When we were granted a summer vacation of 5 days, my travel itch could not be contained. I knew that our summer break fell in the middle of school holidays so I had to be quick on booking to secure the better prices. And so, I booked to go to Busan for the 5 days.
Busan is located on the south east of Korea and is famed for it’s beautiful beaches and beach side lifestyle. Busan can be reached in 3 hours from Seoul (or 2.5 hours from Suwon) via the express train- known here as the KTX train. Booking tickets online was very straight forward and interestingly, tickets can only be booked 1 month in advanced. If you book prior, you won’t get a seat allocation confirmation until closer to the departure date.
I had another experience of a collective society when I got to the train station, you just enter onto the platform. There wasn’t even anyone checking tickets! I thought maybe there would be a ticket inspector on the train but no-one! On the platform, your carriage numbers are marked by poles and then seating inside the train is akin to that of other long distance trains in other countries.
It is advisable to bring any food/drinks onboard with you as I believe there is only a vending machine on the train but I’m not sure if they are only available to the first class carriage. There are charging points, reclining chairs, toilets and also luggage space if you’re carrying a bigger suitcase.
Once arriving at Busan Station, I walked to my accommodation which was nearby to check in. Then I hightailed it to the beach. The forecast for my trip was rain every day except the day I arrived, so I wanted to visit Haeundae Beach to enjoy it while the weather allowed.
It is easy to get around Busan with their extensive metro system. From Busan station to Haeundae, it took around 40 minutes on the metro and included a line change. When visiting Korea, you will probably get a T-Money card which you just load up with cash and can use it countrywide on all the metros and buses.
Haeundaue station is the closest station and includes a nice stroll down a promenade to the beach. Here, you’ll past by plenty of restaurants and cafes where you can refuel. Haeundae Beach is famed throughout Korea. As an Australian and therefore a beach snob, I have to admit. Haeundae is a very beautiful beach complete with very fine sand. Surrounded by skyscrapers and mountains, I would never imagine having these contrasting images surrounding me. The best of both worlds?
Nearby, there are the traditional Haeundaue Market where you can purchase street food, restaurants and fruit stores. It was interesting to just walk through to see the fruits on offer, the street food on offer and tanks filled with seafood.
I found a nice spot on the huge beach to watch sunset sky on this beautiful day.
Have you been to Busan? Did you visit Haeundae Beach?
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