Cruise Layover: Essential Busan Day Tour with Local Food Tasting and Cultural Exploration
4.6
27 Ratings
Busan
Maximize your cruise layover in Busan with this essential day tour. Visit major attractions, taste local food, and immerse yourself in Busan's culture. Book now!
Duration: 8 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Haedong Yonggungsa - After your tour guide picks you up at Busan International Cruise Terminal, you will head to Haedong Yonggung Temple.

This place offers tourists a chance to know two birds with one stone- head up for second-to-none panoramic views of the ocean against the city, and learn more about traditional Korean religion.

  • Nurimaru APAC House - Nurimaru APEC House means an APEC conference hall. It is noted for its beautiful, natural landscape accented by dense camellia and pine trees. Nurimaru APEC House has been used as a memorial hall and a prestigious international conference hall since the APEC summit meeting.

  • UN Memorial Cemetery - The UN Memorial Cemetery in Korea honors UN soldiers from 16 countries and UN aids from five countries that were killed in battle during the Korean War from 1950-1953. This serene park spreads across a grassy plain area of 135,000 square meters. Some notable sites and memorials include: Memorial Service Hall, Memorabilia Hall, two Turkish Monuments, Greek Monument, Australian Monument, British Common Wealth Monument and two ponds. The Memorial Service Hall and the Memorabilia Hall were constructed in 1964 and 1968 respectively. The citizens of Busan dedicated the Main Gate in 1966. There are many annual events held here such as April’s Tributary Ceremony of the Veterans of the Korean War, May’s American Memorial Day, June’s Korean Memorial Day, and October’s UN Ceremony Day.

  • Busan Tower - One of the most famous landmarks in Busan. You can see almost the entire metropolis as you walk around the top deck. You will find yourself surprised at the view of Busan Tower as you exit the tower. Busan Tower offers a 360 degree view of Busan.

  • BIFF Square - Are you interested in Busan’s modern district? Then hit BIFF Square. There are events such as hand printing of movie celebrities.

The 428 meter-long street stretching from the Buyeong Theater in Nampo-dong to the overpass in Chungmu-dong was divided into “Star Street” and “Festival Street,” and on the eve of the festival each year the “Ground Opening the BIFF Square” is held on the street.

During the ceremony events such as the hand printing of famous movie celebrities and Nunggot Jeomdeung (snow-flower lighting) take place.

  • Jagalchi Market - Because Busan is one of the biggest seaports in South Korea, it says nothing of best seafood. Jagalchi market is the most famous seafood market in all of Korea. You can see every seller yell their bargains and bargain at once. You can try some seafood like squid, octopus, crab, mussels and prawns.
  • Busan Gamcheon Culture Village - Here is one historically rich mountainside cultural quarter. It was originally settled by refugees during the Korean War. You will see tiny hillside homes and nifty collection of clever decorative pieces installed by art students. After Gamcheon Culture Village, you will have lunch. Your guide will take you to local restaurant.
What's Included
  • English speaking guide
  • Entrance fees included
  • Lunch provided
  • Complimentary pickup & drop-off at Busan International Cruise Terminal
  • Comfortable in-vehicle air conditioning
  • Guided by a professional photographer
  • All fees and taxes covered
What's Not Included
  • Dinner
  • Gratuities(optional)
Additional Information

Interested in maximizing your cruise stopover tour in Busan? In this itinerary, you can explore prominent tourist sites in Busan, such as Korea’s most picturesque temple, Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, Busan’s equivalent to Santorini - Gamcheon Cultural village, APEC house located in Dongbaek Island, and Busan Tower offering a panoramic view of the city. Other attractions include Jagalchi seafood market, BIFF street where the Busan international film festival takes place, and Bupyeong ggangtong market full of delicious food. This tour also offers a taste of Busan’s local food, with options like Korean BBQ, well-loved seaweed soup with seafood, Pork Soup, Busan-style fried chicken! Furthermore, your skilled and kindhearted tour guide will provide comprehensive commentary on each tour site and Busan, adding a special and memorable touch to your Busan day trip! If you’re in search of a quality tour at an affordable price, this is it!

  • Please add country code to your phone number at time of booking
  • Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required
Location
Haedong Yonggungsa
86, Yonggung-gil, Gijang-gun
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.6
(27 Ratings)
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Deb7111
Mar 26, 2024
Wonderful experience in a great city! - We loved Busan! We give much credit to our lively, kind guide Jay. She guided us to a set of experiences that we could never have done on our own. We feel we have seen the best of Busan - its grand size, its awesome beauty, and its unique character. We highly recommend this tour!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Robert_b
Mar 26, 2024
Best Day in Busan - Mina was a terrific guide. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour with her while our ship was in port in Busan, Korea. She was very enthusiastic and knowledge as she shared the highlights of Busan with us. She was organized, on time, flexible, and considerate. To be sure we had the best possible tour and loved the Korean Barbecue!
Review provided by Viator
Megan_t
Mar 13, 2024
Highly recommend Jay as Busan tour guide - Big shout out to our tour guide, Jay. She expertly and efficiently guided us through the city, showing off everything from spectacular art to great viewpoints to the city’s vast markets, and took us to a fantastic Korean Bulgogi restaurant for lunch. Her English is excellent, and she has broad knowledge of Busan’s history and culture. We were returned to our ship well before last boarding.
Review provided by Viator
Carl_b
Mar 12, 2024
Best day in Busan - Kevin Anderson Yun was a wonderful tour guide! He made sure that we saw all of the highlights in Busan and was willing to adjust our itinerary for the things we really wanted to see. The lunch we had was fantastic! He knew all of the best places to take us and made reservations early so we didn’t waste any time. He was an excellent driver and with just the two of us we were able to see many of the highlights!!! Kevin was so polite and took such good care of us! I would highly recommend him as a guide! Pam and Carl
Review provided by Viator
Roberta_k
Mar 9, 2024
Wonderful tour with a superb guide - Busan is beautiful and interesting and Naomi is a superb guide. We saw far more than we would have on a “big bus” ship’s tour, and Naomi brought the sights to life with her commentary. There was excellent communication before the tour from the company and directly from her, and the included lunch was hearty, authentic, and delicious.
Review provided by Viator
William_q
Mar 9, 2024
Great your with those with only one day on Busan. - Loved the narration and history of Korea. Naomi was fantastic and pointed out all the interesting sights in the old and new areas. Lunch was fantastic!
Review provided by Viator
Sean_l
Mar 8, 2024
Amazing Trip in Busan - Thank you Naomi! - I was nervous about booking an excursion that wasn't with my ship since it was my first time in South Korea, first time using Viatar, and we had limited time before the boat left. My service wasnt working and I wasn't sure where to go, but the moment I exited immigration, Naomi was standing there like an angel with a sign that had my name on it. I couldn't have messed it up, even if I tried. I had the most amazing and fulfilling day in Busan. Zero regrets about everything. Naomi was very friendly, incredibly knowledgeable and had such a warm and friendly personality. She looked after everyone and we had the perfect amount of time in every stop we took along with her commentary to go along with it. The fact that she wanted all of us to have the best day in Busan was clearly shown. I was excited to try any and everything and she helped make suggestions for street food and local favorites while we were in the markets. Naomi absolutely made my day with the tour she took us on and I would HIGHLY recommend booking this trip. Thanks again Naomi for everything!!
Review provided by Viator
Doforc
Feb 14, 2024
Great busan tour for cruise passengers - Great tour for cruise passengers with a limited time ashore. Naomi was our tour leader.She is passionate about her home town Busan, very knowledgeable about the places we visited. She makes the best of our limited time in Busan, The food were local dishes with a great test and served in private rooms for small groups of 4-6 people. Great experience all around.
Review provided by Viator
Dreamer58993896886
Nov 9, 2023
Fabulous time in Busan thanks to Harry - Our family of 18 people were on a cruise in Japan in November 2023. We wanted to hire a private bus and tour guide for the land tours in every port. We had 5 places to visit in Japan and 1 in Busan, South Korea. I emailed several companies regarding the bus tour in Busan but I either received a reply a few weeks later or did not even receive a reply at all. It was only Harry from Here Korea who was prompt and replied to my email on the same day. We communicated only through email and even though there was a few hours time difference, he would always respond on the same day. Because my 91 year old father was with us on this trip we needed to go to places that was accessible by wheelchair. The itinerary was to go to Samgwangsa Temple, Gamcheon Culture Village, Songdo Beach Skywalk, Lunch at Korean BBQ Restaurant, Jagalchi Fish Market and Busan Tower. From all the land tours we had during this cruise, Busan was our family’s favorite. What made it special was Harry. Unlike the other tour guides who were more serious, Harry was funny and entertaining. Everyone loved him and were very interested to hear more about Busan because he wasn’t boring. He was also genuinely concerned with my 91 year old father so he would accompany him and keep an eye on him. He was very flexible with our itinerary because when my family decided that they wanted to spend more time shopping he made some changes to our program to allow ample time for shopping. Thank you Harry for a fabulous time and for making my family’s experience in Busan a memorable one.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Webeyee
Nov 12, 2023
Great disappointment... - Although our tour guide was a very nice person, it was obvious that he had not guided a tour in Busan before. From the first minute, he did not know what time our ship was departing from the port .. he told us that he would have us back at 6:00... our ship departs at 5:30. He did not know our itinerary, a lunch location was not prepared, we went to the wrong train station, a lot of time was wasted because of indecision. We were disappointed that the tour company could not send a travel guide who was regularly leading tours in Busan. We would not book viator in this city again.
Review provided by Viator
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