Some people find joy in crowds and some have negative emotions tagged to it. Striking a balance between famous tourist attractions and hidden gems is no easy feat. It requires time and effort during pre-trip planning. Visiting tourist attractions have its benefits: easy to get to, plenty of food options, photogenic backdrops but some things for sure, they are definitely overcrowded and very likely, also overpriced.
We clearly do not enjoy getting shoved around when travelling. With the same visiting purpose, we found 5 things to avoid doing in Busan and of course, 5 things you should do in Busan instead.
1. Instead of: Taejongdae Resort Park
Taejongdae is by far the most popular cliff and a convenient attraction to visit in Busan. The amount of tourists received by this place is also as expected. From queuing for the trams up the cliffs to fighting for photo spots, you are bound to be surrounded by tourists.
However, Busan is a seaside city not lacking cliffs to visit. Taejongdae is not your only option, especially if you don’t enjoy rubbing shoulders with fellow tourists.
Go here: Amnam Park Coastal Walk
We discovered Amnam park as one of the many alternatives to Taejongdae. This park welcomes you with much more than just the breathtaking view of cliffs. Inside this park, there are great hiking courses suitable for beginner to intermediate, a stretch of seaside walkway and has an observatory point for Dudo Island.
Best of all? No fees attached to this place – this is what I like to hear because it shows that this is not meant for tourists. However, if you are feeling lazy, you can hop on the longest air cruise in Korea and get across from Songdo beach to Amnam park on a cable car effortlessly.
2. Instead of: Gamcheon Cultural Village
As a result of the background and history of Busan, there are many villages like Gamcheon. Houses were forced to build next to another due to land constraints during and after the war in the 1950s. However, Gamcheon is the most popular one and probably the only one that tourists visit thanks to the modern cafes and gift stores that occupied the village. The attraction is said to attract 160,000 visitors every year so that gives you a clue of how crowded the place is every day.
Little did many know, a unique village that sits literally next to Gamcheon is a village built on top of Japanese tombs.
Go here: Amidong Tombstone Culture Village
If given a choice, who would choose to nestle on top of tombs? Let alone Japanese tombs, the nation who occupied their land for many years. This only reflects how hard life was for them at that time and that they didn’t have a choice.
This village is not meant for tourism purposes, it is like a typical neighbourhood today so make sure to keep noise level to the minimum. Naturally, there aren’t many signages that will point and direct you to the few tombs that still remain. However, a stroll around the neighbourhood, you will notice traces of the tombs still remain and such traces include dates, names and engravings and so on.
We eventually found one! There is a set of date carved in Chinese characters which was a piece of conclusive evidence.
3. Instead of: Busan Tower
Nothing screams tourist more than going up a tower for panorama views of a city. Also, nothing wrong with that because panorama views are breathtaking. Let alone Busan is a port city where you would also be greeted by the Yellow Sea or East Sea.
Instead of paying to go up the Busan tower, there are a lot of places in Busan that offers you the same view, FREE if you’re willing to climb stairs.
Go here: Ibagu Street & 168 Stairs
This street is named after the Busan dialect of the word ‘story’ which turned out to be ibagu (say: ee-ba-goo) Every corner has a story which will make it a more meaningful trip down than just to see the aerial city views. Click here to see the recommended ibagu street route by the Korea Tourism Organization.
Tip! Since 2016, there is a monorail that brings you up straight to ibagu street and they close around 8 pm so make sure you catch the rail if you don’t want to walk up the 168 steps!
We absolutely loved our visit to the 6.25 Makgeolli, a small restaurant with only a handful of tables serving alcoholic drinks and side dishes – with very friendly local ladies!
4. Instead of: eating freshwater eel (changeo)
Live baby octopus, raw fish and freshwater eel are the few common seafood found on a travellers’ to-do list (or even bucket list) in Busan. It’s no surprise at all! These are not readily available anywhere else in the World. While we encourage you to try these seafood, we also found a semi-exotic food that captured our hearts at first bite and we would like more foreign visitors to appreciate it.
Eat this: hagfish (gom changeo)
That is right, hagfish. It is widely considered as a parasite. In the Korean language, it is just a word difference with freshwater eel but the taste is not that similar. Some parts of the hagfish are firm, some parts are fatty and some parts have that muddy taste to it. It is easily the best thing we had throughout the trip.
Also, Busan is the ONLY place that serves gom changeo. They can come off as a little pricey but that’s for a good reason – they are hard to be kept alive. Despite that, every gom changeo stall in Busan serves it straight out from the tank.
I highly recommend you to put this up on your list of food to eat in Busan alongside other local delicacies.
5. Instead of visiting: Haeundae Beach
Haeundae beach is the venue for various events all year round. The place has developed as a tourist hub as well as luxury residences. Especially during summer, this place is PACKED!
If you’re taking public transportation, you may find Haeundae station a little further from the city centre which is likely the reason you would go for an alternative.
Go here: Gwangalli Beach
Gwangalli beach could be off the list as a hidden gem anytime seeing its increased popularity in recent years. However, it is still a good alternative to the well-established Haeundae beach thanks to the closer proximity to town. Less international hotels surrounding Gwangalli also meant fewer international tourists.
Another major difference between the two beaches is the majestic stretch of Gwanan bridge that can be seen from Gwangalli beach which makes a picturesque backdrop for your gram.
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