Best Things to Do in Busan South Korea.
韓国の釜山でやるべき最高のこと。
Die besten Aktivitäten in Busan, Südkorea.
De beste dingen om te doen in Busan, Zuid-Korea.
Bedste ting at gøre i Busan Sydkorea.
De bästa sakerna att göra i Busan, Sydkorea.
韓国の釜山でやるべき最高のこと。
Die besten Aktivitäten in Busan, Südkorea.
De beste dingen om te doen in Busan, Zuid-Korea.
Bedste ting at gøre i Busan Sydkorea.
De bästa sakerna att göra i Busan, Sydkorea.
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TravelTranscript
00:00What's going on everybody, this is IslandHopperTV and today we're going to talk about the best
00:18things to do while visiting Busan, South Korea.
00:21Let's do it.
00:22That's right IslandHoppers, I spent three days going across Busan making this list of
00:2721 things for you to do while visiting.
00:30In no particular order, first up is Haeundae Beach.
00:34As with many of the beaches in Busan, this is a man-made beach that was opened in 1965.
00:40It is open year-round and in January they do a polar bear swim where people go into
00:46the water near freezing temperatures.
00:48But the good news is, six months out of the year the weather is amazing and you can swim
00:52here, hang out, walk along the boardwalk and really soak up the sunshine.
00:57It is an urban beach and there are many sky rises around here.
01:01This is where I stayed and I can say they do have some good nightlife in the area.
01:06Now here we are at Busan X in the Sky.
01:09This is the tallest building in Busan and it's here in Haeundae Beach.
01:14It's an observatory, you go to the top and wow, the views are spectacular.
01:18Some of the best you'll find anywhere in Asia.
01:21The ticket price is around $13 per person so it's not going to break the bank to go
01:25up here.
01:26The elevator moves really quickly and then once you get up here you'll see these views
01:30and the observatory.
01:32There are three levels to the observatory starting on 98 and going up to the 100th floor.
01:38Even an outdoor observation area with several cafes and some souvenir shopping to be done
01:43up here.
01:44Expect to spend around an hour or two up here depending on if you want to eat or not because
01:50they do have a restaurant.
01:51And up those stairs there is the highest Starbucks in South Korea.
01:56For those of you who watched our video about Seoul, best things to do, you know that I've
02:00been going across South Korea.
02:02I actually spent seven days and I rode the bullet train from Seoul to Busan.
02:07If you guys want to check that out, that's on my other channel, Bird Camp.
02:11But that only took three hours to do and it definitely was worthwhile to come all the
02:16way down here.
02:17Especially for those of you who are wondering if you should do both Seoul and Busan on the
02:21same trip.
02:22And just north of the beach is the Busan Sky Capsules.
02:25You can see these little rail cars that give you a great view overlooking the seaside.
02:31The Sky Capsules can hold up to four people.
02:34This is here at the Hyundai Blue Line Park at Mipo Station.
02:39They also do have a train but I would try and get on one of these Sky Capsules if you
02:44can.
02:45The one-way ticket for a two-seater Sky Capsule is 35,000 won.
02:49That's about 26 US dollars.
02:51And in case you're wondering how much one US dollar is in Korean Won, it's 1,353 Korean
02:58Won at the time of making this video.
03:01And if you go back down to Hyundai Beach, if you have the family, take them to the Sea
03:05Life Aquarium.
03:06This is a fun place for the kids and adults too because they have a wide variety of marine
03:11animals.
03:13If you purchase the ticket there, it's around 30,000 Korean Won.
03:18That's about 22 US dollars.
03:20But if you go online, you might be able to get a better price and I do know that there
03:24are discounts for children, military, and students.
03:28Also I want to let you guys know I visited South Korea in October.
03:32I thought when I came here that it was going to be cold but I found the temperatures to
03:36be mild in the 70s and at night the weather was really nice.
03:40So don't worry coming here in October or even in May or April because the weather is
03:47better than you might imagine.
03:49For those of you who do degrees Celsius, that's around 21 to 23 degrees the whole time I was
03:54here.
03:55Plenty of sunshine.
03:57It seems like the weather starts to get cold right there after Halloween in South Korea.
04:02So now let's talk about how to get around Busan to all these different places.
04:07That's what I'm going to show you now.
04:08So when you come to Busan, I highly recommend you get one of these transit cards for the
04:13subway.
04:14That's the most efficient way to get around.
04:16The lack of effective taxi grabbing here.
04:21Subway and bus.
04:22Get one of these cards.
04:23You can get them at the convenience store.
04:25You can buy one-way tickets but if you do that enough, you're going to get bored and
04:28just say, you know what, it's time to go to the convenience store.
04:31So I recommend when you land in South Korea, you just go and get this card straight away.
04:37There's a total of six lines for the subway and 114 stations in the metro area.
04:43So that's a really modern metro system and comfortable as well.
04:48It does get a bit crowded, especially during peak hours.
04:52And actually, let me give you a bit of a checklist for your arrival into Korea or Busan depending
04:57on where you're going.
04:58You want to set up an eSIM or a SIM card right there at the airport with a phone number right
05:04away.
05:05You don't want to wait on that because you're also going to need to download the apps Kakao
05:11for hailing taxis.
05:12So try and download that before you arrive and then use your Korean phone number to set
05:15up the account.
05:20Something I want to say about riding the metro, the trains, in order to top up your card,
05:25you actually have to pay cash.
05:26So you're going to need cash for that.
05:29And one of the iconic landmarks you'll see here is the Gwangan Bridge.
05:33There's also a beach nearby which we'll be showing you.
05:36But going across this bridge is quite the sight.
05:38So at some point, try to drive across here.
05:41You'll see it's really impressive and it's definitely one of the main landmarks.
05:45So in this case, hailing a taxi or a rideshare would be the best way to go across that bridge.
05:51Now I want to further elaborate about the difficulty of hailing a taxi without a rideshare
05:56app in Busan.
05:58Now it is possible and some areas are definitely easier than others.
06:02English isn't widely spoken here.
06:04So when you try to give the driver your address, there might be a communication or a translation
06:09error.
06:10Now here we are at the Gwangan Beach area.
06:12This is a really beautiful beach, lots of nightlife, plenty of restaurants and pubs,
06:17hotels here as well.
06:19So if you're looking for a beach, if you're considering Hyundai or Gwangan, both are great
06:26options.
06:27But I would probably lean more towards this one just because it's closer to the city center.
06:32There is more beach activities and shows going on here on the actual beach than over
06:37at Hyundai, which I really like.
06:39Plus the hotels, they get great views, whereas I didn't really find that in Hyundai.
06:45As far as the nightlife goes, the nightlife here at Gwangan is more along the beachfront
06:50and the boardwalk, whereas with Hyundai, it's kind of tucked away up towards the hills.
06:57But either way, even if you don't want to stay down at one of the beaches, you can still
07:01come down here and enjoy yourself by taking the Metro or the Rideshare app, hailing a
07:07taxi and coming down here and spending a couple hours just kind of relaxing.
07:13Check out this friendly little dog I saw outside one of the shops.
07:18Now we're headed to a place called Spa Land.
07:21So what Spa Land is here in Centrum City, it's about 22 spas and the price is around
07:28$17,000 to $20,000 won, depending on the timing.
07:33But you go in here, you put your shoes away, they give you clothes, and then you just kind
07:39of walk around, relax, spend two to three to four hours, however long you want.
07:44They also have cafes here.
07:46If you've never been to a spa land like this, it's really just a place to go and chill out
07:52and not think too hard about anything.
07:55So it's more of a leisure activity.
07:57They had hot tubs, cold tubs, and then they had saunas, they had relaxing chairs.
08:04So it's really just therapeutic.
08:06This is also at a very large mall, so you can do some shopping and then end up over
08:28here afterwards.
08:30Now for those of you who work from your phone, I don't know how many of you are out there
08:34that do have the potential to check emails or work from your phone.
08:37That's something you can do while you're here.
08:39I've found people just kind of chilling out, checking emails, doing a little bit of work
08:44while hanging out here.
08:46And on a cold day, this is where you want to be.
08:49I mean, why would you want to be inside an office when you could be here working from
08:54your phone or chilling out?
08:57Now let's talk about some more entertainment areas.
08:59This here is Texas Street.
09:00It's a little bit more seedy than the other areas for nightlife, so keep that in mind.
09:05I only went here during the daytime.
09:07I didn't go here at night.
09:08I did notice there was quite a bit of Russian themed restaurants and bars, although there's
09:13of course some American names, but not very many American style cuisine or anything down
09:19here.
09:20But the name Texas Street obviously is American.
09:22But then right next door to there is Shanghai Street, which I would consider to be like
09:27a Chinatown.
09:28Also expect to find some Chinese restaurants and some herbal medicine shops.
09:34And speaking of food, let's talk about some delicious local Korean food.
09:37I really indulged in Korean barbecue.
09:40I had lots of Korean barbecue, premium steak, pork belly, and then plenty of kimchi.
09:47For those of you who don't know what kimchi is, it's fermented cabbage or veggies.
09:51Then I had spare ribs, also some soups.
09:56Seafood is also very common here.
09:58You can find it all across Busan, especially on the coast.
10:01Going to the markets, they'll even cook it fresh for you.
10:04But I really found myself eating more Korean barbecue than anything else.
10:09I just love it so much.
10:11And I wash it down with an ice cold KAS beer, KAS, C-A-S-S, which is the local beer.
10:17Now we're headed over to BIFF Square.
10:18That stands for Busan International Film Festival.
10:21It's also a food street and a walking area.
10:26If you want to try local food straight off the grill or fresh off the grinder here, that's
10:33where it's going to be.
10:35Now here we are at the Jigalchi Fish Market.
10:37We're going to go inside here.
10:38Now all that fresh seafood I was talking about, this is where it's going to be.
10:42So I've never seen a fish market quite like this before.
10:47They have such an abundance of fish, shellfish, regular fish, scale fish, you name it.
10:54They're going to have it right here.
10:56And when I went through there, I was amazed at how much fresh fish.
10:59This must be the first stop for the fishermen before they actually start distributing it
11:04out around Korea because the amount of fish I saw here was mind-blowing.
11:10It really was.
11:11They have an indoor area and then they have an outdoor area.
11:15And both are just equally packed.
11:16So if you want fresh fish, they'll cook it right there.
11:20You just order it and then take it to one of the barbecues or one of the restaurants
11:25and they'll basically prepare it for you.
11:28Honestly, I was amazed at how many big giant crabs they have.
11:33I didn't even know there was that many in the ocean, let alone in a fish market.
11:39Now here we are at the cultural village of Gamcheon.
11:43If you go on TripAdvisor, this is actually considered one of the top activities to do.
11:47It's a colorful village that goes through a ravine and a canyon area that has steep
11:52stairs, twisting alleys, very nice houses.
11:56You almost wonder what it would be like to live here maybe 50 years ago.
12:00Even today, living here would be quite an experience.
12:04But when you come here, be ready to do a lot of walking.
12:08Try not to do the upstairs walking because if you do that, you will get very tired.
12:13They have a place called Seeing Stars, which means that some people when they walk up the
12:19actual stairs, they start seeing stars because that's how far up you're going to go.
12:25So try to do the downhill version of this village.
12:29It is one of those places where you will find more of a cultural, old school Korea, whereas
12:36Busan for the most part is a very modern city.
12:39It almost feels like it's lost touch with the traditional Korea.
12:43So for me, I prefer places like this.
12:46But I will say this, this is one of those places that you've got to go deep into and
12:50explore to really have a positive experience.
12:54A lot of people, they just show up here, spend five minutes, and then they leave without
12:58actually exploring the neighborhood.
13:01In fact, while I was here, I got a traditional Korean haircut.
13:05I didn't speak any Korean and he didn't speak any English, but he gave me a very nice shave
13:10and I was happy with the final result.
13:14Now, here we are at Gucci Market.
13:18This is a place you can find cheap souvenirs and other accessories such as handbags, backpacks,
13:25suitcases, clothing.
13:26So if you're looking for good deals, this is where you want to go do some shopping.
13:31There are several cheap markets like this across Busan, but the benefit of this one
13:36is its location and the size.
13:39So it's really got a great vibe, good location, big size, good prices.
13:45That's why I suggest this one.
13:50Now we're here at Book Street.
13:51This one's for all you book lovers.
13:53Although most of the books are in Korean or international languages aside from English,
13:58you can still find some English books here.
14:01But it's really just a collection of books and people who are into literature, they may
14:05be interested to come down here, especially since they have so many different shops side
14:09by side along this block area.
14:13By the way, if you guys are enjoying this things to do in Busan video, please do consider
14:17watching our Seoul video if you plan to go up there.
14:20Also our things to know about visiting South Korea video.
14:24I'll put links to those below.
14:27Here we are now at the Busan Tower.
14:29We're going to go up to the top.
14:30It's also called the Diamond Tower.
14:32This is one of the original observatories.
14:34It's not quite as high as Sky X over in Hyundai Bay, but it goes way up there and the views
14:41are spectacular looking out over the bay and the fish market.
14:47So it's worth it to go up here.
14:48It's not expensive either and even though the building is old, don't get it twisted,
14:54the views are spectacular.
14:55It is worth it.
14:57The price is 8,400 Korean won.
15:00That's around $6.21 at the current market exchange.
15:06And just some interesting facts.
15:08The population here is around 3.5 million.
15:11It is the second largest city in South Korea, just behind Seoul.
15:16There's also going to be a Expo 2030 here.
15:20So the city is getting ready to build some very impressive architectural designs, do
15:25some unique engineering.
15:27So by the time 2030 comes around, expect Busan to get an even greater facelift.
15:34The city is actually known for its deep water port because it is the largest port here in
15:39South Korea, making it a logistical center for Asia and Korea in particular.
15:47Busan is considered more of a laid back city for South Korea.
15:51So if you're looking for a peaceful destination, that's another reason to come here.
15:55And by the way, when it comes to South Korea population, that's around 52 million people
16:00as of 2022, although there has been a bit of a population decline happening here.
16:07Anyways, back to the Busan Tower.
16:09You can see they do have this exhibit for lights right downstairs.
16:13So it's more than just a tower.
16:15It's also got these light shows and other exhibits where you can take pictures.
16:20Now here we are at Fashion Street.
16:47And just down the road from the tower is going to be Fashion Street.
16:50Here you're going to find designer brands, shopping, Nike, Fila, all the designer companies
16:57are going to have a shop on Fashion Street, hence the name, right?
17:02And then there's the Korean arcades.
17:04If you're looking for something to do in the evening.
17:06All right, now we're going to check out a mini arcade here in Busan.
17:12And with these arcades, they're a bit more focused on action and entertainment than they
17:17are on collectibles.
17:18Where I'm going to next in Japan, you're going to see more of a focus and a shift towards
17:23collectibles.
17:24So don't expect the arcades to be similar like Japan here in Korea, because they're
17:29really not.
17:48Another thing you should check out is a selfie booth studio where you can take selfies in
17:53all sorts of different settings and environments.
17:55This is popular with young ladies in particular or couples on dates.
18:05All right, Island Hoppers, that's going to conclude this episode of Busan, South Korea.
18:09We will see you guys on the next one in Seoul or in Tokyo, where I'm headed next.
18:15So watch one of those videos by clicking the end screen.