I’ve been to the Gamcheon Culture Village of Busan twice already, first was during winter time in 2018 for a solo trip. The second time was more recently, autumn of 2022, with my friend Paxie. Both experience were very memorable.
You will think it’s just a place to take pictures of the rainbow houses, but spend a little more time here for the food, for the art, and of course, for the sunset. For both times I was there, it was always golden hour. The place looks beautiful with the pink skies as background.
READ: ALL ABOUT BUSAN (2018)
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| Purplish pink sunset on my first time at the Gamcheon Culture Village |
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| Got the best of both worlds seeing the village during the day and night by heading there late in the afternoon |
HOW TO GO:
During my first visit, I took the subway till Toseong Station, Exit 6. From there, it would have been ideal if I rode the bus that will stop near the village entrance, but I decided to just walk. It took me 30 minutes to get there, akk. On my second visit, I knew better so Paxie and I just took a cab. You can use Kakao T app to conveniently book a ride.
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| Framed drawings of Gamcheon Culture Village at the Toseong Station |
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| Signs everywhere |
THINGS TO DO AT THE GAMCHEON CULTURE VILLAGE:
1) Learn more about the Gamcheon Culture Village by visiting the Little Museum
I went inside the Little Museum near the entrance of the village arch. I discovered a bit more about how this attraction came about. Entrance to the museum is FREE.
They said that Gamcheon Culture Village was formerly a mountainside slum saved by art when students restored the area in 2009. They created wall murals and colored the village with bright hues.
The houses of Gamcheon Culture Village were arranged in staircase fashion so as not to block the view of the houses behind them, thus getting the nicknames “Machu Picchu of Busan” and “Santorini of Korea”.
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Make sure to take a look at the village’s history in the Little Museum
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2) Grab a Korean snack, like hotteok!
With no plans, I just Googled the top things to do at the Gamcheon Culture Village, and found out that their Sesame Seed Korean Pancake or hotteok is a must-try. It’s so warm and good, thank you internet!
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| Bought a piece of hotteok from this store. They also have ice cream hotteok and cheese hotteok |
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| One of my fave Korean foods! |
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| Shop for little souvenirs and support the local tourism |
4) Check out the wall murals
During my second visit, I was with my friend Paxie so I finally got more photos with the beautiful murals Gamcheon Culture Village is known for. One of the walls we looked for is the BTS JiKook wall which was not there yet during my first visit! I also saw a lot of Little Prince art, and cats!
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| Photos with our Busan boys Jungkook and Jimin |
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| The Little Prince and Fox |
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| Finally have a photo here! |
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| Even the cafes and storefronts are pretty! |
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| The colorful houses as backdrop |
5) Go up the observatory
For a better view of the whole pastels-toned village, they have an observatory where you can take pictures and marvel the view from a higher standpoint. I just went up stairs upon stairs, and followed the signages leading to it.
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| On my first visit, a lot of the tourists were also Koreans from other cities |
6) Grab a cup of coffee, choose a cafe with a nice viewing deck
After all the walking, I decided to just wait for sunset. I was planning to go back to the free observatory for the view, but was pulled by some force to enter this coffee shop where they have a roof top facing the village. I ordered a latte, and asked the owner if I can go up. He pointed me to a door, and so with my hot cup of coffee, I climbed the winding staircase to their empty rooftop….
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| The cafe where I watched the sunset |
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| When coffee tasted 10x better (because of the view!) |
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| Still my best view of the village ♥ |
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| Had to take a snap before we left for our taxi! Lanterns filled the Gamcheon night sky with lights |
Four years later, not much has changed from this little artsy village. During my first visit, I had the best sunset view I’ve ever had. On the second, I was greeted with beautiful lanterns that lit up the night sky. The vibe is still the same: relaxing and healing. Oh, and I was able to avoid the walkathons too by splitting the taxi fare with my friend hehehe. It doesn’t get old, and I wouldn’t even be surprised if I find myself again in this village soon. 🙂