Looking to book the Busan Sky Capsule at Haeundae Blueline Park? This guide includes everything you need to know to have the best experience.
If I’m being honest, I was initially on the fence about adding Busan onto our South Korea itinerary after Seoul, but the Busan Sky Capsule was one of the top selling points that ended up swaying our decision to explore South Korea’s second-largest city.
And I’m so glad we added it. Busan has a unique blend of city vibes paired with coastal views and natural spaces, which was a welcome surprise after the concrete jungle of Seoul. We really enjoyed the variety of experiences here, from unique oceanfront temples and villages painted in rainbow colors, to bustling seafood and street markets that are iconic to South Korea.
If you are planning to visit Busan, taking a ride on the Busan Sky Capsule is undoubtedly one of the top activities that needs to be on your list. It’s one of those experiences that is touristy but also totally worth it in my opinion. And it was one of the most fun things we did during our time in the city.
With that said, booking the Sky Capsule wasn’t as straightforward as we initially imagined. We had a lot of questions pop up during the booking process like: “Which station is best to depart from?,” “When is the best time to book for sunset?,” “Should we just ride one way or both ways?,” etc.
We ended up riding the Sky Capsule twice in both directions to get the full experience, so I’m going to clear up all your questions in this post to make the process super simple for you.
Planning a trip to Busan soon? Here are my top hotel stays:
- Asti Hotel, for amazing convenience directly across from the train station.
- The Westin Josun Busan, for epic views overlooking Haeundae Beach (and close to the Sky Capsule).
- L7 HAEUNDAE by LOTTE, for an affordable stay at Haeundae Beach.
Don’t miss my ultimate 3 day Busan itinerary for even more ideas of what to do in the city.
Complete Guide to Experiencing the Busan Sky Capsule Train
What Is The Busan Sky Capsule?
First off, what even is the Busan Sky Capsule? Chances are you’ve seen photos or videos of these cute trains, but if you aren’t familiar, they’re basically colorful, mini train cars that ride along an elevated track, giving you incredible views of both the city skyline and the coast.
There are 80 cars total in a few different colors like red, yellow, blue, and green (you unfortunately don’t get to choose which color you ride in though). They travel both ways between Mipo Station and Cheongsapo Station in Haeundae Blueline Park and the one-way ride takes about 30 minutes.
Each capsule fits up to four people. But they won’t seat you with strangers so it feels like your own private tour. There’s a small table inside and windows that open for fresh air too.
Is The Haeundae Blueline Sky Capsule Worth It?
Yes, absolutely. I think riding the Busan Sky Capsule is totally worth it. You’ll get beautiful views of both the Busan skyline and the surrounding seascape, including one of the city’s top tourist attractions, Haeundae Beach.
It’s an easy and relaxing way to get a unique view of the city that is also super cute and quirky. Plus, it’s a short time commitment and not terribly expensive; there’s really no reason not to do it!
This activity is especially great for families or couples visiting Busan.
Where Does The Busan Sky Capsule Start and End?
The sky capsules are located within Haeundae Blueline Park which is a very popular tourist area in Busan. In addition to the Sky Capsule, you’ll also find the Beach Train here and the Busan Green Railway walking path.
While we’re talking about the Beach Train, it is important to note that it is not the same thing as the Sky Capsule. So make sure to book the right experience as tickets are sold at the same place. If you also want to ride the Beach Train, you can take it back from whichever train station you end at after your Sky Capsule tour.
So where does the Busan Sky Capsule start and end? It travels between Mipo Station and Cheongsapo Station, which are only about a mile and a half apart. Train tickets are one-way only, but you can book the route in either direction depending on which way you want to go.
You could also book it both ways for the return trip (which we did even though I think most people don’t do this), but you’d have to book two separate one-way tickets. Alternatively, you can take the Beach Train on the return trip for a little bit different of an experience, or take a stroll along the coastal walking path if you need to head back to your starting point.
Let’s get into the differences between the two stations.
Mipo Station
Departing from Mipo Station to Cheongsapo Station is the more popular route. So take note that this is the direction where tickets will sell out early (book at least a week in advance if you can).
You’ll be moving in the opposite direction of the skyline, but the light is better at sunset this way for photos. So if you’re a photographer, this is probably what you’ll want to do. The track is closer to the water in this direction as well.
Mipo Station is located at 13 Dalmagi-gil 62 beon-gil, Haeundae-gu, Busan
Cheongsapo Station
Riding the Sky Capsule from Cheongsapo Station to Mipo Station is the less popular direction. So the pro here is that you’ll have an easier time booking tickets. On this route you travel toward the city skyline and into the setting sun if you choose to book at sunset, which I recommend.
As I mentioned in the beginning of the post, we ended up riding the Busan Sky Capsule in both directions. And there are pros and cons to both. Those looking to score perfect sunset pics will probably want to go from Mipo to Cheongsapo and book as close to sunset as possible, but you get uninterrupted views of the coastline traveling in both directions so it’s really up to you!
I think what’s even more important than the station departure you choose is the timing of your ticket as the sunset is just the most magical time overall.
Cheongsapo Station is located at 116 Cheongsapo-ro, Haeundae-gu, Busan
What Are The Highlights of the Experience?
Watching the Sunset
If you’re looking for a great sunset spot in Busan, this is one of the most magical places to take in the sunset in the city. You get a mix of coastline and skyline views with ever-changing angles to witness as the sun goes down.
Skyline Views of Busan
As you travel between stations, you’ll witness the Haeundae skyline, which includes a cluster of skyscrapers. Including the tallest building in Busan, Haeundae LCT The Sharp.
Pass by the Haewol Observatory
As you ride, you pass by one of Busan’s many observatory decks, the Haewol Observatory, which is a unique architectural structure that juts out over the coast.
Great for Photography
If you’re into photography, this is one of the best places in the city to capture magical photos of the coast and skyline along with unique angles of the cute train cars.
Fun for Families
While I think this experience is fun for anyone, it’s definitely a must if you’re traveling with kids who will love the colorful cars and ride-like activity.
How To Get Haeundae Sky Capsule Tickets
This is probably the most confusing part of the whole experience. So I’m going to break down all the best options for purchasing your tickets and will share my own experience booking as well.
Important note: If you’re traveling during a busy time of year, I really recommend you book your tickets in advance of your trip. This is especially important if you want to ride at sunset (the best time), or if this is a priority on your itinerary as it can book up in advance. Being disappointed on a trip when you can’t do something simply because of a lack of planning ahead is the worst, so don’t make this mistake.
1. Book Tickets on the Haeundae Blueline Park Website
You can buy tickets directly from the Blueline Park website, which should be the most straightforward way to get Sky Capsule tickets. But unfortunately, we did not find this to be the case. The website is extremely outdated and clunky. And their payment system doesn’t make it easy to pay with foreign credit cards. We hit a lot of road blocks with this method and wouldn’t recommend it.
If you want, you can try to see if the site works well for you. But if it doesn’t, I’ve provided other easier ways to book here.
2. Book as Part of a Tour
If you don’t want to deal with the hassle of the Sky Capsule’s official website, there are plenty of tours in the city that include the Sky Capsule as one of their stops. What’s great about booking through a tour is that you get to experience a ton of other major sites around Busan without having to worry about the transportation—AND they book the Sky Capsule tickets easily for you.
In case you haven’t realized yet, Busan is HUGE. It’s a very spread out city that makes it a bit difficult to get around. Uber is cheap and available here. But if you’re trying to pack a lot into a couple days, booking a guided tour is the most efficient and affordable way to see a lot in a short amount of time, while removing a lot of the hassle of planning.
I’m including the full-day tour we booked below, which was one of the best things we did our entire trip.
Whether you book a tour that includes the Sky Capsules or not, I really recommend a guided tour in Busan in general in order to see a lot of the other top sites in the city.
Here are the top tours to book in Busan that offer Sky Capsule tickets:
- Busan City Tour – This tour includes several of the city’s top sites including Gamcheon Culture Village, Huinnyeoul Culture Village, and the Oryukdo Skywalk along with the ability to add on tickets to the Sky Capsule.
- Private Customized Tour Around Busan – Let someone else take care of all the transportation around Busan and choose your own adventure from all the top highlights of the city, including tickets to the Sky Capsule.
- Gamcheon Village and Haeundae Blueline Park Tour: This full-day tour brings you to these top sites as well as the stunning Haedong Yonggungsa Temple which is right along the coast.
- Full Day Private Customizable Tour: This is the tour we booked during our time in Busan, and though we didn’t do the Sky Capsule on our day with them, it’s one of the inclusion options for anyone booking this tour. This is the best thing we did in Busan as it gave us control to visit all the sites we wanted to see in one day. And there’s no way we would have seen so much without the help of their private transport and guidance.
3. Book Individual Tickets on Get Your Guide
If you don’t want to do all the additional activities in a guided tour and just want to book Sky Capsule tickets, you can book easily on GetYourGuide, which is a reputable tour aggregator that I’ve used all over the world for my travels. It’s 10x easier to book on this website vs the Blueline Park official website which makes using foreign credit cards a challenge.
The downside here is that it’s more expensive to book through GetYourGuide. But in my opinion, it’s worth it to avoid the hassle of booking on the main site which is not user-friendly whatsoever.
4. Book in Person at the Haeundae Blueline Park Ticket Offices
For my last minute people who don’t mind leaving it up to chance, there are a limited number of tickets available daily at the Haeundae Blue line Park Ticket Offices.
I will stress again that this is a very popular attraction in the city so go as early as possible if you’re planning to get your tickets this way (I think you can get them up to 2 hours before your intended departure). Still, there are no guarantees.
We booked our tickets online for the one-way route from Cheongsapo to Mipo station ahead of time, but then decided upon on arriving at Mipo station that we wanted to ride it again back to Cheongsapo.
With no advanced tickets, we were lucky and were able to score some tickets last minute from the kiosks there, which are sold on a first-come first-serve basis. I should note that we visited in shoulder season in March. So I can’t imagine it would be as easy in summer. We still had to wait in quite a long line at Mipo station even during a less buy time of year.
Don’t forget too that tickets sell out faster from Mipo to Cheongsapo. So you could always consider Cheongsapo as your sky capsule departure if Mipo is sold out.
Our Personal Experience Riding the Sky Capsule
Now let me walk you through our full experience of riding Busan’s popular Sky Capsule trains so you can know what you expect.
Arriving at Cheongsapo Station
We had originally booked our tickets from Cheongsapo Station, which is the least popular of the two stations. We already had our tickets on our phones, so we quickly scanned in and jumped in line which moved quickly.
The line will move slower or faster depending on if groups in front of you are four, three or two, because they only fill cars with one group at a time.
During the Ride
Once we hopped in, we departed the station and enjoyed the leisurely pace along the track. They move nice and slow which gives you plenty of time to take photos or videos. And feel stable if you need to move around inside.
Inside the Sky Capsules, there are two benches on either side and a little table in the middle, and it’s easy to move around. You can also crack the windows for some fresh air as you ride.
We really wanted to ride at sunset but we didn’t time it quite right for our one-way trip from Cheongsapo to Mipo Station—plus, this ride runs along the inner track further away from the water so the views are slightly different. The ride took around 30 minutes total before we arrived in Mipo Station.
Arriving at Mipo Station
Once we arrived at Mipo Station, we realized we wanted to ride it back again to Cheongsapo to get the best light (which is about 30 minutes before the actual sunset time). Luckily since we were traveling in shoulder season. So we were able to get last-minute tickets at the kiosk at Mipo Station.
The lines at Mipo Station however were much longer and moved more slowly than at Cheongsapo. But we were still able to hop on just in time to get the most beautiful, soft glowy light for our photos.
Busan Sky Capsule FAQ
What are the operating hours of the Sky Capsule?
The train opens at 9 a.m. and closes anywhere between 6 and 8:30 p.m. depending on the season. Here is the full seasonal schedule:
- Winter Season (November, December, January, February) 09:00~18:00
- Off-Season (March, April, October) 09:00~18:30
- High Season (May, June, September) 09:00~19:30
- Polar Season (July, August) 09:00~20:30
Always make sure to check the official site for the Blueline Sky Capsule, to double check for updated information.
How do the time slots work?
Tickets are given in 30 minute time slots. And that time period is for when you line up, not for when the capsule actually departs. Once you arrive, there will be a queue even though you have a set tim. So make sure to arrive a little earlier than when you actually want to depart (this really only matters if you’re trying to time it for sunset or are on a specific time schedule).
For example, if you want to be on the Sky Capsule for a 7 p.m. sunset, you won’t want to show up right at 7, you’ll want to get in line about 30 minutes to an hour beforehand.
Sunset is a very popular time to ride the capsules. So definitely book in advance if you want to travel during this time. For sunset too, you’ll want to depart from Mipo Station for the best pics. And we found that the light was best about 30 minutes before the actual sunset time.
What is the difference between the Sky Capsule and the Beach Train?
Reminder again that the Sky Capsule is different than the beach train. But tickets are sold in the same location, so make sure to not book this by mistake.
While the Sky Capsules run along a raised track in Haeundae Blueline Park, the Beach Train is a ground-level train running along the coast that makes multiple stops throughout the journey to allow visitors to get on and off at various points of interest.
How many people can fit inside each train car?
Each train car fits four people, but they make sure that every trip is private. So you never have to sit with strangers if your party is fewer than four. It’s really nice the way they do this, because you feel like you get a relaxing and private experience.
What is there to do nearby to the Blueline Park Sky Capsule?
Other places worth checking out near Haeundae Blueline Park include Haeundae Beach, Haewol Observatory, and Dongbaekseom island which features a stunning coastal walk.
If you have some time to kill after the Sky Capsule, there’s a famous ice cream place near Mipo Station called Horangi Jella Tteok Rice Cake that is worth checking out. And we LOVED the Japanese-inspired coffee shop, Simmian which is within walking distance to Cheongsapo Station. For great restaurants nearby, check out Born and Bread or Haemok Haeundae.
And as always, when traveling I always recommend getting travel insurance and I’ve found that this is the best budget travel insurance.
Are you planning to visit Busan and take a ride on the famous sky capsule? Let me know if you found this post helpful!
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