Living in Busan: City Walks, Tourist Spots & Local Haunts (Photo Album)

Yep, this photo album should have been posted a looooong time ago, but better late than never! It didn’t take much time to create this album of my walks and explorations throughout my year living in Busan, during which nostalgia and a fierce desire to return clashed with astonishment at having been back as long as six years already! Still, if you’ve ever wanted to travel to South Korea, these photos will definitely tantalize you.

Panoramic view of the Port of Dadaepo, Dusong Peninsula in the distance and ships floating on the ocean beyond. — Port of Dadaepo, and my neighbourhood while living in Busan

I spent a little more than half the weekends in a year and quite a lot of time during the week getting to know the city while living in Busan, and I grew to love every bit of it. Getting from beach to mountain can hardly be any easier than here. I lived in Dadaepo, an outlying suburb with its own charms.

The photos below, which I took while living in Busan, begin from the Dadaepo area and continue in a clockwise direction throughout the city.

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Dadaepo Port and Neighbourhood

When I was living in Busan, my apartment was by the ocean-side, and nighttime strolls along the docks were common during the warmer months. Throughout the year, ships would arrive from around the world, and remain sometimes only a few days, sometimes a few weeks. One of the highlights of living by a port, for me, was meeting some of the crew members of a Greenpeace vessel, The Esperanza, as the organization prepared to help negotiate reductions in tuna fishing.

View of Dadaepo Port from Dusong Peninsula, skyscrapers crowding right up to the shore.

View of the bay and the western shoreline at the Port of Dadaepo.

View of the Dadaepo shipyard and Dusongsan Peninsula from one of the docks across the bay.

People fishing off the docks at the Port of Dadaepo in Busan, South Korea.

View of the ocean from one of the docks at the Port of Dadaepo, a small boy kneeling to look into the water.

My neighbourhood where I was living in Busan — my apartment building is the shortest, palest one in the centre.

Sunset behind the Port of Dadaepo in Busan, South Korea.

Top view of market stalls set up beneath colourful tarps.

A statue of two women and a man dancing artistically in the nude, seen near the fish market in the Dadaepo neighbourhood of Busan, South Korea.

A view of my neighbourbood in Dadaepo from Dadae-am.

Panoramic view of the Dadaepo neighbourhood, including Molundae Park at the end.

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Dusongsan Peninsula

Not far from the apartment where I was living in Busan, I hiked even more often at Dusongsan Peninsula. It would take half an hour to get to the halfway point, so if I wanted to get all the way to the end, then I had to make sure I had at least two hours to hike that day. And, this is where I would come if I was taking the neighbour’s dogs, Suteori and Areongi, out for a walk.

A rocky cliff seen from the trail on Dusongsan Peninsula, Busan.

Ocean scenery seen from Dusongsan Peninsula, South Korea.

View of the ocean seen from Dusongsan Peninsula while living in Busan.

Areongi, a small white dog with brown ears and a large black patch on its side.

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Dadaepo Beach

I would see Dadaepo Beach quite often, since it’s the gateway to Molundae Park, where some of my favourite neighbourhood walking trails were located. Despite its beauty, it wasn’t often very packed due to the suburb’s distance from the heart of the city. A few events drew in the crowds at times, though, such as the Busan International Rock Festival and an annual water fountain music and light show.

While living in Busan, my apartment was a few blocks away from beautiful Dadaepo Beach, which is set against a mountainous backdrop.

Dadeopo Beach seen to be filling up on the first day of Rock Fest.

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Molundae Park

When I only had half an hour for my walk, I just had time to go around the park once. But on days when my walk was an hour long, I could walk around Molundae Park twice (smiley face).

It took me about a month living in Busan before I discovered the park, though. The first time I visited Molundae, I spent the entire afternoon exploring the various crisscrossing paths. And what a lovely birthday surprise that turned out to be!

A bay in Molundae Park partially darkened by shadows.

Beautiful gazebo-type structure in the Buddhist temple style.

Here I am at the end of my birthday walk in Molundae Park.

Climbing down a cliff with the help of a rope to follow the path down to a rocky beach in Molundae Park.

Beautiful coastal scenery in molundae park.

A lighthouse seen from a rocky beach in Molundae Park.

A ground level view of the ocean waves lapping onto a rocky beach in Busan, an interesting hilly island in the background.

Two men fishing off the rocky coastline of Molundae Park.

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Eulsukdo

Even though Eulsuk Island wasn’t all that far from where I lived, I only managed to get out there once…

Eulsukdo is actually an estuary, located at the mouth of the Nakdong River, and it’s an important breeding and feeding ground for about 150 species of migratory birds, if I remember correctly. This is maybe one of the reasons I would get to see many different types of birds while walking at Molundae.

But on the day I visited, the whole place seemed closed. The eco-centre wasn’t locked, so I did get to see some of the exhibits, and I found a few short trails to follow, but no map of the area and a few locked gates. Still, it was lovely to see the area up close instead of up from the top of Amisan.

View of the Nakdong Estuary from Ami Mountain.

Scenic view of Eulsuk Island and the Nakdong River Estuary.

View of Busan and the Nakdong River from Ami Mountain.

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Elsewhere in Busan

We’ll now be heading north from Dadaepo and making our way back along Busan‘s eastern coastline.

A view of the city of Busan from Amisan in the suburb of Dadaepo.

Lovely mountain and lake view seen while strolling around Children's Grand Park.

Overlooking the seaside temple complex at Haedong Yonggungsa.

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Geumjeong Fortress

I ended up in these parts more than once due to what I liked to term “adventure hiking,” when I would leave Dadaepo and walk as far as I could while barely ever leaving the mountains, never following the same paths and never knowing exactly where I would end up. Just once I came here to hike the fortress wall, though now I wish I’d come back to see the rest of the trail…

A view of the city of Busan from somewhere along the Geumjeong Fortress trail between Bukmun and Dongmun.

View from Godangbong, a peak on the Geumjeong Fortress hike.

A late afternoon view of Busan from the cable car coming down from the Geumjeong Fortress hike.

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Jangsan and Haeundae Beach

I only hiked at Jangsan once, but I spent many a weekend at Haeundae Beach! I did a whole bunch of exploring in this region, so while I did hang out at the beach a lot, rarely was my time spent just laying in the sun (winky face).

Haeundae Beach in the evening, lights from skyscrapers twinkling.

A replica of The Little Mermaid statue, erected in front of APEC House near Busan's Haeundae Beach.

Statue of a pregnant woman seemingly in labour, seen at APEC Park in Busan's Haeundae area.

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U.N. Cemetery

Graves commemmorating those fallen during the Korean War at Busan's U.N. Cemetary.

Beautifully sculpted trees seen at Busan's U.N. Cemetary.

Lovely scenery at the U.N. Cemetery in Busan, South Korea.

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Conclusion

There was always something new to see when I was living in Busan. I got to discover so much more of the city than I can describe here, and yep, I did so much of it on foot! I developed a real taste for the self-guided walking tour while I was living in Busan, and South Korea in general (smiley face).

The Gwangan Grand Bridge all lit up, seen at night from Gwangalli Beach.

Coastal scenery showing interesting sedementary layers on the seaside cliffs, seen in Amnam Park, Busan.

Browse the Busan Tour Conclusion gallery — click any image above to view a full-sized version in a pop-up carousel.