Busan, South Korea's second-largest city, trades Seoul's density for a coastal setting of beaches, mountains, and a fish market said to be Asia's largest, plus Gamcheon Culture Village, a hillside slum-turned-art-installation of stacked pastel houses that has become one of the country's most photographed neighbourhoods.
Gamcheon and the Old City
Gamcheon Culture Village, originally built by refugees during the Korean War, was transformed in the 2000s by an art project painting its stacked houses in vivid colours and installing small sculptures and murals throughout its maze-like lanes, genuinely photogenic, if increasingly crowded with visitors following the same Instagram trail.
Jagalchi Market, Korea's largest seafood market, sells everything from live octopus to dried squid across multiple floors, the upper level restaurants will cook whatever you buy downstairs, a genuinely hands-on way to eat here.
Beaches and Temples
Haeundae Beach, Busan's most famous, gets crowded in summer but anchors a stretch of coastline with a genuinely urban beach-city feel, high-rises directly behind the sand, a contrast rarely found in other Asian beach destinations.
Haedong Yonggungsa, a temple built directly on coastal rocks rather than in the mountains where most Korean temples sit, offers a striking combination of Buddhist architecture and crashing waves, arrive early to avoid the worst of the day-trip crowds.
Recommended Stay · Busan · Haeundae Beach
Paradise Hotel Busan
A beachfront resort directly on Haeundae Beach, with an extensive spa and sauna complex reflecting Korean bathhouse traditions.
