I’ve only visited Busan twice, with my last trip there in the summer of 2017. As someone hailing from a tropical country, I’ve never been a fan of hot summer weather. However, summers in Busan are honestly very memorable and absolutely worth trying out.
Being in a city known for its beaches, mountains, and temples, we couldn’t miss out on Taejongdae Resort Park.
Although it’s named a ‘resort’, it’s more of a large nature park on the southern Busan coast that features some of the best and most accessible coastal lookout points in the city.
Taejongdae Resort Park is named after King Taejong Muyeol, the 29th king of the Silla Kingdom. After the three kingdoms were united, the king supposedly loved to practice archery in this park area.
It’s free to enter Taejongdae Park, which is open 4 a.m. (5 a.m. in winter) to midnight.
Many visitors opt to ride the Danubi Train along the 4.3-kilometer loop road around the park, which brings them to the Taejongdae Observatory and Yeongdo Lighthouse for the coastal views.
We took the train up, but actually walked the rest of the way back (more on that later!)
Tip: It might be a little troublesome to travel to Taejongdae Resort Park from central Busan, and the train tends to get crowded especially on weekends. Consider skipping the crowds by booking the following day tours with Klook:
- Taejongdae Hydrangea / Songdo Cable Car / Gamcheon / Gwangalli Tour
- Busan One Day City Tour: Haeundae Sky Capsule & Gamcheon & Yacht
- Exploring Busan Full Day Tour
The first stop on the train is the large Taejongdae Observation Deck. The three-storey observation deck offers breathtaking views over the South Sea.
Tea Kettle Island and its lighthouse are also visible from this observation deck! The original name of this island is Saengdo (생도).
I don’t think visitors are actually allowed to casually trek this island – have not seen any tours to this island – but it’s so interesting to see this tiny island floating in the vast expense of the sea.
After taking in the spectacular sea views, we headed to Taejongsa Temple, which is nestled within Taejongdae Resort Park.
Taejongsa Temple is known to house a Buddha relic and two sacred fig trees donated from Sri Lanka. Devotees make their way here for the famous Sri Lankan-style Buddha.
For the non-religious, Taejongsa Temple is a must-visit in summer for its wide variety of hydrangeas! Every late July, the bigleaf hydrangea bloom into brilliant colours. The sheer number of bigleaf hydrangea flowers makes the temple appear to be buried in the flowers.
These flowers draw visitors from all across Korea and even from abroad during the Hydrangea Festival.
We didn’t manage to catch the festival, but we certainly caught the hydrangeas in full bloom!
From what I understand, some hydrangeas produce blue flowers on acid soils and pink on alkaline soils. Hence, it was so fascinating to see a whole range of colours from baby blue to soft purples – all in the same area!
When we reached in the early evening, there wasn’t much of a crowd, but you could tell most people were there to snap photos with and of the hydrangeas.
When we took enough photos of the hydrangeas in Taejongsa Temple, the sun was about to set. We decided to skip the train and instead walk all the way down to the entrance, which actually didn’t take very long.
We spent about half a day here after checking into our hostel and checking out Jagalchi Fish Market, but you certainly can spend the whole day here if you want to check out the other attractions around the park!
I highly recommend timing such that you visit Taejongsa Temple nearing the evening when the sun is about to set, so you can catch the beautiful flowers during golden hour. You can then hop over to one of the many restaurants lined outside for dinner.
DIRECTIONS
Address: 24 Jeonmang-ro, Yeongdo-gu, Busan, South Korea
Related Posts:
- Haedong Yonggungsa Temple: must-visit seaside temple in Busan
- Haeundae Beach: what to do at Busan’s most famous beach
- Busan Gamcheon Culture Village: must-visit mural village
- BIFF Square: bustling hub in Busan
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