Busan Highlights : Half-day Tour

BK J. was a fantastic guide, and honestly, he completely changed my opinion of Busan. Busan was a port stop on our Japan cruise, and before the trip I wasn't particularly excited about visiting South Korea. I had looked at the tours offered by the cruise line, TBL, and other providers and wasn't really finding anything that appealed to me. We contacted a couple of guides and ultimately chose BK, partly because of the positive reviews he had already received. I'm so glad we did! The itinerary itself sounded fairly simple when we first read it: Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, a drive across Diamond Bridge, Ami-dong Panoramic Viewpoint, and Gamcheon Cultural Village. It didn't sound particularly exciting on paper. BK, however, brought the day to life. He was a wonderful narrator during our drive and pointed out things all along the way that we would have completely missed on our own. He gave us a sense of the city and its history rather than simply driving us from one attraction to the next. By this point in our trip, we had seen plenty of temples and shrines, so we weren't especially excited about visiting yet another one. Haedong Yonggungsa changed our minds. The temple was beautiful and its location along the sea made it very different from the temples we had seen in Japan. The views were spectacular. We also really enjoyed Gamcheon Cultural Village. There was something special about wandering through this little hillside refugee village and experiencing its unique character and atmosphere. I sincerely hope the city is able to preserve Gamcheon as a place for visitors while maintaining the character and vibe that make it so interesting. Our Korean lunch was superb, and BK made sure we had a wonderful experience throughout the day. He even provided us with water, despite his tour description specifically saying that he would not—which was a very welcome surprise. Having a private car and driver was also a nice change after relying heavily on Japan's trains and public transportation. BK met us right at the port, took excellent care of us throughout the day, and got us safely back to the ship with plenty of time to spare. That peace of mind is especially important when you're touring independently from a cruise ship. Most importantly, BK took a destination I knew very little about—and had no particular desire to visit—and turned it into a place I would genuinely like to return to. **South Korea wasn't on my travel list before meeting BK. Now it is.** If you're visiting Busan as a cruise port, I highly recommend BK. His knowledge, narration, driving, flexibility, and care made for a fantastic day, and I'm very glad we chose to explore Busan with him.

We really enjoyed this tour with Bk. We got an awesome sense of the whole city of Busan, and Bk was an awesome tour guide.

What a fabulous tour! BK is at the top of our list as a guide. He was so friendly and his knowledge of Busan and all the sites we saw was very impressive. My husband, daughter, and I had a fun day with him and highly recommend him! Thanks so much, BK!

BK was a fantastic guide. He shared a lot of knowledge with us on the history and culture of the places we went. When we were running short of energy and time he was very accommodating in choosing a final stop that appealed to all of us. Best excursion we’ve had. Thank you to BK!

We spent 3 days with BK, two in Gyeongju and one is Busan. We had a group of 2 teens and 2 adults. He was absolutely wonderful! Very accommodating and changed things around when needed. His English is perfect. His knowledge of Korean history is very impressive. The tours were a great combination of interesting historical sites, delicious food, and fun activities mixed in. Our entire family loved BK and we would highly recommend him to anyone traveling to these areas of South Korea.