Seoul, for a First Visit
The decisions and the practical stuff a first trip to Seoul actually turns on, in the order you'll need them.
Everything here is researched and fact-checked the same way the rest of the site is. Read from the top if you're still planning; jump to a section if you already have a date.
Before you fly
- The Best Time to Visit Seoul, Month by MonthLate September–October first, April–May second — and both are when it's most crowded and priciest. The real trade-offs: blossoms and foliage vs crowds, the monsoon, the heat, and the yellow dust.
- Where to Stay in Seoul: An Honest Neighborhood ReadNot a hotel list — which neighborhood is for which kind of trip, and the one logistics question that matters more than the view.
- T-Money, Kakao T, Naver Map: The Only 3 Apps You Actually Need in SeoulGoogle Maps won't route you here, and that's not a bug. Here's what to actually install before you land.
- Getting Online in Korea: eSIM, SIM, or Pocket Wi-FiFor most of a trip you only need data. The eSIM, the airport SIM, and the pocket router — who each is for, what it costs, the taxi-app workaround, and how to get a temporary Korean number if you actually need one.
Getting in, and getting around
- Incheon Airport to Seoul: Every Way In, Ranked for Your SituationThe train, the bus, and the taxi each win in a specific situation — here's how to pick before you land, jet-lagged and holding your bags.
- How to Actually Ride the Seoul SubwayThe Seoul metro is easy — cheap, English-signed, runs to midnight. Here's only the part that trips people up: which card to buy, the transfer discount, express trains, exit numbers, and rush hour.
- Missed the Last Train in Seoul? Here’s Exactly What to DoNot just a tourist problem — but tourists have it worse. Here's what actually works once the subway's stopped.
Money
- Do You Need Cash in Seoul? Yes, But Not MuchSeoul runs on cards, but there's one cash-only moment a day — a market stall, an old restaurant, a flea market. Here's how much to carry, where to withdraw it, and why KakaoPay isn't an option for visitors.
- Korea's Tourist Tax Refund, Explained — and When to Skip ItYou don't get the full 10% back — more like 5–8%. Instant refund at the register handles most of it; the airport paper-form route is rarely worth the queue for a small purchase.
Eating and etiquette
- How to Eat at a Korean Restaurant (Banchan, the Call Button, and the Scissors)One mental shift covers most of it: a Korean restaurant isn't somewhere you wait to be served. It's somewhere you call when you need something.
- How to Eat at a Korean BBQ Restaurant (When You've Never Done It)The menu only looks hard. Which cut to start with, the two-serving minimum, who grills, the one rule for flipping meat — and why marinated galbi is the exception.
- The Etiquette That Actually Matters in Seoul (and What Nobody Cares About)The real list is short: two hands, drink-pouring, priority seats, shoes off, don't stand chopsticks in rice. Tipping and table manners are things foreigners overthink.
Before it surprises you
- 10 Things Travelers Find Surprising in SeoulDelivery to a picnic blanket, a call button on every table, no tipping ever. Ten things that run on different defaults here — and the three worth remembering on a short trip.
- Jjimjilbang 101: What Actually Happens Inside a Korean Public BathhouseNo swimsuits, mixed-gender saunas in uniform, and a key that might double as your tab — what to actually expect your first time.