I spent eight incredible weeks in Busan, South Korea in the summer of 2024—here’s my itinerary and guide.

In March 2024, I was given the surprise of my life. Back in the fall I had applied for the Critical Language Scholarship, which gives American students the opportunity to be fully funded and heading to the country of the language they want to study. I never ever thought that I would win it for Korean, but I did.

So for the months after the notification, I was packing my bags and preparing to head out to South Korea. I was assigned to study Korean in Busan, at Pusan National University. I was going to be living in a hotel and the dorms there during my eight weeks.

And when I arrived, I hit the ground running. Every weekday we had three hours of class, but I felt like I saw a good chunk of the city. There are some areas I missed, as we were pretty busy with program activities as well and I traveled outside of the city three times, but I did a ton when I was in Busan.

Here are some of my favorite memories! I will be making other blog posts about cafes, hidden gems, and other various trips I did as I crammed so much into my trip this time.

Let’s get into it.

Find the perfect mix of touristy and local when it comes to Busan.

What I loved the most about Busan is that yes, while I did the touristy places like Gamcheon Culture Village, there were a lot of really good local places I landed on throughout my adventures. Because I had eight weeks, I had enough time to do this.

Some highlights I found out through my Korean roommate, who loved cafes. For example, we went to Jeonpodong Cafe Street, which is only a short distance away from Seomyeon, the shopping center of the city. There, in Jeonpodong, there are a ton of cute aesthetic cafes and they’re all good at what they do.

She also showed me little restaurants here and there, as well as the cafe street near Pusan National University. With my Korean language partner, she showed me local makgeolli joints, and we ate our way around the town.

Another prominent example to me is that Haeundae is the famous area in Busan, but all the locals preferred Gwangalli. When I went to Gwangalli five times, there were always mainly Koreans there, as it’s the more trendy area nowadays. I personally also preferred Gwangalli because it was so much prettier.

I was able to make incredible connections throughout the city.

When you’re able to spend an extensive amount of time within a city, you’re able to make so much more personal and emotional connections. Because I was able to speak Korean and was more integrated with the people around me, I made some seriously lifelong friendships while I was here.

I’m such a big fan of slow travel these days, as I want to go to know the cities and countries I’m having the opportunity to inhabit. That said, I was such a happy camper that I had so much time to explore Busan, even if at the end I was going to miss a couple of spots. Something to note about Busan is that it’s massive, making transit time harder.

If I didn’t make all of these connections here in the city, I don’t know if I would go back to Busan honestly. I might’ve done a shorter day trip to wrap up a few temples and parks I missed, but there were so many people I made relationships with that I feel like I have to go back.

The national museums are all free, making it a great opportunity to learn about Korean culture.

A thing to note about in general is that if a museum is designated as a national one, they're supposed to be free.

I found that in Busan, the national free ones were most worth the trip. I didn’t get to hit up the Busan Museum of Art, as it was closed until 2026 when I arrived, but I went to a handful of national and private museums.

My personal favorites were the Busan Museum, which is considered to be the main museum here. They have many historical levels, but when I went also had a curated special exhibition on Korean art that was gorgeous to see. I also enjoyed the small Modern and Contemporary History Museum, especially as it touched on the impacts of Japanese colonialism on the city.

A smaller, more out of the way museum I enjoyed was the GoEun Photography Museum. It was also free and just one level, and a bit more difficult to get to, but they had a great Robert Capa exhibition while I was there.

There are also some excellent day trips just outside of Busan.

While Busan is on the other side of the country compared to Seoul, there are some excellent day trip opportunities right outside the city. You can head to Yeosu or Gyeongju from the city, which aren’t that far by bus. You could also take the KTX while you’re there.

I ended up going to Gyeongju as a part of my program’s activities, and it was an hour drive. We also went to Changwon one time for an event, which was also an hour drive from Pusan National Univeristy.

The flights from Jeju-do from Busan are also pretty short from Gimhae Airport. It was about 45 minutes to head over to Jeju-do, which was great for us because we were low on time before we had to be back for classes.

But Busan is so big you could make day trips out of certain areas! Haeundae and Gwangalli alone are a pairing worth exploring, and the vibe changes from day to night.

I already can’t wait to go back to Korea and Busan though.

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