers, redeemable at Busan Tower. As we got to the end of our visit, there were some photo opportunities…
Passing by BIFF Square, we headed to our next destination, Jagalchi Fish Market!
Busan Travel Itinerary – Jagalchi Fish Market
Jagalchi Fish Market is the largest seafood market in Busan. Here, you’ll be able to find the freshest catch of the day, enjoy a tour of the various seafood stalls (including skinning of eels!) and also get a chance to eat them fresh on the second level of Jagalchi Fish Market…
There are several levels at the building of Jagalchi Fish Market. At the first level, you’ll find various seafood stalls…
Book with Agoda Here: Popular Hotels in Busan
Book with Klook Here: Popular Activities in Busan
To enjoy the freshest catch of the day, head to level 2! There are nice clean restaurants with live seafood served fresh!
To round off a visit of Jagalchi Fish Market, head to level 7 to catch a view from the Jagalchi Observation Deck. As the observation deck at level 7 was closed during our visit, we were still able to enjoy views from the cafe of Terra Guest House, located on the same level.
Busan Travel Itinerary – Dining near Gukje Market
Enroute to Gukje Market (the iconic “green tent” we saw from Busan Tower), we stopped by BIFF Square again and had a local specialty – seed pancake (1300krw).
Making of Seed Pancake @ Busan BIFF Square
As the name suggests, seed pancake (Hotteok) is first filled with brown sugar and fried to a golden crisp texture. Thereafter, it is cut open and filled with all kinds of seeds such as sunflower, flax and pumpkin seeds which are good for your health. Interestingly, it is served in a cup. Hm…we wonder why…
After indicating our interest (by joining the queue), the amount of 1300krw was received from us and before long (about a 5 minutes wait), we were able to enjoy our very first South Korean seed pancake! How does it taste? Delicious! There was a light crisp on the outside with a sugary taste and crunchy texture from the seeds on the inside. A perfect mid-day snack.
Actually, Gukje market is not a place that we recommend for tourists to visit. Upon our visit there, we realised that it is a really “old school” shopping mall. Items are meant for the locals which included pots (literally all kinds including clay and stainless steel ones), mattress as well as hardware. Thankfully, we were able to settle our lunch at a Korean BBQ restaurant located at the edge of Gukje Market…
The marinated pork was priced at 9000krw per 100g with a minimum order of 300g (ie 27,000g). In addition, we also ordered a bowl of cold noodles (naeng myeon) at 6000krw. The total cost was 33,000krw with taxes included. As the BBQ was done over charcoal, there was a smokey taste to the tender BBQ pork. The cold noodles on the other hand was Kate’s favourite. As the soup was slightly sour-ish, it was rather appetizing as well 😉
Sizzling BBQ Pork over red hot Charcoal
Book with Agoda Here: Popular Hotels in Busan
Book with Klook Here: Popular Activities in Busan
Songdo Beach Skywalk, Coastal Walk, Cliff, Seafood and Red Suspension Bridge
As we were unable to find a public transport option to Songdo beach, we took the taxi from Gukje Market to Songdo Beach – which turned out to be only 7000krw. If you’re visiting Busan, Songdo beach is definitely an area that we would recommend because of the beautiful views and incredibly exciting Jet Ride!
There were many picturesque spots at Songdo Beach, including mermaid/hero statues, beautifully colour breakwaters, the skywalk itself, views off Songdo Beach with cable car lines to Amnam Park in the background. The cable cars belong to Busan Air Cruise (15,000krw return to Amnam Park). You can also take a short walk up a flight of stairs off Songdo Beach to Pine Tree Garden where Busan Air Cruise is located…
At level 3F of the Busan Air Cruise building, we visited Ediya Coffee. This time, we had the nitro coffee (3900krw) and the maple nut thick toast (4800krw)…
This particular Ediya has views off Songdo Beach, which makes it an unique location to chill. Along with a smooth cup of fragrantly roasted coffee and yummy thick toast? Simply perfect! After chillaxing for an hour here, we decided to take a stroll along the Songdo Beach Coastal Walk and see how far it takes us. According to the map, it would lead us directly to Amnam Park. We began our walk from Ediya (the western most part of Songdo Beach) and arrived at the Eastern part of Songdo beach in 20 minutes. Before we entered the coastal walk by the cliffs, we noticed a row of seafood stalls next to a jetty, where fresh catch of the day were served…
Another reason why you should venture to the eastern edge of Songdo beach is because of the iconic red suspension bridge as well as the scenic views of the cliff (formed by basaltic lava flow)…
This time, we did not head all the way to Amnam Park. If you did, share it with our readers in the comments section below. From Songdo Beach, we took a cab back to Jagalchi train station at 6,000krw. From there, we took the train to Seomyeon Station and walked along Bujeon mall and the Seomyeon underground mall…
At last, we decided to have our dinner at Seomyeon 1 Beonga (Seomyeon First Avenue) as there were many food options here…
Finally, we settled at a pork noodles/soup stall which has been featured on many Korean TV channels…
As we had the expectation that the soup would be thick and fragrant like the double-boiled pork soups in Singapore, we were slightly disappointed with the taste of the soup. Nonetheless, the soup did grow on us and the texture of the noodles were very Q. At 7,000krw a bowl, which includes refillable side dishes, we left with a SUPER FULL tummy that evening!
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Thanks for reading the 2nd day of our South Korea Travel Itinerary. In our next post, we will cover our third day in Jeju, South Korea which includes attractions such as the Mysterious Road, Hallasan (Mt Halla) as well as Jeju Shinhwa World Landing Resort! We’ll now leave you with this video coverage of the top things to do and attractions in Busan!
Book with Agoda Here: Popular Hotels in Busan
Book with Klook Here: Popular Activities in Busan
Related Posts
You have just finished reading a post from our 14 Days Travels in South Korea. Check out the rest of the posts from this series below!
South Korea Travel Itinerary Day 1: Busan Gwangalli Beach, Spaland and Fried Chicken Army Stew!
South Korea Travel Itinerary Day 6: Flight from Jeju to Busan PLUS Hilton Busan Review!
South Korea Travel Itinerary Day 7: Haeundae Beach, Dalmaji Road and Dalmaji Hill
South Korea Travel Itinerary Day 11: Driving from Danyang to Seoul!
Top 17 Things to do and Attractions in Jeju South Korea!
Top 8 Busan Travel Experiences, Things to do and Attractions!
Top 7 Gyeongju Things to do, Attractions and Travel Experiences!
Top 5 Danyang Attractions, Travel Experiences and Things to do!
Top 7 Seoul Attractions and Things to do
Top 8 Food to eat in Seoul South Korea
The Ultimate Guide to Driving in South Korea!
What Souvenirs to buy from South Korea? 9 Souvenirs to get from South Korean Supermarkets!
The Complete Hilton Busan Review: Probably the Most Instagrammable Hotel in the World!
Jeju Shinhwa World Landing Resort Review: The Perfect Base to Discover Jeju!
Da Moim Buffet Restaurant Hilton Busan Review
Singapore Airlines (SQ) 777-300ER Business Class Review: Singapore to Beijing
Air China Business Class Review: Beijing to Busan CA 129
Singapore Airlines Business Class A330-300 Review: Incheon to Singapore
