Gamcheon Culture Village in Busan is every Instagrammer’s dream. With beautiful and aesthetically-pleasing color schemes, tons of cute selfie areas, and so many great photo opportunities – it’s no wonder that it’s sometimes referred to as the “Korea’s Santorini.”
Exploring Gamcheon Culture Village in Busan
Gamcheon Culture Village was one of the main things I wanted to see when we were in Busan. Of course, as I’ve said before, the weather during our trip was extremely rainy – complete with thunder and lightning. But, you know your girl wasn’t going to be deterred by a little bit of rain. I walked to a DaiSo (IYKYK) near our hotel, loaded up on umbrellas and ponchos, and then dragged my family out into the rain so that we could experience the amazing colors and beautiful art for ourselves.
Of course, trudging through the rain with five kids meant our time in Gamcheon Culture Village was short. Had it been just me, I would have been able to spend hours exploring the tiered streets and admiring the incredible views. As it was, though, we spent about an hour exploring, and then stopped for some freshly-squeezed orange juice and marshmallow ice cream – where they literally wrap a cube of ice cream in marshmallow and then roast the marshmallow. To say it is one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten would the the understatement of the century.
Originally established during the 1920’s, Gamcheon Culture Village was built when the government decided to move working-class Koreans to areas farther from the main port. Over the years, it grew into a sprawling village. In 2009, artists and residents were given the task of literally decorating the entire village – which included painting the buildings in beautiful pastel colors, creating murals filled with the “cuteness culture” that has become so popular in SoKo, as well creating various art exhibits throughout the village. Today, it’s popular among tourists – and it doesn’t take much exploring to see why!
Despite the rain that day, the village was busy – with many tour groups crowding the street in front of the Information Center. There were also numerous vehicles and motorbikes driving through – which made for quite the experience with toddlers. Still, we made the best of the crowds and waited our turn for some pictures – and also cutting our losses and skipping photos in some of the more popular areas.
After we were done exploring – and the kids were tired – we stopped by a gift shop just outside of the Information Center, where I purchased an adorable wooden diorama of pastel-colored houses. The kind owner even gave me five little cat figurines – one representing each of my five kids – to add to the diorama for no extra charge (and without me even asking). I’m constantly amazed at the kindness that we have experienced during our time in South Korea and it’s one of the things that I will miss the most when we leave.
Gamcheon Culture Village is one of those places that leaves a mark on you. Someday when we make it back to Korea (because I just don’t have it in me to think that this will be our only chance to live here), Busan and Gamcheon Culture Village will be at the very top of my list of places to visit. Until then, I’m grateful for the opportunity we had to wander through the village with our kids.
’til next time…
Ash
How to visit Gamcheon Culture Village in Busan
Directions:
Naver pin – Gamcheon Culture Village Information Center & Entrance (or paste 부산 사하구 감내2로 203 into Naver)
Parking: There is some parking in the area, as well as the potential for street parking, but it was confusing. We found what we THOUGHT was a public parking lot. But when we returned to the lot, we found that it had been blocked off with cones and the person beside us had received a ticket. Somehow we didn’t get a ticket and we were able to just move the cones to get out, but I wouldn’t recommend doing what we did. There seems to be an ACTUAL public parking lot just down the road from where we parked, which I’ll include a Naver pin to.
Naver pin – Kumsung Paid Parking Lot (or paste 부산 서구 아미동2가 into Naver)
Cost: FREE
Hours: Open 24/7, 365 days a year
Amenities: There are bathrooms located at the Information Center, as well as in a few different places throughout the village. There are restaurants and cafes aplenty and finding something to eat is NOT an issue.
Stroller/Wheelchair Accessible: YES
