Busan is known for its eats, but this little coastal city is Korea’s busiest, and its status as a port city means it is home to numerous cultural and historical sites. With temples, museums, and memorials spread throughout the city, there is no shortage of sites to visit for those who love history. For a day in Busan, we decided to hit up a couple of the most famous spots to get a taste of their history and sights.

JungAng Central Park (중앙공원) and Busan Democracy Park (부산민주공원)

From Busan’s city centre, we first took the JungGu 1 (중구1) Bus from near JaGalChi Station, which takes you up the steep hill to JungAng Central Park (중앙공원). You can also walk up, but it’s not something we recommend – the path is steep and the hill fairly tall. The buses also speed on the incredibly narrow road and as they round the hairpin bends, so the area seems susceptible to accidents. In any case, there are plenty of buses that stop at the hill, so it’s easy to find one regardless of your starting point.

JungAng Central Park is also interchangeably known as Busan Democracy Park (부산민주공원). Its distinct figure-8 shape is because it used to be two separate parks, though they were joined in 1986, and a Democracy Memorial Centre (민주항쟁기념관) opened in 1999 in the southern half. The Memorial Centre holds exhibits with some history on Busan. It also has facilities including a theatre, and an art exhibition at the time of our visit. The Memorial Centre sits on a vast, hilly piece of land that also holds manicured greenery and plenty of memorial statues to learn of the area.

In the northern half of the park is ChungHon Admiralty Tower (충혼탑), erected to commemorate fallen soldiers during the Korean War. This area was closed off to the public during our visit for maintenance or construction, but the park is still a great place to come to. Thanks to its location atop a hill and the surrounding trees, there is a great view of land, city, and sea, even if you don’t come for the history.

168 Stairs (168 계단)

A couple of hundred metres’ walk from the entrance of JungAng Central Park between the two main areas is the Sky Eye Observatory (영주 하늘눈 전망대) which has no cultural significance but a wonderful view of the harbour and sea from a platform. A couple of hundred metres further is 168 Stairs (168 계단), which, as suggested, is a flight of 168 steps, though during our descent we never really counted. Though there are dozens of stairwells throughout the hilly area for faster ascent on foot, this particular staircase is immortalised thanks to the addition of a monorail which now cuts a 6-storey climb to a short ride.

The monorail is free of charge and operates continuously, much like an elevator, though is only capable of stopping at the bottom and top. In between, there are a couple of shops and cafés that cash in on the site’s fame. We didn’t linger too long; after all, this is a high-traffic area on a flight of stairs, so we made sure not to hold anyone up.

The monorail operates between 7am and 9pm on the summer months of June to September, and between 7am and 8pm for the rest of the year.

168 DoSiRak Guk (168도시락국)

At the bottom of the 168 Stairs and monorail is a tiny diner run by grandmas called 168 DoSiRak Guk (168도시락국). 168 refers to its proximity to the famous 168 Stairs, and dosirak means “lunchbox”, the specialty of this little eatery. For ₩5,000 (US$4.10) you can buy yourself an old-timey Korean lunchbox, consisting of rice, kimchi, a fried egg, some vegetables, and a few slices of ham. This is served in a lunchbox alongside a selection of homemade side dishes.

This thrifty little lunch is recommended to be consumed in a particular way. Simply replace the lid and shake the lunchbox hard for a few minutes – this imitates the tossing of a lunchbox in a child’s backpack as it is jostled during the day until it’s time for lunch. The result is like a fried rice where the ingredients are all mixed together, making for a very nostalgic flavour.

While the food isn’t particularly of high quality, it’s delicious because of the efforts of the ladies who put it together and the lovely atmosphere of the restaurant. Visibly old, the cheap fare and the friendliness of the chatty hosts is so welcoming that it just makes the food taste all the better.

40-Step Culture and Tourism Theme Street

Our last stop on our day of history for Busan was the 40-Step Culture and Tourism Street, around 15-20 minutes’ walk south of the 168 Stairs and Monorail. Alternatively, you can take 1 stop from Busan Station to JungAng Station (중앙역), where 40-Step Culture and Tourism Street lies just outside.

This street has been revamped with statues and other art pieces to resemble life in Busan in the 1950s to 1960s. The people that the sculptures depict are everyday locals as they lived through the Korean War.

Rather than a street 40 steps in length, the neighbourhood is full of these sculptures accompanied by plaques which display information in Korean and English. It’s a beautifully immersive way of displaying life in that period of time by encouraging visitors to walk through the streets and stand alongside the figures. It’s lively and human, and a reminder that regardless of where you go, all anyone wants to do is live their best life in peace.