Most people add Busan as an afterthought at the end of a South Korea trip. We nearly didn’t go at all.
We’re glad we did.
We spent 4 nights there — kids were 4 and 6, late March into early April — based in the Haeundae area. It’s a different pace from Seoul: more relaxed, more beach, more seafood. And the moment our kids saw the sea after hours of travelling, every minute of the journey was immediately worth it.
Where We Stayed: Haeundae
We stayed in Haeundae, the beach neighbourhood on the eastern side of the city, and would make the same call again without hesitation. The area has everything you need as a family: street food stalls, a night market, dozens of restaurants in every direction, and the beach literally at the end of the road.
The one honest downside: Haeundae is far from Busan Station — about an hour by public transport. Worth knowing before you arrive with suitcases and tired kids.
Speaking of which: if you’re planning to take the 100X express bus from the train station, note that they don’t allow large luggage. We ended up on the subway instead (workable, a few changes), and a taxi is always a reasonable option if you’re landing after a long journey and just want to get there.
Getting to Busan from Seoul
We took the KTX from Seoul Station — 2.5 hours, smooth, comfortable, and the kids found it exciting. Book in advance — we travelled outside peak season and every single train was fully booked. Don’t leave it to chance. Booking early also means you can choose your seats: aim for seats next to a table, which makes a big difference with young kids on a 2.5-hour journey.
Busan was the final leg of our South Korea trip. If you’re planning the full itinerary, see our 10-day South Korea guide with kids.
🚄 Book KTX Seoul–Busan tickets →
Our Day-by-Day Busan Itinerary (With Young Kids)
Day 1 (Arrival): First Look at Haeundae Beach
After 2.5 hours on the train and about an hour navigating public transport to Haeundae, we dropped our bags and walked straight to the beach.
It was windy. March in Busan is not warm-swimming weather. None of that mattered.
The kids took one look at the sand and were off. Building, digging, chasing waves — the full programme. Haeundae Beach is wide and long, and in late March it’s nowhere near as crowded as it gets in summer, which meant they had space to run properly. After hours of trains and buses, this was exactly the reset everyone needed.
We didn’t do much else on arrival day, and that was the right call. We walked along the beach promenade in the early evening, found a street food stall for dinner, and explored the Haeundae night market on foot. The neighbourhood feeds you well without any effort — you can just wander and eat.
Day 1 tip: If you arrive by subway, Haeundae station (line 2) drops you about a 10-minute walk from the beach. Manageable even with luggage.
Day 2: Haedong Yonggungsa Temple + Songjeong Beach
We took the bus — about 50 minutes from Haeundae — to Haedong Yonggungsa Temple. It was a Sunday, cherry blossom season, perfect weather. Half of Busan had the same idea.
The temple sits right on the coast, carved into the cliffs above the sea. It’s genuinely dramatic — the kind of place that earns its reputation. There are stairs, but not an unreasonable amount, and the kids handled them without complaint.
What helped: the views kept changing, and there was always something new to look at — stone lanterns, ornate gates, the sea crashing below. They were more interested than we expected.
The free lunch was something we hadn’t planned for and stumbled into. On Sundays between 12–1:30pm the temple serves a free meal to anyone who shows up — we joined a long queue and ended up with bowls of cold noodles eaten alongside people from seemingly every country at once. The kids ate, looked around, ate some more. It was one of those moments that doesn’t appear in any itinerary but ends up being a highlight.
After the temple, the kids were done with culture. Reasonable.
On the way back to Haeundae we stopped at Songjeong Beach — a smaller, quieter beach about 20 minutes from Haeundae. We found a spot, had pizza (genuinely unlike any pizza we’d had before — the dough, the toppings, everything slightly different in a way that was hard to place but good), and let the kids decompress. There’s a park with sea views nearby and we walked through it in the late afternoon.
The best moment: our daughter found a Korean girl about her age and they spent an hour building something together in the sand. Zero shared language. Complete non-issue.
Day 2 tip: If you’re visiting on a Sunday, time your arrival at Haedong Yonggungsa to catch the free lunch — it starts at noon and the queue builds fast.
Day 3: Coastal Walk, SEA LIFE Aquarium, and Brickman
The forecast said rain in the afternoon. We decided to use the dry morning on our feet and the wet hours indoors — it worked out almost perfectly.
We started with a walk along the beach towards Dongbaekseom Island and its lighthouse. It’s a lovely coastal path: sea on one side, pine trees on the other, a bit of up-and-down but nothing the kids couldn’t handle. The views from the lighthouse are genuinely beautiful. Our kids handled it fine, though they were very vocal about the aquarium waiting for them at the end — so we kept moving.
SEA LIFE Busan Aquarium is right on Haeundae beachfront, which makes it an almost too-convenient rainy-day option. We bought combo tickets that included the Brickman Exhibition (more on that below) — worth doing if you’re planning both.
🎟 Book SEA LIFE Busan + Brickman tickets →
Inside: the usual aquarium fare, but executed well. The kids’ clear highlights were the sharks and the axolotls — my daughter is obsessed with axolotls and seeing them in person was a genuine moment.
There’s a face painting station in the darker lower section, and at under $4 it’s a fraction of what you’d pay in Europe. The paint glows in the dark — which in that dimly lit underwater section turned out to be a very good combination. She was delighted with herself for the rest of the day.
There’s also a mermaid show — several performances throughout the day, check the schedule at the entrance for times. The kids were very much into it.
We broke up the two attractions with Korean BBQ for lunch out in the city — a proper sit-down, grill-it-yourself affair. The kids are old enough to find the tabletop grilling exciting rather than terrifying, and the meat disappears fast when everyone’s involved.
Then back for the Brickman Exhibition — a touring LEGO display show. It’s compact, and we were essentially the only ones there, which suited us perfectly.
The free-build stations with buckets of loose bricks turned into a solid hour of focused building on their own. The model displays were a genuine surprise — a lot of the structures were Korean landmarks, including the Buddhist temple we’d visited the day before. Seeing something you’ve just been to rendered in LEGO bricks lands differently when it’s fresh.
We rounded off the evening the same way as the night before: the Haeundae night market, the same street food stalls, slightly fewer steps.
This was also, for the record, the only rain we saw on the entire trip.
Day 3 tip: The SEA LIFE + Brickman combo ticket saves money over buying separately. Book online in advance — it’s usually cheaper than at the door.
Day 4: Gamcheon Culture Village + Jagalchi Fish Market
Two buses, about 1.5 hours from Haeundae. We were hoping it was worth it.
It was.
Gamcheon Culture Village is the postcard image of Busan — pastel houses stacked up a hillside, narrow lanes threading between them, murals on every other wall. Yes, it’s full of tourists. Yes, some of the small shops are exactly as touristy as they look (we tried the burned marshmallow ice cream, because of course we did). None of that diminishes how genuinely good it is to walk around.
The streets are steep, winding, and endlessly interesting — staircases that lead somewhere unexpected, viewpoints that open up over the whole neighbourhood and the sea beyond. The kids were up and down every alley they could find.
One practical thing that made a real difference: at the information kiosk at the entrance you can buy a map with a stamp-collecting trail — a recommended path through the village with checkpoints to stamp along the way. This is exactly the kind of gamification that keeps young kids moving through places they might otherwise drag their feet. They were invested. We followed the whole route.
🗺 Gamcheon + Jagalchi guided tour →
After the village we headed to Jagalchi Market — Busan’s famous seafood market, down by the water. From the moment we arrived in Busan, the kids had been fascinated by the tanks of live crabs and fish you see dotted around the city. Jagalchi is that, multiplied by a lot.
The outdoor section is rows of vendors with tanks of everything that comes out of the sea. We spent a while just looking. Then we went inside to the market hall, which is floor after floor of restaurants — all with essentially the same menu, all with someone at the door trying to get you seated at their bench rather than the identical bench next door.
We picked one at random. We ordered snow crab.
It was the first time our kids had snow crab, and it arrived whole — which meant photos first, eating second. Korean side dishes filled the rest of the table. It was probably the most touristy meal of the trip. It was also one of the best.
Day 4 tip: Pick up the stamp map at the Gamcheon entrance kiosk — it’s cheap, it structures the walk, and kids take it very seriously.
Day 5 (Departure): Last Walk, Train Snacks
No agenda. We did a last slow walk around Haeundae, picked up a few things from the shops, and made our way to Busan Station around midday for the KTX back to Seoul.
Before boarding we grabbed samgak gimbap — the Korean equivalent of onigiri, the triangular rice parcels you find at every convenience store. We picked several different fillings to hedge against anything too spicy landing in the wrong hands. The tuna one was an immediate hit with both kids and kept them happy for most of the 2.5-hour journey back.
It’s a very good train snack. File that away.
Our Verdict
Yes, without hesitating.
Busan surprised us. We went expecting a beach add-on to Seoul and got a city with its own distinct character — the coastal walks, the temple on the cliff, a fish market unlike anything the kids had seen, a hillside neighbourhood they’re still talking about. Four nights was enough to feel it properly without rushing.
If you’re planning a South Korea trip with kids and wondering whether Busan is worth the detour: it is. Two and a half hours on the KTX is nothing. Go.
Quick practical summary:
- Base yourself in Haeundae — beach access, street food, night market on your doorstep
- Get to Busan Station by subway or taxi — the 100X buses don’t take large luggage
- Visit Haedong Yonggungsa on a Sunday — and arrive before noon for the free lunch
- Buy the Gamcheon stamp map at the entrance kiosk — worth every won with kids
- Go to Jagalchi and order something whole — the experience is half the point
- Check the SEA LIFE mermaid show schedule at the entrance — several shows per day
