Gamcheon Culture Village Guide: The Colourful Rainbow Village of Busan

Last Updated on 27th January 2025 by Sophie Nadeau

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A smatter of colour painted across the hillside, Gamcheon Culture Village is a maze of layered streets, narrow alleyways and vibrantly coloured houses. Nicknamed “Korea’s Santorini” and the “Machu Picchu of Busan”, the village’s painful past certainly doesn’t reflect in the beauty seen here today. Here’s your guide on Busan’s colourful hillside village, Gamcheon, as well as how to visit.

What is Gamcheon Culture Village?

Gamcheon village is located within the city limits of Busan, South Korea. It is one of the primary reasons why many people choose to visit the region, and on a clear day, it’s possible to see all the way out to sea. There is no entrance fee to the village so a visit here is completely free!

If you plan to visit you’ll need around three or four hours. The walking trail only takes around 45 minutes but you’ll want to set aside extra time to take photos, visit the various souvenir shops and stop in the cosy cafés!

A history of Gamcheon

Gamcheon Culture Village, 감천문화마을, has quite a recent history and was only built during the 1920s and 1930s. The Busan city administration essentially decided to relocate the working-class population to this secluded hillside area, yet still close enough to the port to provide labour.

In 1995 (during the post-war recovery of the country), almost 800 further families moved into the village. The increase in population meant that the village, which started as a single district, became nine districts.

The villagers faced poor living conditions and continuous poverty, forcing a lot of the residents to leave Gamcheon.

In 2009 as part of an urban regeneration initiative the village saw colour come to the village. What was mostly a residential project, with students, artists, and residents alike decorating the town, with the hopeful intention to not only revitalise the area through art and colour.

While some people participated in the project, not everyone in Gamcheon was best pleased with the idea and by 2015 almost 300 homes were left abandoned.

Part of the project included converting abandoned houses into art galleries, museums, and shops, and also modernising people’s homes. In turn, this has since helped to boost tourism and bring in money to the area.

Today, Gamcheon is a popular tourist destination and draws almost 2 million visitors per year! As of 2016 it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Things to see in Gamcheon Culture Village

Visit the tourist office

For 2000 won, you can purchase a map of the village which will give you more information about the village as well as take you on a stamp trail. Throughout this trail you can see many of the main interactive points of the village and stamp your map as you find various spots.

Obviously this is an activity which is fun for all ages (and particularly if you’re visiting the village with small kids) but my husband and I still both thoroughly enjoyed the stamp trail. All in all, there are 9 stamps to find, though unfortunately there were 2 that we couldn’t locate at all!

Buy souvenirs

Now, I’m not really one for souvenirs, but it’s worth noting that as well as the usual fridge magnets and postcards, there are a number of souvenir shops in the area selling high quality and unique goods.

I particularly loved the shop selling personalised phone cases, but more than anything, I loved picking up an artist’s print of the village in the souvenir shop Asteroid B612, as well as the beautiful views and statue of the Little Prince at the entrance to the store.

Sample local food

There are a number of spots in the village where you can head to local cafés and restaurants. If you go around lunch, then you can even sample some traditional Korean food. Here are the cafés you can visit:

Coffee It House – Nestled in the heart of the village, this coffee house has a rooftop haven which offers visitors stunning views overlooking Gamcheon and onto the sea in the distance.

Blue House on The Stairs – Small and tucked away on a quiet street, this colourful café also has a rooftop terrace and serves delicious coffee and cakes!

DUF Coffee – One of the trendiest cafés in the area, brimming with local art and colour, you can also visit the quirky shop inside which sells memorable souvenirs made locally.

When is the best time to visit Gamcheon?

If possible, plan to visit during a sunny day with blue skies as it makes the medley of colourful houses ‘pop’ that much more. It was raining during a couple of our days in Busan so we planned to go to the village on the sunniest day and were definitely not disappointed.

In terms of the time of the year you should visit, I would say that you should focus on visiting during the first couple of weeks of April if possible as this is peak cherry blossom season. All around the village, you’ll find bright bursts of pink blossoms, which juxtapose nicely against the houses and murals themselves.

Village etiquette

One of the most important things to know before visiting Gamcheon is that you should be mindful that, despite its incredible tourist popularity, this is still a residential area. Therefore, be mindful of how much noise you’re making and speak in a soft and quiet voice when wandering through the narrow lanes that make up the village.

You should also be mindful when snapping photos and not take any that infringe on residents’ privacy. There are a few signs up in the village where residents have requested that tourists don’t take photos so do respect this and don’t take photos at these spots!

Getting to Gamcheon

We personally took a bus ride from the central station to the nearby Ami-Dong cultural village. From there, it was a fifteen to twenty minute walk uphill to reach Gamcheon.

The one thing you should know about visiting South Korea is that Google Maps is not optimised for the region and you won’t be able to use it for any walking routes. I recommend downloading Naver Map to help you get around.

Where to stay in Gamcheon

There are a few guesthouses peppered around the town, and these will allow you to experience what it’s like to stay in the village after all of the day trippers have gone home. The guesthouses were created from abandoned residential and bath houses and won a gold prize in the award category ‘Busan characteristics architecture‘ in 2017.

Watch the Gamcheon Culture Video guide

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