Busan

South Korea's second city and largest maritime port could not feel more different in geography from Seoul. Instead of a single river basin, Busan unfolds for forty kilometres along the southeastern tip of the Korean Peninsula where steep, pine-clad granite mountains plunge straight into the Korea Strait, carving the city into a chain of sandy bays, fishing harbours and hillside neighbourhoods.

In the historic western port around Nampo-dong, Jagalchi Fish Market and Gamcheon Culture Village, post-war refugee staircases and street-food alleys overlook working shipyards. Ride Metro Line 2 forty minutes east and you emerge into the gleaming beachfront towers, coastal Sky Capsules and illuminated suspension bridges of Gwangalli and Haeundae. Start with our first-timer briefing before choosing your base.

Most travellers arrive at central Busan Station on the KTX or SRT high-speed train from Seoul (roughly two hours and forty minutes) or land directly at Gimhae International Airport (PUS) on the western edge of the city, connected to the Busan Metro network by automated Light Rail. Your same rechargeable T-money card from Seoul works seamlessly on every Busan subway line, bus and taxi. See how to get to Busan and around.

Because Busan is stretched out between its western harbour and eastern beaches, where you sleep matters. Staying at Haeundae Beach or Gwangalli Beach gives you resort boardwalks and ocean views, Nampo-dong puts you inside the historic market core near Busan Station, and Seomyeon sits dead-centre where Metro Lines 1 and 2 cross. Compare every district in where to stay in Busan.

Ride a retro two-to-four-seat Sky Capsule from Mipo to Cheongsapo above the Haeundae waves, wander the painted hillside alleys of Gamcheon Culture Village before sampling live seafood at Jagalchi Market, and visit wave-lashed Haedong Yonggungsa Temple and mountain Beomeosa. See the full list in things to do in Busan.

Busan is South Korea's undisputed seafood and comfort-food capital. Alongside freshly sliced raw white fish (hoe) and grilled scallops with cheese at Cheongsapo and Jagalchi, the city is famous for milky slow-simmered pork bone soup with rice (dwaeji gukbap), chilled wheat noodles in spicy-tangy broth (milmyeon), fish-cake skewers (eomuk) and brown-sugar pancakes stuffed with roasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds (ssiat hotteok). Read where to eat in Busan food, temples and coastal walks.

During the 1950 to 1953 Korean War, Busan was the provisional wartime capital and the only major port on the peninsula never captured, absorbing hundreds of thousands of displaced families from the north. Those newcomers built terraced hillside villages like Gamcheon and brought northern noodle and pork-soup dishes that evolved with Busan's coastal ingredients into the city's proud culinary identity.