The brightly colorful village built on a steep mountain-side slope is a featured tourist attraction in Busan.
(ภาษาไทย)
Gamcheon Culture Village (감천문화마을; Kumcheon) can’t be reached by the subway train but it’s easy by taxi or local bus.
Gamcheon Culture Village is showing at no.4 on the map.
It’s less than 10000won from Busan Station to this village by taxi.
But from Haeundae, we took the Subway (Green line) to Seomyoen Station then changed to the Orange line to Toseong Station and we took bus number 2-2 up to the village (it’s about 1 hr away from Haeundae)
The Village was built during the 1920s and 30s, when Busan’s city administration decided to relocate its poor Korean population from the hillside into an area that was not visible to the port, but close enough to provide labor.
The Village has been nicknamed “Machu Picchu of Busan” or “Lego City”, the Gamcheon Culture Village became a tourist attraction in 2009 when the government decided to renovate it. It’s been reported that more than 1.4 million visitors per year visit this village (~4000 visitors per day, what a crowd!)
We were here during the Korean Thanksgiving (~September).
The entrance fee for the village is 7000won each. We paid 2000won extra for a map, but we still got lost in the village, it’s huge!
I actaully used the map to cover myself from sunny!
The village is a real village, never closed and there are real residents here (please be respectful to NOT making too much noise). But the best visiting time is from 9am to 6pm when most of the shops are opening (more lively!)
You will see many tourists (most local but from another part of Korea) are wearing “Hanbok”, the traditional costume in South Korea. If you want to try the hanbok, there are many rental shops around the village.
Because it is on a steep hill, people with walking disabilities would have a hard time to visit.
But for those of you who have a thing for purchasing keychains and refrigerator magnets, you will have discovered paradise like me 🙂
Look out for the Little Prince and the fox statue, many tourists are lined up to take a picture with.
The Little Prince and the fox is a famous character animation movie from France. But they are very popular in South Korea – I found many places that have these statues for decorations, especially in the park.
The best picture with Little Prince and the fox ~ Korean Style 🙂
We got lost just because we kept walking and walking to find the market, but it’s closed because today was Thanksgiving day!
We walked until we found the main road to catch the taxi.
The village here looks great in the pictures and I’m sure it will drive your Instagram fans crazy but it’s just a fun day for walk & picture for us, not many things to learn or to see. If you ride over the Harbor bridge in Busan, you will see many villages on the side of the mountain too, they look the same but not as colorful as the Gamcheon village.
But this is a MUST VISIT in Busan and it’s quite simply Amazing…
Nearby attractions: Jagalchi (Biggest Fish Market), BIFF Center (Shopping Street), Night food market, Seomyeon (Busan Downtown and Underground shopping)
