DaeguWeb - A Multimedia Guide to Life in Daegu Korea

Bus: All four of the local bus stations have information lines which you can call during the hours that the bus station is open and learn destinations and departure times: if you can speak Korean that is. There are links for several stations which have info in Korean including the first bus and last bus departure time, and the cost of the journey.

Buukbu Terminal: 357-1851 link

Buukbu Terminal can be reached by a wide variety of buses. It is often on the route to and from Chilgok. Some useful buses include the 309, 936, 427, and 356. Buses from Buukbu go to locations to the North (Buuk) of Daegu, including Ansan, Osan, Inchon, Andong, Sangju, Sungju, Choongju etc.

Doengbu Terminal: 756-0017 link This link works for Buukbu and Doengbu Station info.

This bus station services the eastern part of Korea, especially it includes buses leaving for popular destinations like Kyungju and Pohang every 10-15 minutes. It is reachable by a variety of buses including the 646, 242, 518.

Seobu Terminal: 656-2824 link

Located on the subway line (exit at Sungdangmot), is south of Duryu Park. Buses from Seobu Terminal go to Namwon, Pohang, Jinju, Masan, Hae'insa, Hapchon, Gochang, Kyungju... in other words a very wide range of destinations, not only ones located to the west as the name of the station would indicate.

Nambu Terminal: 743-4464 link

Buses from Nambu head south, but it must be explained that this is the smallest bus terminal in Daegu, and actually does not offer a wide variety of southern locations. It does go to Miryang, Oonmoonsa, and Chungdo. Reaching Nambu Terminal is easy, any bus going to Kyungsan or Shiji will pass by the terminal. For example, the 454, 402, 309, 609, 427, and 509.

Extra bus station info: If you are traveling through Daegu and you need to go from Buukbu Terminal to Seobu or Nambu Terminal, take the 454 bus (you have to catch it on the street outside of Buukbu, not in the special bus pull up spot in the terminal complex). From Seobu to Doengbu Terminal you should take the 646-1 or the 518 (but from Doengbu to Seobu take the 646 not the 646-1). If you need to go from Nambu to Buukbu take the 309. From Seobu to Nambu take the 609.

Hayang Bus Terminal: 852-4081

Hyeonpung Bus Terminal: 614-2071

Gyeongsan Bus Terminal: 815-0248

Express Buses:

If you call the phone number 1588-6900 (toll free) you can obtain departure times and ticket prices from any location to any location in Korea at any time of the day or night. Unfortunately it requires some good Korean listening skills. You can't get a live person to help on this number so you have to follow a long and torturous series of "press a number" before you get the info you want. However, slightly easier to use (if you can read Hangeul) is this website: http://kobus.co.kr on this site you can get the info for any express bus from any station to any other station in Korea.

This link will show you the schedule and price list from SEOUL Express terminal to Daegu or any other city. It's a useful site if you want to know what time the last bus to Daegu is going to be leaving.

Seodaegu Express Bus Terminal:

The Seodaegu Terminal is user friendly. Any bus leaving from the Main Express Terminal Complex and heading north or west will stop by Seodaegu. That means Junju, Gwanju, Seoul, etc. can be caught from Seodaegu Terminal. The bus times they'll give you on the phone are the times for departure from the Main Complex, add 10-15 minutes for the departure time from Seodaegu. Seodaegu terminal is right down the street from Buukbu Bus Terminal and the Daegu city buses which service one, service the other. It's about a 5-8 minute walk between the two terminals.

Daegu Main Express Bus Terminal Complex: 743-1961

This is not user friendly. There are actually multiple terminal buildings, occupied according to the bus company which serves the city. So Junju is NOT in the same terminal as Gwangju. To find out bus departure times on the phone you actually have to call the individual companies, which requires knowing which company goes to which city. It's a big pain in the rear if you ask me. Hanjin Express: 743-2828 Kolon Express: 743-2282 Hanil Express: 743-2956 Kumho Express: 743-1101 Dongyang Express: 743-1961 Jungang Express: 743-2662 Cheonil Express: 755-1001 and Samhwa Express: 754-3606.

Train:

Daegu has two train stations. Daegu Station is located just off the side from downtown. Unfortunately Daegu Station is NOT served by 1st class trains. Dongdaegu Terminal is served by all trains which enter and exit Daegu.

Train Info (both stations): 1544-7788

Daegu and Dongdaegu Station are on the subway lines and the subway stops are named after the train stations. Since Daegu is on the major North-South line, any train going to/from Busan and Seoul goes through Daegu. In addition Dongdaegu Station offers trains on the less frequently used East-West line. Remember that weekend train journeys usually require either reservations or standing up on the train. If you want to make reservations but don't have time to visit the train station, you can buy a ticket at the nearest Gu-office (you know, like Namgu, Seogu...). You can also purchase airplane tickets at the Gu-offices.

Transport inside Daegu:

Taxis are fast and easy methods of transportation, but often prohibitively expensive. Many foreigners seem to rely on taxis as a method of avoiding learning the bus routes, but the buses are so easy that is quite silly. Taxis start at 1,500 won during the day and at midnight the rate goes up.

Subway: Daegu has one subway line at present. The next line will start operation in 2005 or perhaps even later. There are currently four lines total planned for Daegu. Originally there were more, but the financial crisis of 97-98 caused the city to scale back and to slow the schedule for construction. The existing subway line runs from the North-East to the South-West through downtown Daegu. The next line will run straight East to West, the third line will be from the North-West to South-East and the last line will be a circle. The first three lines will intersect at Banwoldang, one stop to the South of downtown Daegu. The subway begins operation around 5:30 a.m. and desists around 11:30 p.m. depending on the stop location. Trains at their most frequent run every 5 minutes, late and early they may come as infrequently as 11 minutes apart.

Subway line number 1 Stop Names: Anshim-Gaksan-Banyawol- Shingi-Yulha-Yonggae- Bangchon-Haean- Dongchon-Ahyanggyo-Keungogae-Dongdaegu Station-Shincheon- Chilseong-Daegu Station- Joongangno-Banwoldang-Myeongduk-National University of Education-Yeongnam University Hospital-Hyeonchungno-Anjirang-Daemyeong- Seongdangmot-Songhyeon-Wolchon-Sangin -Wolbae-Jincheon-Daegok. The subway is running at both ends, but not passing through downtown, at least until the structural safety of the Joongangno stop has been assured.

Downtown: Joongangno

Airport: Ahyanggyo (20 minutes walk, at least)

Immigration: Dongchon

Seobu Bus Station: Sungdangmot

Art and Culture Center: Sungdangmot (10 minute walk)

Duryu Park and Woobang Tower Land: Sungdangmot (20 minute walk to Woobang)

Gallery Street (Bongsan): Banwoldang

Medicine Street: Banwoldang or Joongangno

Buses in Daegu are one of the reasons I love this city. The only problem with the buses is that they don't start until 5:30 a.m. (count on a bus by 6 a.m. no matter where you are) and they end at 11:00 p.m. (don't count on a bus after 10:30). Buses go everywhere. The first thing to know about the buses is that there is a logic to the numbers on the bus. Sometime during their route they will be passing through the zones indicated by the three digit number. Since only 10 numbers are available and sometimes buses go through 4 or 5 or more zones, it's still only a rough guide, but it's amazingly accurate nonetheless. I live in zone 6. Almost every bus near my house has a 6 either as the first, second or third number. Usually the first or third, since the mid point on the bus's journey is indicated by the middle number. Hence many buses have the middle number 0 which corresponds to downtown. I will try to make an English bus zone number map, but for now:

0	downtown and Namgu directly South of Downtown
1	Donggu
2	Seogu
3	Buukgu
4	Susunggu
5	Sungseo, Duryu Park, Dasa
6	Wulsung, Sangin, Daegok, Wulbae, Hwawon
7	Chilgok
8	Anshim, Hayang
9	Shiji and Kyungsan

So a bus that says 242 is going to be a circular route, with the center of the route being Susunggu and the start and end being in Seogu. Always be careful with those circular buses! You can waste a lot of time if you catch one in the wrong direction. Most circular buses have a -1 option, which is the reverse. So the 454 and the 454-1. A bus like the 936 would go from Shiji to Buukgu and then to the Dalseogu area.

There are tokens (metal ones for the standing buses and paper slips for sitting) that get you a slight discount but the best bet by far is to buy a Daegu transportation card (now operational for the subway as well). The card costs 2,000 won. The first time you buy one, but after that you just randomly apply as much money to your card as you want, at any of the booths next to the street that sell things like gum, cigarettes and bus tokens. I usually put 20-30,000 won on my card at a time. It's so stress free!

Photos: Copyright 2000 Cedar Bough Photography. Photos may not be copied or used in any way shape or form without express permission of the photographer. For more information email cedar_bough@yahoo.com.