This fall, I have the opportunity to join my husband in South Korea, where he will be attending a conference in Busan. Because his flight will be arranged by his employer, a lot of logistical and financial considerations have to be worked out, but I have a general question to get me started planning just in case. I could pay about the same, but have much longer travel, to meet him in Busan, where I would recover from the flight and spend a the last 2-3 days of his conference before we spend a long weekend in Seoul. Alternatively, I could fly direct and meet him in Seoul. Either way, this trip will probably only be about a week, so I am not sure yet if it is worth the expense, but it is tempting for the free hotel and the opportunity. On our vacations, we typically stay in small European towns, not major Asian cities. What would you shoot for in my situation? Do I gain that much by visiting Busan, or would you just go for the wow factor and easier travel of Seoul? Thanks for any input now, and I'll be back with specific questions as the trip unfolds.

We visited both places last year and preferred Seoul but, if you have a week, I think I would go for both places. They are very different. A huge amount to see in Seoul and a trip to the DMZ was one of the most intersesting if scary and concerning, places I have ever been in many years of travel in Asia.

The high speed train between the two cities only takes three hours making it very easy to visit both.

Some more info and photos from our time there on the Korea section of our blog
https://accidentalnomads.com/category/south-korea/

In a way, there is more Wow factor to Busan. They are very different cities. Busan features mountains that rip right through the city and plunge down into the sea. It has a vibrant port area. Beaches, Rocky coastline. Probably Korea's most impressive fortress in ruins. Two temples sited in unusual fashion, one a rare seaside temple, the other built into a cliff (but demands a bit of an arduous hike). It is a rare (for Korea) attractive city.

If you want to know more about Busan, then here is a highly informative website:

http://busan.for91days.com/

Tough call! Both are wonderful, and as crellston notes, there is a high speed train that makes it very easy to include both. And I agree with Shelemm that Busan is the more attractive city, at least if one goes to a position from which to see it from on high or from the water.

Have you seen my trip report? Long, but searchable....

Thanks so much everyone. Now to see if it can work out financially/logistically...