Seokbulsa

It's not worth the strenuous climb of about 1.5 km to get there. The stone carvings are nice, but the temple itself is very small and, in my opinion, doesn't even begin to compare in beauty to the Buddhist temples you can visit in Kyoto and the rest of Japan. Even the trail to get there, although it passes through a forest, isn't at all a nature experience, given the presence of paved roads, public restrooms, vending machines, and fitness areas. Furthermore, the trail entrance has a fair amount of abandoned garbage.

I visited this temple with my family, expecting it to offer amazing views or experiences based on the description in Lonely Planet. However, it did not meet my expectations. As a Buddhist, I’ve visited many temples in Korea, and I found the sculptures carved into the rocks here to be quite simple and ordinary. The temple itself is small and seems to have been built after the 1970s or '80s, rather than being 500 or 1,000 years old as I had imagined. Additionally, unlike many well-established Buddhist temples in Korea, this one does not provide meals for visitors.

This temple is worth visiting. I have been deeply impressed by the structure of the Buddha on the stones. I was very relaxed to pay a visit to this temple. I wish I could have another chance to come to this temple and silently read the mantra of the Buhhda of Medicine on the ground.

One of the highlands of our visit to Busan and it was on my list of places to visit. Highly recommend, probably the most unique Buddhist temple we saw and we visited quite a few in Asia.

A beautiful place. Easy to get to by taxi. We walked down to the bus. On the way from the temple, you can buy cold drinks and use the restroom. There's a cool gym complex right under the temple.

This was my favourite temple in Korea. Liked it more than Bulguksa or Haedong Yonggung, Bongeunsa or Jogyesa. You can easily get by taxi but I liked the route via the Geumsang cable car. A pretty forest hike. Quite easy following the signs to South Gate (and if you want, the Observatory and Watch Tower #2), and then go down all the way to the road that leads up to this gorgeous temple. It is not an easy climb up but worth it for sure. The place was empty when I visited, which made it even more magical. Just gorgeous carving in the rock, and the temple itself is beautiful. The view is outstanding and you can even feed the friendly crows if you feel like it. Highly recommend.

Hidden between the trees on the top of a mountain outside of the center of Busan, this calm, pastoral temple different than any temple I've seen. The hike up there took quite a while (around 1 hour hike) and was a bit steep, but we chose to go on cold weather, which turned out to be a good choice hike-wise. However, the view from up there must be incredible when the visibility is better. The ancient statues facing the cliff must be at least 10 meters tall, are all craved by man, and are guarding a small shrine that is located on top of them.

Beautiful temple with amazing relief carvings on the cliff walls. The temple is somehow difficult to access, but worth the visit. The entrance is free, and no fee is required. I stayed ther 30 or 40 min, more than enough (relatively small temple). To get there, you can either take the subway to Mandeok station and then walk the way up for around 30 to 40 min depending on your physical condition. Another option could be to take a taxi up to the parking lot and then walk for 3 to 5 min up to the entrance.