Aria Hotel Busan station

There’s a gift shop with train-themed souvenirs, which I liked. The station itself is a large main hub, linked to local train lines, and it was easy to reach by train and find the platform. The bathrooms were clean, and there are food courts, though most options were bread or Western food. I’d hoped to find something easy to take away, like gimbap, but couldn’t. There wasn’t food for sale on the KTX either. I didn’t see many staff around, and there didn’t seem to be customer help for trains or boarding. I also found it odd that the train line let a family of three, a dad, mum and daughter around 6-8 years old, book just two seats, leaving their child to sit on the floor for the whole ride.

There are lots of restaurants on the first and second floors, and the big information screen and kiosk are easy to spot. The station is quite large, with an outdoor area where you can get a nice city view. You can cancel a ticket on the day, though there’s a small fee.

Busan Station has shops, restaurants, and lockers for luggage. It’s a large station in central Busan, South Korea, with KTX and SRT trains to Seoul and other cities. Busan Metro Line 1 connects there too.

The waiting space is roomy, but the benches are basic and not comfortable. You can sit in one of the cafes instead, where they offer free charging and WiFi. The ground-floor lockers are too small for even one checked suitcase, which is disappointing. The station’s food and shopping are just okay and feel overrated. Taking the bullet train to Seoul from Busan also seems hard to justify against Jeju Air. The train costs much more, around KRW598000, and the KTX luggage areas are often taken up by cargo or delivery services. Jeju Air includes 15kg checked baggage and 10kg as carry-on for KRW25000-KRW28000. Once you include check-in and transport, flying may take about the same amount of time.