Solo Travel in Busan

One of Korea's major Buddhist temples, founded in 678 on the forested slopes of Geumjeongsan in northern Busan. Its halls, gates and stone pagoda climb the hillside, and the valley is cool and lush in summer. It runs templestay programmes, and trails continue up to Geumjeong Fortress. Take the metro to Beomeosa Station, then a short bus.

📍Cheongnyong-dong, Geumjeong-gu, Busan, South Korea

The old cinema district of Nampo-dong, where the Busan International Film Festival began in 1996, with film stars' handprints set into the pavement. Today it's best known for street food: ssiat hotteok, a sweet pancake stuffed with seeds and nuts, plus fish cakes and tteokbokki. Gukje Market and Jagalchi are a short walk away.

📍Nampo-dong, Jung-gu, Busan, South Korea

The home of the Busan International Film Festival in Centum City, opened in 2011 and famous for its huge cantilevered roof covered in LED lights. Outside festival season it screens art-house and independent films and hosts exhibitions, and the roof lights up after dark. It's a short walk from Shinsegae Centum City and Spa Land.

📍120 Suyeonggangbyeon-daero, Haeundae-gu, Busan, South Korea

A hillside neighbourhood of colourful stepped houses built by refugees during the Korean War, transformed by an art project from 2009 into a maze of murals, installations and small galleries. Pick up a stamp map at the information centre and follow the trail, but remember people live here — keep the noise down. Buses run up from Toseong Station.

📍Gamcheon-dong, Saha-gu, Busan, South Korea

A city beach lined with bars, cafés and restaurants, facing the huge Gwangan Bridge, which lights up at night. On Saturday evenings a drone light show is often held over the water. It's livelier and more social than Haeundae after dark — a good place to sit out with a drink or stroll the promenade alone, with Werk Roasters nearby for daytime coffee.

📍Gwangan-dong, Suyeong-gu, Busan, South Korea

A rare seaside temple set on rocks above the waves on Busan's north-east coast, first built in 1376. Steps lead down past stone statues to the halls and a pagoda overlooking the water. It's beautiful at sunrise and far quieter early in the morning; buses run from Haeundae in about 30 minutes, then it's a short walk.

📍Gijang-eup, Gijang-gun, Busan, South Korea

Busan's most famous beach, a 1.5km arc of sand backed by hotels and high-rises, busy with swimmers in summer and festivals year-round. At its western end the Dongbaekseom coastal walk circles a small island, and to the east Haeundae Blueline Park's beach train and sky capsules run along the old railway toward Songjeong.

📍Haeundae-gu, Busan, South Korea

A clifftop village of small white-and-blue houses on Yeongdo island, facing the sea and the ships anchored in the outer harbour. A coastal walkway runs below, and the narrow lanes above are lined with cafés and small shops. It has appeared in several Korean films; come in the late afternoon for the best light over the water.

📍Yeongseon-dong, Yeongdo-gu, Busan, South Korea

Korea's largest seafood market, on the harbour in Nampo-dong, where vendors sell live fish, octopus, shellfish and crabs from tanks and trays. As at Seoul's Noryangjin, you can buy downstairs and have it prepared as sashimi or a spicy stew at the restaurants upstairs. Mornings are liveliest, and the harbourfront walk outside is pleasant.

📍Nampo-dong, Jung-gu, Busan, South Korea

A Busan roaster founded in 2007 whose barista Jooyeon Jeon won the World Barista Championship in 2019. The original café near Oncheonjang Station is set in a leafy, garden-like space and often has a queue; there's also a branch by the harbour in Yeongdo. Order a filter or espresso made with one of their own roasts.

📍20 Osige-ro, Geumjeong-gu, Busan, South Korea

A U-shaped glass walkway jutting out from a 35m cliff at Seungdumal, facing the Oryukdo islets that mark where Busan's bay meets the open sea. It's short but dramatic, and you wear shoe covers to protect the glass. The Igidae coastal trail starts nearby and runs about 5km back toward Gwangalli — a great solo walk.

📍Yongho-dong, Nam-gu, Busan, South Korea

A luxury hotel in a curving glass tower at Marine City beside the Haeundae marina, with floor-to-ceiling windows over the yacht harbour, Gwangan Bridge and the sea. Haeundae Beach and the Dongbaekseom coastal path are a short walk or taxi away. A calm, high-end base just away from the busiest stretch of the beach.

📍Marine City, Haeundae-gu, Busan, South Korea

Lotte's luxury Signiel hotel in the LCT complex at the eastern end of Haeundae Beach, where the landmark tower is one of the tallest buildings in Korea. Rooms look along the beach and out to sea, and the tower also houses the Busan X the Sky observatory. A high-end splurge right beside the sand and the Blueline Park beach train.

📍LCT, 30 Dalmaji-gil, Haeundae-gu, Busan, South Korea

Songdo, opened in 1913 as Korea's first public beach, has a curving glass-floored 'Cloud Trail' walkway over the sea and the Busan Air Cruise cable car across the bay — a revival of a beach cable car first built here in the 1960s. Choose a crystal cabin with a glass floor for the view straight down, then walk Amnam Park's coast.

📍Amnam-dong, Seo-gu, Busan, South Korea

A large, stylish jjimjilbang inside Shinsegae Centum City — once certified as the world's largest department store — with around 22 baths filled with natural hot-spring water, themed sauna rooms and relaxation areas. It's day-use only (no overnight stays), so allow three or four hours, and pair it with the Busan Cinema Center nearby.

📍Shinsegae Centum City, 35 Centumnam-daero, Haeundae-gu, Busan, South Korea

A forested headland at the southern tip of Yeongdo island, with sheer sea cliffs, a lighthouse, the flat Sinseon rock platform and views out to sea — on clear days as far as Japan's Tsushima island. A loop road of about 4km circles the park; walk it, or ride the Danubi road train that stops at the main viewpoints.

📍Dongsam-dong, Yeongdo-gu, Busan, South Korea

A Busan roastery founded in 2018 that moved from the Jeonpo café district to a new space near Gwangan Station (Exit 5), a few minutes from Gwangalli Beach. It's known for single-origin filter coffee and Australian-style milk drinks, with English-speaking staff and several floors of seating away from the street noise.

📍566 Suyeong-ro, Suyeong-gu, Busan, South Korea