Folk Games at Taejongdae, With the Sea Below You
Climb the pine-shaded paths of Taejongdae Park on the southern tip of Yeongdo and you'll find Koreans of all ages crouched over a throwing mat, tossing arrows into a pot, or batting a jegi back and forth on the flat ground near the cliff edge. During the Seollal holiday the park hosts traditional folk game sessions — yunnori, jegichagi and tuho — typically running across the three days around Seollal Day. The rhythm is unhurried: families drift in from the coastal walk, someone explains the rules, a circle forms around a yunnori board, and the sound of wooden sticks clattering carries over the water. Come in the late morning when the light is on the sea and the crowds are still thin.
Make a Horse-Themed New Year Card at the Busan Museum
The Busan Museum runs hands-on Seollal cultural events, including card-making workshops where you produce your own horse-themed New Year card, alongside outdoor folk games in the museum grounds. In recent years the programme has spanned several days around the holiday, so plan to spend a slow afternoon here: make something with your hands, then walk the permanent galleries. It's a good pick for a mixed-age group, and it keeps you indoors if the February wind off the coast turns sharp. Check the museum's holiday hours before you go — national museums in Korea typically close on Seollal Day itself and reopen for the rest of the holiday period.
Eat Tteokguk While the City Runs at Half Speed
Seollal is built around food, and the bowl that defines it is tteokguk — rice-cake soup, eaten for luck and a year of good health. In Busan you'll find it in the markets and in neighbourhood restaurants that stay open through the holiday. This is also the week to plan around closures: many department stores, malls and restaurants shut on Seollal Day or for part of the holiday, while convenience stores and shops near tourist areas often stay open. Ask at your accommodation which local restaurants are working through the holiday, and build your days around the places that are. Markets are where the city feels most alive during the break — go early, eat standing up, and let the crowds set the pace.
Book the Train Before You Book Anything Else
Seollal is one of the busiest travel periods in Korea, and intercity train and bus tickets sell out quickly. Book your Seoul–Busan KTX or intercity bus seats as soon as your dates are fixed, and keep a rental car as a backup plan if the rails fill up. The holiday itself moves with the lunar calendar — Seollal falls on the first day of the lunar year — so confirm the exact 2027 dates against the official Korean lunar calendar before you lock in flights. Once you're in the city, expect the public celebrations to cluster around the holiday's three-day core, with the museums and parks above as your anchors.
Give Yeongdo a Full Day
Base one whole day on Yeongdo, the island district south of the harbour, and let Taejongdae be its centrepiece. The folk-game programme gives you a reason to linger rather than just photograph the cliffs, and the surrounding streets reward a slow walk back toward the bridge. Pair it with a market breakfast on the mainland side and you have a Seollal day that moves between food, play and sea air — the shape of the holiday as locals keep it.
Start with the calendar: confirm the 2027 lunar dates, book your train the same week, and sketch a loose plan around Taejongdae and the Busan Museum, leaving the rest of each day open for markets and whatever the city puts on. Seollal in Busan rewards the traveller who arrives prepared and then slows down.