4 days in Busan? A lot of friends were quite surprised by our decision. While doing research, I saw many people just going to Busan on a day trip so I thought I’ll put this up to share the places we visited in Busan!
This is an itinerary based on my recent trip to Busan.
Travelling to Busan from Seoul
We traveled to Busan from Seoul via the high-speed train – the KTX. The ride was comfortable and it was easy to book the tickets online (tickets were sent via email so you don’t have to queue to collect it at the counter after that).
Here’s where it got a bit different – all you have to do after arriving before your train departs, is to wait until about 30 minutes before your train is scheduled to depart before the information on which track to go to appears on the screen. (I internally panicked when I did not see our train number on the screen when we arrived about 1 hour before the departure time.)
No one will check your ticket as well – it is all quite “self-service”. Look for your train car and then your seat number.
Day 1: Harry Potter themed cafe, Bay 101, Gwangbokdong Food Street (광복동 먹자골목)
We checked in at our stay upon arriving in Busan via the KTX (we took the 12.30pm train and arrived at 3.07pm).
We stayed at Citadines Haeundae Busan which was about an hour’s subway/MRT ride from the KTX station at Busan to Haeundae (transfer at Seomyeon Station to Line 2).
The reason why we decided to stay at Haeundae is because it’s near the famous Haeundae beach and we were hoping to get a sea view (which we did!)
After settling in, we had a quick bite and then left to visit a Harry Potter themed cafe that my colleague told me about a few days before we flew to South Korea (we started from Seoul).
PO TID 포티드
Address: 22 Jungang-daero 680beon-gil, Bujeon 2(i)-dong, Busanjin-gu, Busan, South Korea
Operating Hours: 11:30am – 10:30pm daily
We traveled about 40 minutes from Haeundae to get there. The cafe is located at a university kind of neighbourhood so there weren’t much tourists there and a lot of students.
Initially we weren’t even sure if the cafe was opened as they had curtains drawn and you couldn’t look in. So we just tried and opened the door and was quite amazed upon stepping in.
It took our eyes a few seconds to adjust to the darkness but it was decorated nicely and it made you feel like you’ve stepped into the Leaky Cauldron. You order your food via a screen and everything was in Korean but we asked the staff for assistance and they kindly assisted us with it. Once your number is called, you can collect your food thereafter.
As it was a cafe, the food they serve were mainly cakes and cookies as well as a variety of drinks.
I got the Hibiscus tea and Eugene got a latte.
We spent some time admiring the interior – it is slightly different from what we saw from blogs but if you are there, do check out the shelves of potions (towards the washrooms) and the dementor hiding at the back near the fireplace with green floo powder.
After that, we hung out at a park (along the junction of Jeonpo-daero 209 beon-gil and Dongcheolro) and people watched a while.
The Bay 101
Address: 52, Dongbaek-ro, Haeundae-gu, Busan
Took the train from Seomyeon back to Haeundae and went in search for The Bay 101! I’ve always seen it on TV and that’s the iconic landmark in Haeundae so I was quite excited. The streets were pretty quiet other than the locals on their evening walk and it made me like Busan/Haeundae at that point.
When we’d reached The Bay 101, it was apparent that that’s a popular tourist site, with many tour buses parked at the carpark. And there we saw it – the tall buildings that make up the skyline of The Bay.
It reminded me of Singapore’s CBD, but the buildings were a mix of commercial and residential buildings (Singapore’s CBD are all commercial buildings). The river is also much wider than Singapore River.
There’s a small mall where there were loads of eateries but we decided not to eat there due to the crowd and went to look for Gwangbokdong Food Street (광복동 먹자골목) instead.
Gwangbokdong Food Street (광복동 먹자골목)
Address: Gwangbok-dong, Jung-gu, Busan, South Korea
After about a 20mins walk, we arrived at Gwangbokdong Food Street (광복동 먹자골목). It was a bit overwhelming and we couldn’t decide where to eat.
Sidetrack: we wanted to eat Kyochon chicken but realised that the place near where we are staying closed earlier than their stated time. So we had a change of plans.
We ended up at a random eatery and ordered their abalone porridge which unfortunately was quite plain and expensive. But at least we got some abalone and their banchan was not bad.
We bought some snacks back to our room after that for some supper!
We found another street in Haeundae with better food on our 3rd day and I’ll share with you in the post about our 3rd day there. 🙂
| Busan Day 1 Places of Interests | Address |
| PO TID 포티드 | 22 Jungang-daero 680beon-gil, Bujeon 2(i)-dong, Busanjin-gu, Busan, South Korea |
| The Bay 101 더베이101 | 52, Dongbaek-ro, Haeundae-gu, Busan |
| Gwangbokdong Food Street (광복동 먹자골목) | Gwangbok-dong, Jung-gu, Busan, South Korea |