Travel Guide Busan 부산

Busan is the second largest city in South Korea after the capital. Built in the middle of mountains offering natural protection against Japanese pirates, the largest Korean port benefits from a beautifully ventilated site, dotted with steep parks and popular beaches. Contrary to what we imagine, it is a very pleasant destination. Busan is not a maritime copy of Seoul: It has its own charm due to the kindness of its inhabitants, which have all the attributes of the Southern, but also with a more marked cosmopolitanism than in Seoul. Its international airport and port on the maritime routes of Eastern Russia and Japan attract sailors from all walks of life, travelling travellers, and many Russian and Japanese tourists spend a few days to have fun and shopping. Markets, especially the Fameux fish market, are full of goods and barges, and its hot neighbourhoods are experiencing frenetic nightlife.The climate is calm, mild in winter and well ventilated in the summer, despite the highest rainfall rate in Korea. The vegetation is quite different from the north of the country, with its marine pines, camellias and bamboo all right across the city.Busan is the only South Korean city that was not taken by the North Koreans during the war, and has suffered less from fighting. There are still many areas where low houses and small streets are not without mentioning Japan. Next to this, as everywhere, there are state-of-the-art neighbourhoods aligning large sets of apartments and wide avenues. The continued expansion of the city, whose population, unlike Seoul, is increasing steadily, poses a real problem for urban planners, because geography (mountains and maritime facade) requires the city to expand rather than focus. What causes the main inconvenience in Busan: the difficulty of transport in a huge city. The traffic jams are worse than in Seoul, but most interesting areas for tourists are accessible by metro. Busan deserves 2 or 3 days of visit, after Kyeongju, for example, and before leaving for the National Marine Park of Hallyeosudo.