Korea - my itinerary in Busan

Read about Seoul and Jeju in the other posts..

01/09 - Day 7 - Jeju - Busan

In the morning I had to say bye to this wonderful Island. I had a really tasty lunch at the Jeju airport. After Landing in Busan and taking the airport bus to the home where I was staying with my Korean family I just wanted to relax. And I couldn't pick a better place than the Haeundae beach.

02/09 - Day 8 - Busan

Beomeosa Temple - A slight slope up and you arrived to this mystical place. Several temples were distributed in the temple area and you could also it is also possible to practice temple stay.

Geumjeong Fortress - It was hiking a trail of 1.6km thorough the forest hill and rocks. Every time I spotted someone on the tracks and asked them how much more to reach the top they replied "5-10 mins" but it took a lot more than that. I only reached the north Gate and back again.

Chungnyeolsa Shrine - A lovely shrine in a well maintained garden.

Diamond bridge - Just sit on the shore and enjoyed the Diamond bridge specially in the night where the bridge shines with lights.

Busan Cinema center - Where they normally hold the Busan International Film Festival. In the night the center is decorated with moving lights and images.

03/09 - Day 9 - Busan

Yonggung Temple - It was drizzling when I left home and it rained also while I walked to reach the temple, it took me about 15-20 minutes. Despite the grey sky it had a magnificent view. A temple built on top of a huge rock on the seaside. The Zodiac Animal figures guarded the entrance to this temple.

It rained a lot in the afternoon so I tried out a SPA in Busan center :D loved it!

04/09 - Day 10 - Busan

Samgwangsa Temple - The bus stops right in front of the temple. So you have no excuse not to go there. Walk around the temple area and enjoy the view.

After the temple it was a quick view at China town, Busan 40 steps street and BIFF square.

National Maritime Museum - Another FREE museum, the bus takes you in front of the Museum. Go to the rooftop and you get a view of the Busan coast. I tried a 4D film experience for the first time.

Busan Tower - I went up in the night, there weren't many people. The view was nice

Harbor Bridge - I don't remember how much I walked to get here from the Busan Tower. I could have taken a bus, I was tired, but I still insisted on walking and I don't know why! The view was just as I expected, simply wonderful.

05/09 - Day 11 - Busan

Busan Museum - Enjoy some history.

United Nations Memorial Cemetery - 5 minute walk from the Museum and you arrive at this cemetery with a guards at the entrance.

Haeundae beach - Walked along the shores again while eating Baskin Robbins ice cream. Walked to the very end of it and go trough the man made wooden path that leads you to the APEC house.

Nurimaru APEC House - A glass house memorial hall that lies on Haeundae beach itself. Gives you a nice view.

Busan lights ^_^

Night view of the Busan Tower and Harbour bridge



Busan - Korea

Korea - 18 days journey

After visiting many cities in Europe, I decided to extend my travelling to another continent and so I picked South Korea for a 3 week solo trip (^o^). A 400 page Lonely Planet Korea guide and free brochure sent from Korea Tourism Organization - KTO and Visit Korea were the start to my planning.

Busan Haeundae beach

It was the end of Summer in 2014 when I landed to Seoul. The jet lag was starting to hit me but I was more exited than tired. I spent one night in Seoul and the next day I flew to Jeju, a UNESCO world heritage island. I spent 5 days in Jeju where I was able to do a East and West coast tour with Yeha tours and I also stayed at the Yeha guest house. The guest house was located in the city center of Jeju and that made it so easy to go out for lunch, dinner, evening drinks and clubbing. They also offer a shuttle service from the air port else you can simply take a taxi from the guest house to the airport as it doesn’t cost that much. So if you want to stay in Jeju and try some group tours I really do recommend Yeha Tours and to stay at Yeha guest house. They also give you free drinks in the evening :D

Jeju view from peak

From Jeju I flew to Busan, where I stayed 6 days with a lovely Korean family, she cooked just wonderful food. I still remember the taste of the Bibimbap she made for breakfast. They even took me for a tour in the night in the city. You can try a Korean home stay as there are many hosts indicated in the KTO website.

From Busan it was the KTX that took me to Seoul, where I stayed for 6 days in Myeongdong area in Seoul Green Residence. This was a really convenient location. A direct bus to the air port was found within 5 minute walking distance from the Residence and near by there were two tourist information centers. The subway was a 10 minute walk trough Myeongdong shopping street and every now and then the girls on the street would call you inside the shops and give you free cosmetic samples.

Seoul rainbow bridge and tower view

Travelling throughout the country was easy, with just one prepaid card, which you can load from convenience stores, you just hope in and hope off from Buses and Subway without having to bother about how much the ticket will cost or waste time at a ticket counter.

As a round up my trip was fantastic, I climbed peak created from volcanic eruption over 100,000 years ago where the wind wanted to put us down, saw fabulous waterfalls, I touched golden and black sand, walked back and forth a 1km Lava cave, spent a day with the world famous teddy bears, visited temples and shrines that were simply breath taking, enjoyed the architecture of the ancient palaces and admired the sky crawlers. I tasted so many different kinds of food, but my favourite was and still is BIBIMBAP.

Seoul Palace

Jeju teddy bear musuem

Jeju Cheonjeyeon waterfall

As a overall budget I spent about 2000 €. This includes below mentioned costs, KTX from Busan to Seoul, local travelling (and I used it alot!), a few attractions (temples, shrines and most museums in Korea are FREE), what I spent for my food and drinks and also some on souvenirs. 
Travelling:

• From Milan to Seoul (transfer at Paris) via Asiana Airlines, the ticket was 710 €. They severed really great Korean meals, will definitely fly again with them.
• From Seoul (Gimpo) to Jeju via Jeju air = 36,500 KRW
• From Jeju to Busan via Jeju air = 38,500 KRW

Sleeping:

• in Seoul 7 nights = 210 €
• in Jeju 6 night = 110 €
• in Busan 5 nights = 150,000 KRW

Extra:

• East and West coast with Yeha Tours (http://www.yehatour.com/) = 110 €
• Seoul Tower = 9,000 KRW

My itinerary:

Jeju shrine

Stay tuned for part 2 of my trip to Korea where I will add the itinerary and some more photos ^_^