Busan

Introduction

.. view of Haeundae beach at noon

© All Rights Reserved indarto

Busan (부산) with a population of 3.8 million is South Korea's second largest city and principal port. It's also the primary port for ferries to Japan and a gateway to the Hallyeo Maritime National Park and surrounding islands. The famous Jagalchi fish markets is one of Busan's top attractions and an excellent place to sample some of the multitude of marine products for sale.

Neighbourhoods

Sights and Activities

• Jagalchi Fish Markets
• Haeundae Beach

Events and Festivals

• Busan Jagalchi Festival - October
• Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) - In 2008, it is held from 2 to 10 October.

Weather

Busan has mild winters compared to much of the country, averaging between 6 and 9 degrees Celsius during the day and slightly below zero at night, but dropping as low as -14 degrees sometimes. Winters are relatively dry. Summers are tropical with hot and humid conditions. Temperatures average between 24 and 29 degrees from June to September with nights around or above 20 degrees. This is also the wet season with July topping at almost 300 mm of rain. The best times obviously are spring and autumn with much less rain and agreeable temperatures.

Getting There

By Plane

By Train

KTX to Seoul takes 2 hours 40 minutes.
Saemaul to Seoul takes 4 hours 20 minutes.

By Car

By Bus

Buses to Seoul take 5 hours 20 minutes.

By Boat

There are dozens of sailings on an almost daily or twice daily basis between Japan and Busan:

• Korea Ferry to and from Busan.
• Mirajet has high speed ferries between Busan and Fukuoka, taking only 3 hours.
• JR Beetle, a Japanese based company, offers the same service.
• The Camellia-line ferry service is much slower (15 hours) but almost twice as cheap.

The most popular and cheapest route is between Busan and Shimonoseki.

• The Kampur Ferry Service's vessels Kampu or Pukwan leave Busan at 6pm and arrive in Shimonoseki at 8.30am the next morning on a daily basis.

Musung has boats between Busan and Yantai in China. Dalian, Shanghai, Tianjin (City), Yingkou and Weihai have connections to and from Busan.

Getting Around

By Car

By Public Transport

By Foot

By Bike

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Budget

Mid-Range

Upscale

Work

Learn

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet is widely available in South Korea. The country is the sixth highest user of Internet in the world and there are internet cafes around the country in public places such as airports, train stations and bus terminals in South Korea. ‘PC bangs’ are rooms full of computers, predominantly started for people to play games. They are cheap and many open 24-hours with snacks available.

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Post

Korea Post is the national postal service and has fast, reliable and well-priced services. Standard letters and postcards start at 400 Won for domestically send ones. On their website you can find more about pricing details, as there are many different rates, depending on the zone (which country) you want to send it to, how much it weighs, wether it is air or ground service etc. Generally, post office hours are from Monday to Friday 9:00am to 6:00pm, though the larger central post offices tend to be open until 8:00pm and sometimes also on Saturday or even Sunday, usually only mornings.