Group travel

I visited with a group of friends (all women) at my host university here in Korea. We took the Mugunghwa train from Seoul to Busan, which was a long but beautiful ride. The locals in Busan are very friendly, and the food is nice but be warned that a lot of the seafood places near Haeundae Beach are on the expensive side. Gamcheon Culture Village was a wonderful place to visit with some beautiful women-owned local shops, but we did pass by a large group of boys late at night who cat-called us and put some of us on edge, though they left us alone after we passed by. The transport in Busan, just as in Seoul, is safe for women, though the bus drivers can be a little more reckless than those in Seoul. We also visited Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, which was wonderful if you're someone interested in history or Buddhism or philosophy/theology in general. Haeundae Beach is busy at night in the warm months (when we went it was still hot during the days and warm and humid at nights), but in a cosy way. If you're into partying, Busan nightlife is extremely vibrant, but we didn't explore the nightlife so I can't comment on its safety. Where we stayed at Hotel Angel, it was mostly clean (though the AC was leaking), and a male member of staff entered our room without knocking, though he was very apologetic and did his best to explain to us that he was just putting a bowl under our leaking AC — nothing more happened, and it didn't feel at all malicious (we stayed and watched until he left just to make sure). The nightlife is very audible since our hotel was right near one of the main streets, and my roommate complained to me about men screaming through the night. However, if you use earphones/are a heavy sleeper, I can't see this being too much of an issue. I naturally like to stay on the budget side of travel, and since my roommate and I were staying for a shorter period than the others in our group due to her parents visiting Seoul, we decided not to buy the Visit Busan pass, so I can't comment on its value. If you want to travel back to Seoul on a late train, however, make sure to check when the last buses to the station are — the Naver Map app displays buses that may not even be running at whatever time as an option, so be careful. Overall, despite the short time I had, I loved visiting Busan and plan to go back to try and do more things, and just to experience the city again with its friendly locals.

Couple travel

Busan is a beautiful city and not too crowd. There are several beaches that you can see beautiful sunset. The cost of hotel and transportation is acceptable. And you can find good food here. It is a safe city for women too.

Solo travel

Busan is a really nice seaside city with plenty of places worth visiting. There are temples, cultural villages, amazing beaches, and really tasty food. I spent 3 days exploring main attractions, such as Gamcheon Culture Village, a few beaches (Haeundae Beach, Gwangalli Beach), shopping (Sinsegae Centum City) and temples (Haedong Yonggungsa Temple) among others. I got there from Seoul by super fast train.

Very safe. Occasionally, you might run into drunk people in Seomyeon during late hours, but that's pretty much it. I get around fine at 2 a.m., but I stick to brightly lit, busy streets just to be careful.

I've only been here a few months but I feel very safe. Nothing has put me on edge or given me any reason to feel unsafe. There are cameras everywhere and the city is usually bustling in my area. It's never really dark and empty.