Busan, Korea’s second-largest city, is a quick 50-minute train ride from Daegu via the KTX or SRT (Korea’s speed trains). The short distance makes it all too easy to take a spur of the moment day trips!
We arrived midmorning to blue skies and sunshine and set off to explore the city. It was a perfect spring day to visit the colorful Gamcheon Culture Village and the bright yellow Yuchae Flower Festival!
Busan is a fabulous city that has a lot to offer visitors in the short span of 24 hours. Our visit, in particular, took advantage of the spring activities special to Korea’s lovely coastal city.
Gamcheon Culture Village
The Gamcheon Culture Village is a neighborhood in Busan known for its steep streets, winding narrow alleyways, and vibrant colorful buildings built into the foothills of an oceanside mountain. This place has everything to make it a must-see destination on any trip to Busan – lush mountainous landscape, views of the ocean, eye-catching color, fabulous street art and more!
We took the time to wander aimlessly through the alleys of Gamcheon before stopping for a coffee break at a cafe overlooking the village. After we’d had our fill of Busan’s famous color village, we headed across the city to visit the Nakdonggang Yuchae Festival. If you’re interested in visiting Busan’s Gamcheon Culture Village, you can read more about it here.
The beautiful rainbow village
Nakdonggang Yuchae Festival
The Nakdonggang Yuchae Festival is a spring festival held in Busan along the Nakdong river. Around mid to late April, the fields around the Nakdong river bloom with bright yellow canola flowers, offering stunning views of the river set against the skyline of Busan.
There were numerous street food vendors, performances, exhibits and more to enjoy during our visit to the canola flower fields. I think many people come to experience the natural beauty of it all and to take advantage of the free photo opportunities – Koreans love their photo ops!
If you have a free day and time to visit, this festival is a nice stop on a spring day trip to Busan! You can read more about it here.
A sea of yellow
How to get to Busan from Daegu (it’s very easy)
- You can choose to depart from either Daegu Station or Dongdaegu Station depending on which is closest to you – the KTX and SRT only depart from Dongdaegu, but you can catch the slow train at both. Dongdaegu and Daegu Station are on the red metro line.
- At the station in the train terminal, there are ticketing kiosks for self-service, which can be switched into English for ease of use. Choose your departing station, arriving station, departure time and pay!
- When heading to Busan, there are two stations you can choose; Busan Station (if visiting the Gamcheon Culture Village first) which takes you closer to the city center, and Gupo (if visiting the Yuchae Flower Festival first) a little further outside of the city.
- In Korea, you don’t purchase round trip tickets. Rather you buy two one way tickets. The trains depart so often, this typically isn’t an issue – but of course be sure to check your departure and arrival city for availability.
- Tickets are about 10,000 – 20,000 won for a one way depending on the station, time and selected train (KTX being the most expensive, then SRT, then the slow train).
There you have it! A perfect spring day in Busan. What are your favorite things to do in Busan during spring?
