I love traveling around Korea! I spend a lot of time scouring the internet for the best places to visit and because of that my list of places to see in Korea is a mile long. When I saw that there was a hydrangea flower festival going on in Busan last weekend I immediately told Dave we had to go. Luckily for me, Dave usually just goes along with my crazy ideas and spends most of his weekends driving us all over Korea (he’s a keeper!).
I used my irresistible charm to talk Dave into waking up verrrrry early so that we could get to Taejongdae in time to watch the sunrise. That’s a pretty big ask considering the sun comes up around 5am and we live an hour and a half away from the park. Not only that, but once we got to the park it was a bit of a hike to get to the lighthouse.
Taejongdae Park is very hilly and there’s a lot of steep areas to walk up. If you’re not up for the challenge, there is a tram that will take you around the park for a small fee. The trams start running around 9:00am so if you’re there early like we were you’ll have to walk the whole way. The path leads you in a big loop so we opted for the trail on the right. We felt like we made the right choice because even though there were lots of hills going up, there were a few downward slopes that helped give you a bit of a break from the inclines. It was also great because that meant when we left the hydrangea festival we were going downhill the entire way back.
Usually when you visit Taejongdae you stop and check out all of the sites which helps break the walk up a bit, but since we were on a mission to catch the sunrise, we had to book it up the hills to the lighthouse as fast as we could. Apparently we weren’t going fast enough because at one point we were passed up by a little old Korean lady who was jogging up the hill. Show off.
It was a humid day so as we were walking up the hills I kept thinking, “I have the worst ideas!” but as soon as I got a glimpse of the vivid colors in the sky I immediately changed my tune. All of our hard work had paid off in the most amazing way!
We sat there for ages taking in the beautiful colors of the sunrise and enjoying the warm glow cast on the rocks below by the early morning sun.
After we packed up all of our gear we headed back up the steps (which seemed like a sick joke at the time) and off towards the temple to take a look at the hydrangeas. We got there around 7am which was perfect because the festival wasn’t that busy yet.
I was amazed at how many hydrangea bushes there were. While Dave was busy trying out his new macro lens, I tried to capture the big picture with my camera and I honestly feel like I failed. It’s almost impossible to capture the full beauty of this festival. I can only say that my heart and eyes both felt extreme joy and satisfaction.
The Hydrangea Festival takes place every year at Taejongsa Temple, which is inside of Taejongdae Park in the southern part of Busan. This year the festival ran from July 5-July 13. Even though the festival is over, the blooms seemed to be in good shape so you can probably still check them out for the next week or so. This is definitely one of my favorite festivals in Korea so I highly recommend it.
Taejongdae Address: 257, Jeonmang-ro, Yeongdo-gu, Busan
부산광역시 영도구 전망로 24 (동삼동)
The walk to the temple takes 30-45 minutes or you can take a tram for a small fee.
Life Outside of Texas 
A hydrangea festival! How lovely! We have beautiful blue blue hydrangeas blooming right now in our garden in Vancouver. Taejongdae Park looks like a very scenic place to hike/walk :-).
I don’t think I’ve ever seen hydrangeas growing anywhere else so it was really lovely to see. There were hydrangeas everywhere which was fantastic. Taejongdae is absolutely gorgeous. I love being able to get out in the fresh air and get some exercise and a beautiful view!
I love hydrangeas, and your pictures are beautiful! I have been meaning to check out Taejongdae for a while, and now I wish I had gone for this festival.
Thanks! Taejongdae is amazing. I can’t recommend it enough! And if you go soon, hopefully the hydrangeas will still be in bloom.
yes, the hydrangeas are gorgeous and I would have loved that festival.
BUT your photography of the lighthouse against the sunrise is wonderful! Well worth the early rise, yes?
That sculpture is fascinating … any info on that?
The sunrise was amazing. We were a little late getting there so we almost missed it. This is actually one of the first photos we took that morning. Definitely worth it! And we felt so accomplished after.
I actually have no idea about the meaning of that sculpture. Sorry. It’s pretty unique though.
Taejongdae sounds like a really neat park to explore! That first picture of the sunrise was absolutely stunning, way to go!
Props for getting up that early just to catch the sunrise. I did that for the sunrise at Homigot and was whining the whole way. I hate mornings 😛
Not going to lie. It was tough. We had woken up around the same time the previous weekend to do Homigot. The sun comes out way too early here in summer!
Really bummed I miss the hydrangeas, and can’t believe we stilll haven’t made it to Taejongdae. lol. So you can’t take the car up the hill? You have to walk no matter what? The pictures you got definitely seem worth the trouble…they look amazing~ 🙂
There’s a tram, but it doesn’t start running until 9am. Go this weekend. I’m sure they are still there.
Beautiful pictures! This place reminds me of some of the islands that are more difficult to visit. Really great that you went there for sunrise. Surely you got some nap time later on in the day. Such a trooper!
Thanks! Yes, we definitely napped! haha Sunrises are so rewarding, but the waking up part is such a pain in the ass.
Those sunrise photos alone are beautiful. Nice shots. I have seen those flowers at the garden of the morning calm before but never knew what they were. Now I know. I love hydrangea’s haha.
I really want to get to the Garden of the Morning Calm! It’s quite high on my list, but it’s a bit out of the way which makes it difficult to get to unless we are in the Seoul area for a little longer than a weekend. One day!
Meagan;
Loving your blog! and your gorgeous photos! While I’m only in Ulsan for a “short” stint, I’ve already found your tales to be invaluable – and uplifting, so cool to read about people having a good time here. Your dedication is really appreciated!
Thanks so much for the kind words! How long will you be in Ulsan, Sarah? How are you liking it so far?
Hi Meagan,
Not sure yet, contracts can be funny like that! Ulsan has its moments, the people are awesome, and the situations we find ourselves in are often hilarious (if only in hindsight!). All the best 🙂
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I’ve always rerdeagd Busan as “the second city,” but it actually is really nice once you drag yourself down there. Haeundae was fantastic!I do think Busan slightly resembles the satellite cities of Seoul in that everything looks pretty new and shiny and a little all over the place. I don’t really like the way all the buildings are crammed and packed if you go to, say, bundang.
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