All you need to know for your first trip to South Korea

Last Updated on January 15, 2025 by Laura

Thanks to the worldwide popularity of K-pop idols, K-dramas and, more recently, K-beauty products, South Korea has now become one of the top destinations to visit in Asia. However, there is still a lot that potential visitors need to learn about the country. Particularly when it comes to travel organisation and day-to-day trip planning. This because, until a few years ago, South Korea wasn’t that popular among western tourists, especially compared to other “famous” neighbours like Japan or China. In this first-time travel to South Korea guide, I will share all the knowledge coming from my Korean studies and all that I learnt from my trip. This will be very useful for planning your trip!

South Korea, this mysterious land!

You probably watched Crash Landing on You already 10 times, or fell in love with Nam Joo-hyuk the moment he walks (as Nam Do San) towards Bae Suzy in Start Up. You daydreamed every single day of long walks along the Han River and romantic colourful sunsets from the top of the Seoul Tower. Finally, you decide to plan that trip to this crazy K-drama land but hey…! Why everything is in Hangul???? Aish!!!

Many travellers have a sudden smash with reality when it comes to organise their trip to South Korea. In fact, unless you leave everything in the hands of a tour operator, organising a DYI visit to this beautiful country is not easy as planning a weekend to Barcelona. In fact, exactly as we (western countries) put South Korea on our bucket list just a couple of years ago, likewise Koreans are not used to a large influx of western tourists crazy about their culture. This means that as a tourist you might find some communication barriers. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Au contraire.

However, you have to consider that many directions, (some) tourist and information websites, booking systems and other similar services that are easily accessible in English in other countries, in Korea are predominantly in Hangul. This makes the planning of a first-timer trip a little more difficult than necessary. Especially for those who are not familiar to Korean language.

Frankly speaking, I love this. In world that is ever more globalised, South Korea still keeps that mysterious aura and authenticity that is becoming difficult to find nowadays. Sadly, I believe that this sudden popularity in tourism will sooner change its overture to the world. Everything will become more touristically accessible (and boring?), but until then, my guide will be your friendly companion to South Korea. So stick to this page and start planning your trip!

How to plan a trip to South Korea. First-time travel guide

To make your planning easy, I will divide this article into various different sections. Each one of them is equally important to have a smooth trip and don’t look like a dummy tourist at every single step. I firmly believe that a good 90% of every successful trip lies in a good pre-trip preparation. For this reason, I strongly advocate to research each destinations carefully before departing. I am still in disbelief about how many people go to places and know absolutely nothing about their destination.

The culture of the six Hans

If you want to visit South Korea, I strongly recommend to get culturally acquainted to Korean culture. This encompasses many different themes from history, music, food etc. All these themes constitute the spirit of a country that is fiercely resilient and incredibly innovative at the same time. Korean traditional heritage is often identified as the culture of the six “Hans”: Hangul (Alphabet), Hansik (Food), Hanbok (Clothing), Hanok (Traditional Housing), Hanja (Chinese Characters), and Hanguk-Eumak (Music). On the other side, contemporary Korean culture is often identified with anything related to the K-wave: K-pop, K-dramas, K-beauty etc.

If there is something that I learnt from Korean culture, is that this is made of very strong contrasts and contradictions. Old and new traditions coexist without clashing with each other, but blending in a way that you can’t have one without the other. The country that has given us the wonderful BTS, it’s still the same that has a deep respect for hierarchies based on ages and professions. This because centuries of Confucianism have shaped Koreans in a population with a core of deep values for family, respect for the elders and leadership. Younger generations are more flexible in relation to some of the strictest social norms of the traditional Korean society. However, this doesn’t mean those “implicit rules” of social behaviour don’t exist. As a tourist is better to be aware of some of the simplest ones, in order to be respectful.

Korean social Etiquette

Learning Korean social etiquette should be a big part of your preparation for your trip to South Korea. As I said before, because of Korea’s history of Confucian doctrine, social norms and interactions, particularly between people who are not strict friends, follow specific rules. You don’t want to risk being rude or irrespecutful of the people and country you are visiting. For this reason, I grouped here some simple rules to follow when interacting with Koreans in general situations.

Greetings

When you meet someone in South Korea, is good custom to do a short bow. If you are a man, you can also add a light handshake. Between young people you can also wave with your hand. Make sure to use only your body and not your hands in form of praying. You are not in India or Bali.

• Short bows are used for greetings when meeting someone and can be accompanied by the phrase “Annyeonghaseyo” (안녕하세요). That could be translated as Hello and How are you at the same time. Similar when Brits say “Hi Are U right?” but more polite.
• Short bows are used when exchanging objects as a sort of “thank you”.
• Short bows are used when meeting elder people as a sign of respect.

Make sure your bend is around 15 degrees. Deeper bow are usually used in business exchanges or very formal occasions.

Accepting/receiving something

If you receive something in your hand. From a dish, a business card or your grocery, Korean etiquette implies that you accept this with both hands + a short bow with your head in sign of respect. It’s considered a little rude to just take something with one hand from someone who is kindly giving you a service or making you aware of his profession.

Drinking manners

Korean etiquette for drinking is quite articulated. However, some basic rules imply that if you receive a drink from someone older than you, accept this with both hands. Moreover, is polite to turn your head on the side and cover your glass with your hand when drinking in front of other people. There is also a certain hierarchy when drinking and it’s considered rude to refuse a drink from someone older than you. Usually the elder person on the table opens the first bottle of soju and pour it to the others. If you are with Korean friends and unsure on what to do, just wait for someone to pour you a drink. Last thing, the first shot of a drink needs to go all at once!

Eating manners

When it comes to eating, there are also rules related to ages and professional positions. If you happen to eat with Korean friends, the elder person is usually eating first. Any meal usually start with the phrase jal meokgesseumnida 잘 먹겠습니다. This can be translated as “I will eat well”. This shows respect for the chef and in general acknowledge that you are looking forward to your meal. We have something similar in Italian. In fact we say Buon Appetito before every meal for similar reasons. When finishing the meal, you can thank with the phrase jal meogeotseumnida 잘 먹었습니다, meaning “I ate well”.

A note about chopsticks. Don’t stick them into the bowl or rice/food. This is done in funeral ceremonies and it’s considered rude. Keep your chopsticks on the side of the bowl and with the points not touching the table.

Last but not least, if your meal is served in a large plate, don’t eat directly from it. You have probably been provided with small plates too. Use those to pick up small portions. In fact, Korean culture implies that is polite sharing food and it’s rude to keep a big portion all for you!

Removing shoes

As in many other Asian countries, also in South Korea is polite to remove your shoes in certain environments. You must remove your shoes before entering any accommodation, religious temples, certain restaurants and cafes. This is considered respectful and shows that you are clean. Generally, there are specific locations where you can leave your shoes and change them with specific indoor footwear.

Display of affection

If you are travelling as a couple, be mindful of your displays of affection. In fact, Korean culture is a little rigid from this point of view. Older generations are particularly susceptible to what we consider a normal display of affection in western culture such as kissing in public. Although new generations are more open towards this, is considered polite to avoid exaggerations. Therefore is OK to hold hands but you will be looked with suspect if started kissing in the middle of the street.

Essential facts about South Korea that are actually useful for your trip

The below are some information that you can find useful for your first trip to South Korea.

• If you wish a coffee before 10 am, do this at your place. We discovered that many of the lovely cafes in South Korea open very late in the morning. Usually between 10 and 11 am. Starbucks is an exception but I have to say I am not so keen on their coffee.
• South Korea has a rainy season. This starts in late June and continues throughout the summer. It’s not the best period to visit because it rains a lot and this can ruin your experience.
• T-money machines are cash only. Sad but true you’ll need to have cash to charge them.
• Restaurants and street markets close pretty early. Around 9 pm many restaurants stopped serving food and we found out that also the markets were closing! If you aim for a more lively nightlife head to Hongdae or Itaewon. In these neighbourhood restaurants close later.
• English is not as widely spoken as one might think. We had a few (quite funny) communication issues as most people we met didn’t speak a word of English. Be prepared to use translations apps and every single word you know in Korean.
• All the metro stations in Seoul and Busan are numbered to allow faster entrance/exit. These are are particularly useful when you need to get a connection between two metro lines.
• Google Maps doesn’t work. The only mapping service working is Naver. I recommend you to download this app BEFORE going. You can read more in my article about Apps needed for your trip in Korea.

Booking your flights

If you are travelling from Europe or USA you’ll soon discover that flights to South Korea are quite expensive. Usually they are no less than £1,500 per person a/r in economy flights ($2000 circa). This was one of the main reason I delayed my trip to Korea for a long time. Luckily, with the opening of SK to the world more airlines are finally flying to Seoul. Therefore, prices are a little more affordable now than it were two years ago!

Thankfully, last year I found a pretty good deal with Qatar Airways and by using a considerable amount of Avios I managed to fly two people a/r for £1200 from Milan (we were in Italy for the summer). A bargain! However, my suggestion is to book flights at least 6 months in advance. Flights to Seoul are cheaper than flights to Busan. If you need internal flights (e.g. to Jeju), Korean Air is much more expensive than budget airlines such as T’Way.

Book your hotels

There are plenty of accommodations in South Korea ranging from ultra luxury hotels, to traditional accommodations and budget options. If you have a bucket list place you want to book, my recommendation is to book this as early as possible. Especially if it’s a traditional accommodation. These have limited space and get booked pretty fast. I usually book all my hotels through Booking.com. Nevertheless, in the case of South Korea, I used multiple platforms because traditional accommodations are not fully available in western apps. Klook is also a very good platform for scouting unique accommodations in South Korea!

All the accommodations I stayed in South Korea

If you want to follow my itinerary, here below you can find a comprehensive list of all the places I booked in South Korea. Each link will bring you to the booking page. If I wrote about my experience here on the blog, you’ll find a link also a link to all the details of my experience.

• Seoul – Hanok Nujung via Stayfolio. You can read about our experience at Nujung here.
• Seoul – Rakkojae Main Hanok. You can read about our experience at Rakkojae here.
• Seoul – Hanok Essay Seochon via Stayfolio. You can read about our experience at Hanok Essay here.
• Gyeongju-si – Soi Hanok Stay
• Gyeongju-si – Temple stay at Golgulsa Temple
• Busan – The Coolest Hotel
• Jeju – Jocheonmasil via Stayfolio. You can read about our experience at Jocheonmasil here.
• Jeju – Around Follie via Stayfolio. You can read about our experience at Around Follie here.

Let’s talk about your itinerary

After many years of travel planning and also doing this as a professional, I’ve learnt that itineraries are a bit like perfumes. They are personal. What works for me doesn’t necessarily means that it works for someone else. This because the needs, budget and cultural background of each person is different and not everyone is interested in the same thing. That’s why in this blog I always encourage to adapt my suggestion to your own needs and travel times.

Regarding your first-time travel to South Korea, everything in your itinerary depends on the time you are going to spend in the country and the budget you have.

How long should I stay in South Korea?

For a first trip, I would generally recommend at least 10 days. This is the minimum amount of time if you want to experience the “big 3” (Seoul, Busan and Jeju island) without rushing and maybe adding also something else. 3 weeks would be the ideal time but not many people have that amount of time off work all at once. We planned a 2 weeks itinerary and this was enough to cover a lot of ground!

Budget for a trip to South Korea

Is South Korea expensive? This is a question that I always been asked and my reply is never yes or no. In fact, it always depends on your budget. I will give you an estimate of the costs you can expect for your trip so you can judge yourself for your own itinerary. What I can tell you is that we spent around £5,000 for our trip. However, I had a partnership for a few of our accommodations. This means I saved some money overall. I believe that a two weeks trip on a medium budget would be around £7,000/8,000 for 2 people.

Of course, one can do this at much lower prices by saving on accommodations (i.e. using hostels or lower categories hotels) and using convenience stores instead of dining out in restaurants every day. We certainly didn’t travel on a budget this time. Therefore, you have room to save something on a few categories.

What to expect to spend on a medium budget in Korea

Breaking down more or less our expenses, here is how much we spent in two people for 2 weeks. Please note this is an estimation.

• Transport – £1200 international flights + £300 internal flights to Jeju. Please consider that general prices range around £1500 per person generally. If you have rewards points/Avios is worth to put the on to save on $$$.
• Accommodation – £800 (this includes only 4 out of 8 accommodations we used because of my partnership with Stayfolio). If I had to account all the accommodations, the money spent would range around £2000.
• Food – £700 Food is not that expensive in South Korea and one can easily live on supermarket food or street food for a week paying a minimum amount. Food is pricey when you start going to seated restaurants every day.
• Sightseeing – £150 This was the least expensive thing as many sights around Korea are free or really cheap to visit.
• Car Rental 5 days – £500 (Seoul to Gyeongju-si 3 days + Jeju days). Car rental is generally cheap but because we opted for a one way rental from Seoul there was a “one way tax” to pay that was more than the rental itself.
• Taxi + Public Transport (train/metro)- £200 Not really sure how much we spent in taxi but we relied on them a lot. They are quite cheap and I estimated we spent in total around £150 for 2 people.
• Activities – £200. We didn’t do too many activities, but I estimate this amount for things like renting the hanbok, going to the spa etc.
• Portable Wi-Fi – £20. This was very cheap! We connected two devices and it worked perfectly.
• Shopping – £1000 Here I spent all my savings! We literally bought another luggage in Korea to fit all the things we bought. We mostly bought toys for the kids and skincare products but be prepared to spend a lot of money!

First-time travel to South Korea – Trains, cars and all in between

For our trip to South Korea we used a mix of means of transport to move around. We wanted to cover as much ground as possible in the time we had so we had to maximise our movements. To get around Seoul we used exclusively taxi, the metro and our feet. To get out of the city and reach the area of Gyeongju, we rented a car. This because the schedule of the trains had very weird times that wouldn’t allow us to do all the stops we wanted. Plus, we had a temple stay in the middle of the mountain and it was easier to go by car.

We reached Busan from Gyeongju by train but once there we moved mostly by taxi. Lastly, in Jeju we got around by rented car again. Here below I’ll specify some information for each one of these means that you can use for your trip.

Renting a car in South Korea

Before heading straight to the rental site, just be aware that for driving in South Korea you’ll need an international driving licence permit. If you live in the UK, you’ll need to request an IDP 1949 in any of the authorised Post Offices. If you live abroad, you’ll have to check how to obtain this from the authorities of your country.

Renting a car in South Korea is pretty straightforward. Possibly easier than other countries I visited. I warmly recommend you to use Lotte Rent-a-car when choosing your provider. We used them both in Seoul and Jeju and they are super professional and honest.

You just choose your car, pay for the insurance (which is all inclusive for tourists) and collect your car. They also give your money back if by any chance you return your car sometime before your scheduled time. We returned our car like one hour before and they gave back something like $9. I was shocked. Never happened with any car rental before. Prices are also very competitive. For two days in Jeju we paid about $60.

Booking train tickets in South Korea

Booking train tickets in South Korea can be a little headache if you never done this before. This because the Korail website is not very tourist friendly. Moreover, if you are a first timer, you might get confused between type of trains and passes. Here below you can find a little info box with the main trains types you can find in Korea and how to book them.

• KTX (Korean Train Express). This is South Korea’s high speed bullet train. It connects main hubs and it’s very fast (and popular). You can travel between Seoul and Busan in just two hours!
• SRT (Super Rapid Trains). Similar to KTX but operates only in specific areas between Suseo to Mokpo / Suseo to Busan
• ITX – Intercity trains. These are slower (and cheaper) than KTX and SRT but they cover the same routes.
• Mugunghwa. Very slow trains that are good for slow travel/sightseeing. Apparently they will be dismissed in 2027.
• Nuriro. Slightly faster than Mugunghwa, this train operates between Dongdaegu station and Donghae station.
• Arex – This is the train connecting Seoul airports to Seoul city.

If you are wondering how to book train tickets in Korea, there are essentially two ways. Buying a KORAIL Pass or book a single ticket.

KORAIL Pass

The Korail Pass is designed exclusively for foreign tourist. It’s similar to the JR Pass for Japan and allows tourist to unlimited travel on all the above mentioned trains. The pass covers travels from 2 up to 5 days. The pass can be:

• Consecutive. For non stop travels up to 3 or 5 days in a row.
• Flexible. For 2 or 4 days of unlimited train rides within 10 days not to be used consecutively.
• Saver. For groups of 2 up to 5 people travelling together.

Price start at $95 per person for a 2 day pass to $178.55 for a 5 day pass. This pass can be really convenient only if you are planning to travel extensively by train. Particularly if you share the trip with someone since you can use the saver discount on top of the type of pass. However, if you have to do one or two trips is not really convenient and is better to opt for single tickets.

If you want to buy the Korail pass, you can do it in two ways. Via the Korail website here or via the Klook app/website here. I personally recommend Klook because the interface is fully in English and is much more user-friendly to use. Moreover, the Korail website is often timed out for some reason.

Please note that Arex tickets are not available on Korail. However, you can book them with Klook here.

Booking single train tickets in South Korea

As I needed just one trip from Gyeongju to Busan by train, I decided to book a single ticket. The only way to do this without getting scammed is via the Korail website. I was almost tempted to do it via Railninja, but after reading the many reviews of scams, I decided to have patience and going through the main website.

There are 3 main things you need to know if you want to book a train ticket in Korea:

1. Tickets are released only one month prior to your needed date, so it’s not possible to book them before.
2. Korail website is not always 100% working. I found out this is a common problem with Korean websites, possibly because servers in Korea have some kind of security issues but websites are often off either if you want to book a ticket or an activity etc. The only thing to do is wait an hope they return online soon. Hence the patience that you need.
3. Take note of your station carefully as there are many similar ones and you don’t want to book the wrong drop off.
4. There are no sleepers trains in Korea. So if you were planning an overnight trip. That’s not possible.

How to book a train ticket in South Korea

To book a rail ticket, go to Letskorail.com (this is the official website). From here you will see a basic interface where you have to specify the details of your train request. I recommend you to leave the travel type on “normal” and travel path on “direct” to avoid further confusion. Choose your date and preferred hour. On the departure/arrival boxes use the magnifier lens to find your station. They are divided in alphabetical order. Once you click “inquiry” a few train options will appear under the result. They are colour coded. Pink is usually the KTX.

To see the fare for each class you can use once again the magnifier lens. KTX and ITX have both first and second class. I personally booked a first class seat for my trip and it costed about $25 for two people.

Once you selected your train, you can pay and will receive a basic confirmation. To note this won’t include your tickets (so don’t panic). You will have to retrieve your booking from the Korail system from the “my reservation” section. Here, you can download the tickets from the website. I know, it’s pretty annoying but they won’t get lost don’t worry.

Make sure you arrive at the station 10/15 min before. Bigger stations are quite confusing the first time and you might feel a little lost. Differently from European countries you won’t see any turnstiles or people checking your tickets. Just jump on the train and you’ll be fine.

The headache of booking attractions in South Korea

Korean landmarks and attractions, this unknown beautiful world! When I first started planning my trip I had literally no clue on how to pay for tickets for palaces, temples and anything in between. Literally no one out on the web was explaining clearly how to access South Korean attractions. For a few ones, I managed to find their websites. Of course all of them rigorously in Hangul and clearly out of my basic Korean language skills. Thankfully, I am not one that gives up easily. So, I used every means possible to get a reservation on those activities for which it was a must. Here below, you will find months of my headaches resolved in a few different groups that will ease your planning for South Korea.

Temples

Temples in South Korea are free to access. This is valid for every temple you visit, everywhere in the country. Therefore, if someone ask you money to access a temple, it’s a scam. We visited temples all around the places we’ve been visiting and no one has asked money to us. Of course if you have a guide supporting your visit, this might have a cost but if you travel independently, access is free.

The solely exception might be if you decide to undertake a Temple Stay. Because this is a program involving several activities and covering food and accommodation, there is a cost associated to it depending where you decide to go. We did this at Golgulsa Temple and it was a fantastic experience.

Royal Palaces

Most of South Korea’s royal palaces are located between Seoul and Gyeongju. The access to these palaces is not free but the fee is very minimal compared to what we usually pay for similar attractions in Europe. Indeed, tickets are usually 2-3$

Don’t waste your time trying to book the tickets for these palaces online as these are sold directly at the entrance. You can pay also with your T-money card. Prices are as follow.

In Seoul:

• Gyeongbokgung Palace – 3,000 KRW per person. Free for hanbok wearers (follow directions at the entrance of the second gate)
• Changdeokgung Palace – 3,000 KRW – Secret Garden has a different policy see below.
• Changgyeonggung Palace – 1,000 KRW
• Deoksugung Palace – 1,000 KRW
• Gyeonghuigung Palace – Free entrance

In Gyeingju:

• Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond – 3,000 KRW

Be aware these palaces have weekly closures and might not be open on week days.

Changdeokgung Secret Garden

Something you will discover soon is that many palaces in Seoul have separate sections accessible through “special reservations” systems. Gyeongbokgung Palace had one of those special areas, but I really couldn’t find how to book it and tickets weren’t sold at the entrance. One of the most famous special site is the Secret Garden of Changdeokgung Palace. This exclusive area of the palace dates 1462 and only the King and its royal family were allowed in these premises.

To keep the crowds away from this special place, the tourism authorities have decided to limit the access to the garden. In fact, this is visitable only with a palace organised tour and for a maximum of 30 people per tour (increased now to 50 due to high demand). Tickets are theoretically sold in the morning at the entrance of the garden (there is a ticket hub). However, many tourists are turned back by the officers saying that everything is fully booked even early in the morning.

How this is possible? Because they sell the tickets online 6 days before. So by the time you arrive there, you can access only the tickets that remain unsold from the week before. That usually is ZERO.

How to book tickets for the Changdeokgung Secret Garden

My original plan was that of getting those tickets at any cost by planting myself in front of the ticket office everyday. However, digging into the web and chat discussions on the topic, I found out that the Palace management Office was actually selling them online.

You can book your tickets through this website.

Some notes for your booking:

• The site is partially in English partially in Korean.
• You must create an account on the website before buying any ticket. This will be deleted automatically after 3 months
• Tickets are released only 6 days before at 9 am. So make sure to add the release date on your calendar. They go super fast during spring and autumn. However, summer was pretty booked up to.
• Tours last 70 mins and are only in English or Korean
• The garden is pretty far from the actual palace entrance so allow you at least 20 mins walk.
• You will receive a voucher to exchange at the ticket counter. There might be a queue for this. Therefore allow at least an extra 15 mins. In total is better to arrive 30/40 mins before your visit time.
• If you arrive late, you are doomed. Your reservation is lost.
• Ticket cost is KRW 5,000 ($3,62)

Hanbok Rentals

Wearing a hanbok and looking like a princess of the Joseon era is on a bucket list of many. But where is the best place to rent? How all it works? If you are a first timer in South Korea, choosing the right hanbok rental place can be a little daunting as the offers is more than expected. I had the same doubts at the beginning and I didn’t want to leave everything the last minute risking to spend a fortune or not finding the right place.

For this reason, I pre-booked my hanbok rental with Klook. The process was all straightforward as the app is super easy to use. If you want to do your own research just click on the app/website and write “Hanbok rental Seoul”. All the places available will pop out for you.

If you want to use the same place I booked, just follow this link via Klook. I booked with Hanboknam and my experience was very positive. You have to exchange your voucher on arrival. From there the staff will help you choosing your hanbok, do your hair and choose accessories. We paid £20 for 4 hours rental in 2 people.

Busan Sky Capsule (Haeundae Blueline Park)

One of the most famous attractions in Busan is the Haeundae Blueline Park. This is made of two different activities: the beach train and the sky capsules. You probably seen these all over the internet. Colourful little cabins that go very slowly on a elevated path over the coastline. Well, these little cabins are so popular that tickets gets sold out in minutes. You can buy tickets on locations but many foreign tourists don’t know that people with an online reservation have the priority over people in loco. Therefore if the spots are fully booked you’ll be turned away.

I warmly recommend to pre-book your ticket online and avoid any issue. There are different types of tickets:

• Tickets for the Beach Train only – KRW 7,000 (KRW 12,000 for 2 passengers travelling together)
• Tickets for the Sky Capsules only KRW 35,000 one to two people
• Package tickets. Train + Sky Capsule for 2 people KRW 59,000

There are different departure stations with Mipo station being the most popular one for the capsules at sunset time. We personally booked a package as we took the train from Sonjeong to Mipo station and the Capsule from Mipo to Cheongsapo Station. Please allow at least 30 mins between the two activities.

For ticket reservations you can book exclusively via the Blueline Park website:

• Reservation for single tickets
• Reservation for packages

Jimjilbang

If you never heard about this before, don’t worry. A jjimjilbang is a traditional South Korean bathhouse. Here you can enjoy a series of activities and treatments such as hot and cold baths, saunas, scrubs and spa treatments. However, modern jjimjilbang have also game rooms, relaxation rooms, restaurants and everything you can possibly imagine for a relaxing evening. Some jjimjilbang are open 24h and in some you can even sleep there. Going to a jjimjilbang is an essential part of the Korean culture and I warmly recommend to try this experience when visiting the country.

One of the best jjimjilbang you can visit on your first trip is located in Busan. This is called Spaland and it’s located within Shinsegae, a department store for luxury brands. Spaland is one the most modern, luxurious and biggest jjimjilbang in the entire South Korea. Visiting is not only an experience, it’s a real pleasure in all its senses!

We spent an entire afternoon/night there remaining until the closure at 10 pm and we wish we could have stayed more! Despite culture shocking because, well you have to go around naked in the wet section of the spa (they have separate gender sections), it was one of the best activities we did and I would do it other million times!

If you want to book a ticket for Spaland, you can do it in presence at the counter or online via Klook with this link (there is a little discount via Klook). Tickets on Klook are $14.79 for a 4 hours experience.

Don’t forget to download all the necessary apps!

One of the things that I learn from my trip is that there are a few apps that will make your trip much more smoother. Not only Klook, but T-luggage, Naver etc. I’ve explained each one of them in detail on a separate blog post that you can read through the link below.

Essential Apps that you will need for your trip to South Korea

The first 5 things you must do as soon as you land at the airport in South Korea

So! Now that you had a good dose of information overload, it’s time to take this all in and start planning for your first trip to South Korea. However, even after you complete your planning stage, there are at least 5 things that are crucial to do in your first trip, particularly as soon as you land at the airport.

1. Collect your Portable Wi-Fi

It’s very luckily that your mobile network won’t work in South Korea. You can have the option of buying a sim card but I actually found easier (and cheaper) to rent a portable Wi-fi. This is essentially a mini router with a sim card that can connect up to 5 devices all together.

As many things for my trip, I found this on Klook with KT and you can pre-order this from your trip through this link. For a 2-weeks trip I spent £20 and connected 3 phones!

Pre-booking with Klook will grant you a good discount compared to what you would pay directly on location. Nevertheless, if you don’t want to pre-book, just head to Zone F of T1 at Incheon and you will find all the portable wi-fi counters (here you can collect also your pre-order).

2. Take Cash

As much as most of South Korea’s purchases are cashless, cash are still needed for a few things. One of these is buying and topping up a T-Money card. I did a bad mistake here. because I thought that T-money machines accepted also cards, I didn’t withdraw any cash when I had the occasion. So, at the moment of buying a T-money I miserably failed my mission as there wasn’t any ATM nearby anymore. Therefore, don’t make my same mistake. As soon as you see an ATM on arrival, take cash!

3. Buy a T-money Card

Once you have your cash, head straight to the T-money machine. There should be one near where the train access is. Here you can buy and top-up a T-Money card. This is used almost for everything in Seoul. From taking all the types of public transport, to pay for site entrances, pay at the convenience store and even taxis. It’s a wonderful little tool and they have also the cutest designs from which to choose.

4. Collect your Arex tickets

If you land at Incheon Airport, you can get to Seoul with public transport via metro, express train and coach. If you have many luggage, my suggestion is to book the express train Arex. This will get you to Seoul in just 43 mins, you have an allocated spacious seat and there is a lot of space for extra luggage. Tickets at the airport cost £11 pp one way. However, if you book the tickets with Klook, they are half price! The only thing is that you need to collect the tickets from the ticket machine because Klook releases you a voucher.

All the Arex machines have a “Klook” section where you can scan your voucher, select the train time and print your ticket. An automatic seat will be allocated to you.

Access to the platform is 30 mins before your scheduled train.

5. Collect a Passport stamp booklet

Not many tourists know, but similarly to Japan, also South Korea has a tourist stamp tradition in key locations. One of the nicest things is that you can collect all these stamps in one “Heritage Passport” released by the Korean Tourist Information Office. This is located on T1 at 4 mins walk from the Arex railroad (so you can pick up your passport on the way to the train).

To note that in order to have your passport (and a nice souvenir from the tourism office), you’ll need to complete a few interactive activities inside the office. These consists of a a VR movie, an introduction to the Korean culture and take a picture with a chosen background (see above). These activities might take 10/15 mins but they are nice to do.

Once you have collected all your freebies, you can finally catch your train to your South Korean adventure! Enjoy your travels!

Plan your trip to South Korea

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