Are you visiting Seoul but also want to fit Busan into your Korea itinerary too?
The good news is that it is very possible to do a day trip to Busan from Seoul.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s going to be a LONG day, but it is totally doable as we found out during our stay in Busan.
Busan was by far the biggest surprise for me during our trip to Korea. I feel like I went in with no expectations and ended up being completely wowed by the city and everything there is to do there.
So if you’ve only got a short time in Korea, or perhaps just a long layover in Seoul, this quick guide will help you plan your day trip from Seoul to Busan with ease!
Gamcheon Culture Village, Busan
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something. While clicking these links won't cost you anything, they will help me to keep this site up and running! Check out the full disclosure policy for more details. Thank you so much!
How to travel from Seoul to Busan
Okay, first let’s address the how…
There are 3 ways that you could travel from Seoul to Busan:
Train
Car
Flight
Domestic flights in Korea are pretty cheap and the flight time is short, so that could be an option, but all the time spent at the airport and getting to/from airports just uses up the valuable time you have and makes it a longer journey to reach Busan.
Similarly, hiring a car in Korea is easy, but it is a 4 hour drive from Seoul to Busan. So again, this really eats into your valuable time that you need to see as much as possible of Busan in 1 day! No one wants to drive 8 hours in a day and still have time to see the city!
So I recommend taking the train from Seoul to Busan. It takes around 2 hours and 30 minutes, or sometimes up to 2 hours and 45 minutes, depending on the train you catch. So either way, it’s much quicker door to door than hiring a car or taking a flight.
Bukchon Hank Village, Seoul
Taking the train from Seoul to Busan
When you’re planning how to travel to Busan from Seoul by train, make sure you take the High Speed KTX train from Seoul Station to Busan Station.
There are lots of other options with more stops and that are not high speed, these will take substantially longer and I don’t recommend it if you've only got 1 day to see Busan.
Make sure you are using the Navar Map or KakaoMap apps to plan your journey as Google Maps does not work in Korea.
There is a train at 6.57am to get you to Seoul at 9.38am (2 hours and 41 minutes)
Or there is a train at 7.27am to get you to Seoul at 10.02am (2 hours and 25 minutes)
These are both KTX high speed trains and a one-way ticket will cost 59,800 Korean Won (£32.50 / $42.90 USD). You can buy tickets in your navigation app (although this is sometimes dependent on what foreign bank card you’re using), or you can just buy tickets at the train station - so make sure you allow time for that.
Note: these train times are accurate at the time of writing, please check your own Naver Maps or the timetable at the station in Seoul to confirm the most up-to-date train times to Busan.
How to spend 1 day in Busan itinerary
Busan is a fairly spread out city and it’s difficult to get around even using public transit as there’s a lot of walking in between.
For this reason, if you only have 1 day in Busan from Seoul, I recommend doing this GetYourGuide city tour which covers a lot of the main sights in Busan and includes your transit for the whole day.
We loved this tour and it gave us a really great overview of the whole city. This tour is a great mix of history and culture, city and coastal, old and new.
The tour includes:
Haedong Yonggungsa Temple
Cheongsapo Daritdol Observatory (lunch at a seafront restaurant, you pay separately)
Haeundae Blueline Park
Huinnyeoul Culture Village - blue arts village
Gamcheon Culture Village
What time you’ll need to arrive in Busan from Seoul
There are 6 meeting point options for this tour and I recommend the option to meet outside of Exit 2 of Busan Subway Station (it was around 8:10am but the tour company will confirm). This exit is right outside Busan Station where you will arrive into from Seoul.
To get here in time, you will need to take the 5.27am train from Seoul to Busan which gets you there at 8.15am. We found that because there were several pick ups during our tour, we waited a while for everyone to arrive at our location and actually didn’t leave until a bit after 8.30am - so there’s plenty of time.
Also another couple came from Seoul and got the later train, they arrived at 8.42am but had already let our tour leader know so they arranged to pick them up last - just keep your tour provider in the loop!
Early morning in Busan before we got picked up for our Busan day tour
Haedong Yonggungsa Temple
This temple is unique because it overlooks the beach and the sea in a stunning coastal location. This was our first stop of the day and it was beautiful to see the temple so quiet and not long after sunrise (we visited in the winter)
Our guide shared the history of the temple and the grounds, including the imposing 12 zodiac statues that line the entranceway to the shrine!
Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, Busan
Cheongsapo Daritdol Observatory
This observatory has a completely glass floor and you walk out onto the deck for views of the water, coastline and city. They will give you shoe coverings to keep the glass clean and clear.
After this we went to a nearby restaurant for lunch with fresh seafood you can cook on the grill at your table (they help you, don’t worry) and coastal views. This is not included in the tour price, so you just pay for whatever you order.
Haeundae Blueline Park
I was so looking forward to riding the sky capsules at the Haeundae Blueline Park and it did not disappoint! I highly recommend you select the option to include this on your tour.
The Haeundae Blueline Park is an elevated track that follows the coastline with small capsule pods that run along it, offering beautiful views of the coast and the city as it comes into view. The whole ride lasts about 25 minutes.
Haeundae Blueline Park
Huinnyeoul Culture Village
With blue houses and whitewashed walls, this felt like Greece for a second until you stepped out onto the village path which has stunning views of the city of Busan and the bay.
This is a short stop but the village is full of boutique shops and cafes with stunning views of the bay. There’s also art shops and artwork everywhere - it definitely is a creative, cultural village and is such a contrast to the highrise city that it looks out over!
Huinnyeoul Culture Village blue stairs
A cafe in Huinnyeoul Culture Village
Gamcheon Culture Village
This was the main place I had on my Busan bucket list before we visited and I’m pleased to say it was totally worth it.
The colourful houses covering the hillside look like a painting and every view of the village is just so unique and beautiful - it’s often called the Machu Picchu of Busan.
For the best views, I recommend going to the Avant Garde Cafe and Coffee It House.
If you’re only in Busan for 1 day, I recommend including this on your day trip to Busan from Seoul - it’s a must do whether you join a tour or not!
Gamcheon Culture Village
Getting back to Seoul
Trains run until 10pm from Busan back to Seoul and it means you’ll get into Seoul around, or just after, midnight. So make sure you plan which train to get and leave yourself plenty of buffer time so you don’t end up stranded in Busan!
Summary: the perfect Seoul to Busan day trip
Of course this is a long day trip, but it’s going to be a long day whatever option you choose - you are travelling from one end of the country to another!
But Busan was the biggest surprise for me on our trip to South Korea and I really think it’s worth fitting in a day trip to Busan from Seoul if you can - the city has so much to offer and despite how spread out it is, options like the tour mean you don’t have to worry about finding transport or figuring out the subway system there when you’re already so short on valuable time.
I hope you enjoy your day trip to Busan and see that it definitely is possible from Seoul, and totally worth the trip!
