The market floor
Ask about it
Jagalchi is the country’s best-known fish market. Choose from the tanks downstairs and eat it upstairs, cooked or raw, at long tables by the window.
Port city · about 2h 30m from Seoul by KTX
The fish market at dawn
Busan 부산 · The south-east coast
Busan is Korea’s second city and its biggest port. It is built up the sides of hills that drop straight into the sea, so most days involve a staircase, a view and a plate of something that was swimming that morning.
Two nights is right. One morning for the market, one for the coast walk, and an evening on a beach with the bridge lit up across the bay.
35° 10′ N, 129° 04′ E
Hillside villages
Ask about it
Gamcheon was a refugee settlement during the Korean War. Its painted houses stack up the slope; go early and walk the higher lanes where people still live.
A temple on the rocks
Ask about it
Haedong Yonggungsa sits right on the shore, unusual for Korean temples, which are mostly in the mountains. Busy at weekends; go on a weekday morning.
What we’d do
Private, with a guide where it helps. Times are a guide.
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Jagalchi Market with a food writer
Food
2.5h
-
Gamcheon’s upper lanes before 9am
Walk
2h
-
Haedong Yonggungsa and the east coast
Temple
Half day
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Coast path from Igidae to Oryukdo
Walk
3h
-
An evening in Gwangalli, bridge lights
Evening
2h
Hillsto thewaterline
Busan coast
35° 10′ N, 129° 04′ E
At the table
Food calendar- 01Dwaeji gukbap (pork and rice soup)
- 02Milmyeon (cold wheat noodles)
- 03Hoe (raw fish) at Jagalchi
- 04Eomuk (fish cake) on the street
Get in touch
Mon–Fri, 09:00–18:00 UK time
The Executive Centre, Level 43, Three IFC, 10 Gukjegeumyung-ro, Youngdeungpo-gu, Seoul 07326, South Korea