Where to stay in Changwon

Changwon is the capital and largest city of South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, and the 11th largest city of the country. A port city, Changwon is bordered by Masan Bay to the south, and the cities of Busan and Gimhae to the east.

Developed in the 1970s, it was designed to be the new capital for Gyeongsangnam-do and an alternative capital for the country should Seoul be invaded. The city is surrounded by mountains which provides protection. A missile defense station sits on top of the southern mountain range. Changwon boasts of the longest straight road in the nation (Changwon Main Road - Changwondae-no) which is over 12 km long. If necessary the road can be used as a landing runway.

Getting in

Changwon is to the west of Busan, and most travel to Changwon is via this international hub. Located in the southeastern part of Gyeongsangnam-do, it is located in Gangseo-gu in Busan and Gimhae to the east, bordering Miryang and Changnyeong-gun on the Nakdong River to the north, Haman-gun, Jinju, Goseong-gun to the west, and Geoje City to the south. There is Masan Bay in the center of the city and Jinhae Bay in the south.

Getting around

There are two types of city buses; express and normal. The express bus costs a little more but have fewer stops. The normal bus stops at every stop and most routes run into neighboring towns Jinhae and Masan. Current cash price is ₩1,300 for a normal bus and ₩1,800 for an express. When using a transportation card (T-money card) for payment, price is ₩1,250 for a normal bus and ₩1,750 for an express. Taxis are also a very common mode of transportation. Taxis can almost always be flagged down within a couple minutes on any semi-major to major road.

Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.