A new tourism program connecting Geumjeongsan National Park, Beomeosa Temple, and Dongnae Hot Springsβthe fourth designated hot spring city in South Koreaβis launching a pilot operation in Busan.
The Busan Metropolitan City government and the Busan Tourism Organization announced that they will operate the Busan tourism program ‘Peak & Soak in Busan’ from the 7th to the 22nd. This initiative combines South Korea’s first urban national park, Geumjeongsan, with Beomeosa Temple and Dongnae Hot Springs to offer hiking, temple stays, and hot spring healing. The Geumjeongsan National Park Office and Dongnae-gu district are co-hosting the project.
This program uniquely integrates outdoor activities like hiking and trekking with health and wellness contents such as saunas, hot springs, and temple visits, alongside local culinary experiences. It is organized into three distinct themes: ‘Peak & Soak’ (hiking and sauna), ‘Templekking’ (temple experience and trekking), and ‘Hike & Spa’ (hiking and spa).
The ‘Peak & Soak’ course allows visitors to hike Geumjeongsan National Park and then experience physical recovery through tent-style saunas, ice-water immersion, stretching yoga, and singing bowl meditation. Participants can also taste representative Busan foods such as Geumjeongsanseong rice wine and Dongnae green onion pancake. Busan officials explained that this reflects the growing trend among young people and foreign tourists who enjoy combining health and outdoor activities.
‘Templekking’ consists of walking mountain trails with forest interpreters to explore Geumjeongsan’s natural and cultural resources, along with experiencing tea ceremonies, meditation, and temple food.
‘Hike & Spa’ links Geumjeongsan hiking with visits to local bathhouses in the Dongnae Hot Springs district, allowing visitors to experience ‘K-bathing’ culture, including traditional body scrubbing.
Dongnae Hot Springs, designated as the country’s fourth hot spring city last month, boasts a 1,400-year history as a historic resting place for kings and nobles dating back to the Three Kingdoms period. With water temperatures reaching up to 70.3 degrees Celsius, it has the second-highest temperature in the nation following Changnyeong Bugok Hot Springs (78 degrees Celsius). Notably, as a mildly alkaline saline hot spring rich in salt content, it is known to be effective for rheumatism, neuralgia, muscle pain, and gynecological conditions.
A major advantage of Dongnae Hot Springs, much like Geumjeongsan National Park, is its urban location, offering easy access to metropolitan transit networks including Busan Subway Lines 1, 3, and 4, as well as the Donghae Line.
Na Yoon-bin, Director of Busan’s Tourism Content Industry Bureau, stated, “Following Geumjeongsan’s designation as a national park in March and Dongnae Hot Springs’ designation as a hot spring city in October, we are launching this pilot tourism product for the first time. We will strive to ensure that this new tourism model thrives through the pilot operation period.”
