Korea Diary | Ins & Outs of Gamcheon Culture Village (Day 28, Part 1)

8:46:00 PM mandy 0 Comments

One of the must sees in Busan is IMO definitely Gamcheon Culture Village 감천문화마을. Therefore, my must do suggestion would be to hike and wander the village.

If Santorini in Greece attracted visitors with their white houses and blue roofs, Gamcheon Culture Village charmed with their multicolor bright homes. Dwellings in both places were built on hilly landscapes but one overlooked water while the other mountains. Even though I would love to see Santorini and it's beautifully maintained attraction, there was a rustic homey quality to Gamcheon that made it equally as captivating.

There wasn't a direct subway to the village. It required a subway & bus ride. For those who may be weary of taking a local bus in a foreign place, don't worry too much! Since it was a tourist attraction there were signs with English to say which number bus to take. More likely than not there probably will be other tourists also headed in that direction. Otherwise, I would suggest having the name in Korean and just grab a taxi there from the nearest subway station. Taxis in Korea are very inexpensive.


We knew we were in the right area once we saw all the bright colors and art everywhere. Whether it was a mural or sculptures, artwork was abundant.

The hike up to the top took a while with all the stairs and slopes. But it was worth the view of the  whole village. I don't remember it being a difficult climb since there were lots of things to see along the way. The village itself was a huge tourist attraction, the city (I am assuming) had various homes scattered throughout the village converted into galleries for art installations. Other than providing an item of interest, it was a great resting spot as well.











There are many ways to ascend and descend the village. My friends and I took the longer route and ended up navigating in and out to see all the art installations and murals. It was the first route we saw and I am kind of glad for that. The direct route was named "Stairs to See Stars". The reason being? Of course because it was steep and long enough that the tourism board stated many people saw stars while going up. I cannot attest to this myself though. We, luckily, walked down those 148 steps. I can say that I felt pretty nervous going down since not all the stairs were even. Plus tumbling down stairs is much scarier than tripping up them, right?