Exploring Gamcheon Culture Village in Busan, South Korea

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For MONTHS now, I’ve been researching all the best things to do in Busan, South Korea. In every single article I’ve read about tourist attractions in Busan, right there at the top, is Gamcheon Culture Village.

I’ve been so so excited to get to know my new home - not just Busan, but South Korea as a whole. When I was studying abroad in Europe, I was shocked by how fast the time flew - and I didn’t get to see everything I wanted because I kept pushing things off and saving them for later. “I have time! I’ll do it next week,” I would always tell myself. I’m determined to not let that happen again, so I made an extremely type A South Korea bucket list with everything I want to do and what months would be best to do them, so I’m wasting NO TIME in getting into all the best things to do in Busan.

Gamcheon Culture Village was formed in the 20s and 30s, when the government relocated their poor population to an out-of-the-way, but still close enough to the harbour to find jobs, location. then, in 2009, an art movement was introduced into the village in an attempt to liven it up! People painted their houses, professional artists created sculptures, and the whole community came together to turn this poor region of the city into something beautiful. Gamcheon Culture Village, I thought, couldn’t have made it to the top of every article about Busan without a reason, so I acted accordingly. My first weekend here, the first thing I made sure to do was to go see what all the hype was about!

And boy, was it a sight to see.

I haven’t made too many friends yet, I’ve only been here for a week and a half, so all the photos of me are courtesy of a really big and embarrassing tripod. Plz enjoy.

How to get to Gamcheon Culture Village:

Wherever you’re traveling from, the easiest way to get to Gamcheon Culture Village is to get off the metro at the Toseong stop, walk a few feet to the bus stop, and take a mini bus for the ten minute drive up to the information center/start of the village. Using Naver maps, Kakao Maps, and Kakao Metro are the best ways to navigate public transportation in Korea, and I tend to use all three to get around using busses and the subway!

I would recommend spending at least three hours here: between all the stairs, hills to climb, cute cafes, winding streets, and the public transportation it takes to get there, three to four hours allows you to walk leisurely through the city (a MUST - I was rushing to make my brunch plans and I was WINDED), stop for a bite to eat, take all the photos you want, and to get a little lost.

Once you get dropped off at the Gamcheon Culture Village bus stop - STOP! Don’t follow the signs that direct you backwards a few steps towards the visitor center right away! There are two fabulous photo locations right by the bus stop that you can’t miss.

Best Photo Locations

First, one of the most fun photo ops that I found in Gamcheon Culture Village is the telephone booth that you’ll see immediately after getting off of the bus. Telephone booths in Korea are pretty common, but the ones I’ve seen are bright blue - and with the backdrop of the gorgeous, colorful culture village, the colors are just unbeatable.

Next, head in the opposite direction of the signs to the information center just a few steps (to the left if you’re facing the phone booth) where you can get one of the best views in the entire village. These three little men that are standing here create such a cool visual - so much so that the first time I saw them I thought that they were made of mirrors!

This vantage point is one of my favorites because It’s not too high up that you lose some of the colorful faces of the buildings, but it’s still an expansive panorama of the village.

OKAY. Now you can head to the visitors center. You can pay 2,000 won (less than two dollars) that shows you the best routes to take through the city, but it additionally lets you collect stamps from some of the most iconic museums, art pieces, and viewpoints. Some of the stamps can be redeemed for free postcards - so I would say it’s worth it! The postcards are really cute, and the city is easy to get lost in.

One of the first stops on the map is the iconic view that everyone who has googled Gamcheon Culture Village has seen. It takes you up quite a few stairs to a big, open rooftop, where the sprawling village and views of the ocean are completely laid out before you. It’s really just breathtaking, and If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought I was in Brazil.

I love the views that include the port, as it is such a big part of how Gamcheon Village came to be. The water sparkling in the distance just adds so much to how picture-perfect this little part of the city is.

When I visited, it was HOT hot - The combined factors of wearing a mask, climbing up hundreds of stairs, and the sun beating down quickly melted me into a sweaty mess of soggy clothes and patchy makeup. Thankfully, Gamcheon Culture Village has prepared accordingly, and ice cream, cold coffees, bubble teas, and refreshments were available at nearly every corner. There are PLENTY to choose from, and while a lot of other articles recommend The Plate, I found a random Cafe with an open window seat and cooled down with some strawberry ice cream.

All of the cafes had gorgeous views, and a cute bubble tea or ice cream can make a great prop for a fun photo in front of the colorful surroundings.

Right by the cafe The Plate, there are two more iconic photo locations that people flock to for some fun pictures - the first is the adorable pink souvenir shop next door, (which I unfortunately did not grab a picture by: people were going in and out and I didn’t want to get in the way with my tripod!) and the other is the steps in between the cafe and the pink shop that are painted to look like books.

Every inch of Gamcheon Culture Village has been carefully thought out - every corner, alley, and wall is either painted a bright hue or decorated with painted wood pieces, reflective mirrors, or thoughtful murals.

As I made my way along the orange line on the map (the workers at the information center recommended this route), I made sure to stop at most of the little detours marked on the map. One is a small temple - I only peeked inside, as my outfit probably was not quite suitable for it, and I was carrying a large tripod, but the music coming from the inside was beautiful. The ceiling was filled with lanterns, and I would have loved to explore more!

FYI - The swastika symbol is common in Buddhist temples because it was thought to be his footprint and means that good fortune will follow. So don’t be alarmed!

To be completely honest, around halfway through my Gamcheon Culture Village expedition, I set down my map and I never saw it again (rip to my free postcards). So, I decided to just go with the flow and wander through the streets, just seeing where they took me!

And honestly, this is one of the best things to do. Sure, the map takes you to all the iconic viewpoints and beautiful sculptures, but it won’t take you down the tiny alleyways and backstreets that are painted just as beautifully as the rest of the village.

Some of my favorite photos came from me being lost and trying to make my way back to the main road again!

The pink and green stoop is my personal favorite:)

One thing to note: Lots of people actually live here! While a lot of people got fed up with the constant stream of tourists and were able to move out of the village (freeing up real estate to be used for things like cafes and souvenir shops), many more have remained. There is laundry hanging up, people going about their everyday lives, taking the trash out, and cooking. Please be respectful! Be quiet while venturing off the main path, try not to turn peoples front doors into photo ops, and always stand out of the way when a villager is walking down the narrow streets.

You wouldn’t like it if people were being loud, annoying tourists while you were trying to take an afternoon nap! Just keep that in mind (and support the cafes and souvenir shops! This is people’s livelihood).

The last photo op that I want to mention is the roof of a cafe, where there are little rainboots, umbrellas, and a tilted picture frame. While it is quite a touristy photo to take, the color of the umbrellas and the angles spoke to me and I quite like it! It is located on the roof of a cafe that is painted sky blue with white puffy clouds all over it. It is along the main road, but I got to it by starting at the statues of the little prince and the fox (which are labeled on the map) and going down a few levels until I reached the main street again. Then, turn left and head up the hill. You’ll see the cafe - and if not, just keep looking up! You’ll see the umbrellas for sure.

And there you have it! That was my half-day exploring Gamcheon Culture Village in Busan, and it was a few hours well spent. I will definitely be going back, as the village is too big to write a comprehensive blog post on after just a few hours! I’ll be hunting for new spots and will update this post as I go.

Have you been to Gamcheon Culture Village? If not, is this enough to convince you to visit?😉

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