🇰🇷Seoul
Six-hundred-year-old palaces between glass towers, mountains at the end of the subway line, and a city that genuinely does not sleep. The easiest big Asian city for a first-timer, and cheaper than Tokyo.
Prices checked · how we work these out
In photos
Quick facts
Money & what things cost
Korea is close to cashless. Cards work almost everywhere including taxis, convenience stores and market stalls, and a foreign contactless card is usually fine. The exception worth knowing: some subway ticket machines and older market vendors want cash or a T-money card. Get a T-money transit card at any convenience store (₩2,500–4,000) and load it — it covers subway, buses and even some taxis and shops. ATMs at convenience stores and banks accept foreign cards, though some older ones don't; look for a 'Global ATM' sign. Seoul is meaningfully cheaper than Tokyo for food and transport, and roughly comparable for hotels.
What locals earn
| Average monthly salary | ≈ ₩3,960,000 ($2,730) | Nationwide average across all sectors. |
| Minimum wage | ₩10,320/hour ($7.10) | The 2026 rate — roughly ₩2,157,000 ($1,490) a month at standard full-time hours. |
| Typical service wage | ₩2,200,000–2,900,000 ($1,520–2,000) | Café, restaurant and retail staff. |
Food & drink
| Item | Local price | ≈ USD |
|---|---|---|
| Kimbap or street snack | ₩3,000–5,000 | $2.10–3.50 |
| Neighbourhood restaurant meal | ₩8,000–12,000 | $5.50–8.30 |
| Korean BBQ, per person | ₩18,000–35,000 | $12–24 |
| Mid-range dinner, per person | ₩30,000–60,000 | $21–41 |
| Café coffee | ₩4,500–6,500 | $3.10–4.50 |
| Beer at a bar | ₩5,000–9,000 | $3.50–6.20 |
| Soju bottle | ₩4,000–6,000 | $2.80–4.10 |
Transport
| Item | Local price | ≈ USD |
|---|---|---|
| Subway base fare (T-money) | ₩1,550 | $1.07 |
| Bus fare | ₩1,500 | $1.03 |
| Taxi flag fare | ₩4,800 | $3.30 |
| Airport (ICN) → city, AREX express | ₩11,000 | $7.60 |
| Airport (ICN) → city, all-stop train | ₩4,750 | $3.30 |
| KTX to Busan | ₩60,000 | $41 |
Sights
| Item | Local price | ≈ USD |
|---|---|---|
| Gyeongbokgung Palace | ₩3,000 | $2.10 |
| Combined four-palace ticket | ₩10,000 | $6.90 |
| Hanbok rental (half day) | ₩15,000–30,000 | $10–21 |
| N Seoul Tower observatory | ₩21,000 | $14 |
| Jjimjilbang (bathhouse) | ₩10,000–20,000 | $6.90–14 |
Where to sleep & what it costs
| Tier | Per night | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hostel dorm | ₩20,000–35,000 ($14–24) | Plentiful around Hongdae and Myeongdong; standards are high. |
| Budget hotel / guesthouse | ₩50,000–80,000 ($35–55) | Includes 'love motels', which are ordinary, clean and cheap for a night. |
| Mid-range hotel | ₩100,000–200,000 ($70–140) | Myeongdong, Jongno or Hongdae, all on the subway. |
| Luxury | ₩350,000–800,000+ ($240–550+) | Gangnam and the big international names around Jung-gu. |
Trip cost calculator
$204 per person per day · 4 nights of lodging (Mid-range hotel)
A rough estimate from this page’s daily budget and hotel prices — not a quote. Lodging assumes one room for the group.
Getting around
- From the airport
- Incheon (ICN) is 50km out. The AREX express train reaches Seoul Station in 43 minutes for ₩11,000; the all-stop version takes about an hour for ₩4,750 and is what most locals use. Limousine buses go directly to major hotel districts for ₩17,000. Taxis run ₩70,000–100,000 and take longer in traffic.
- Subway
- One of the best metro systems in the world — vast, cheap, punctual, signed in English, with platform screen doors, heated seats in winter and phone signal throughout. Base fare ₩1,550 on a T-money card. It's the default way to move around the city and it will get you almost everywhere.
- Buses
- Colour-coded by route type and useful for the gaps between subway lines. Tap on and tap off — forgetting to tap off charges you the maximum fare.
- Taxis
- Cheap by developed-world standards, with a ₩4,800 flag fare. Kakao T is the app everyone uses; it works with a foreign number and removes any language issue. Black 'deluxe' taxis cost roughly double.
- On foot
- Seoul is hilly and enormous, and neighbourhoods are far apart — you'll walk a lot within an area and take the subway between them. Underground shopping arcades connect many stations, which is a genuine blessing in January.
Neighborhoods to stay in
- Myeongdong
- Central, on two subway lines, wall-to-wall shopping and street food. The obvious first-timer base; touristy and busy.
- Jongno & Insadong
- Next to the palaces and Bukchon, with the old city's tea houses and craft shops. Best for history-first trips.
- Hongdae
- University district — live music, cheap food, bars until dawn. Loud, young, and the best value for a short stay.
- Gangnam
- Business and luxury shopping south of the river. Polished, expensive and further from the historic sights.
Things to do
Palaces & history
Markets & food
Neighbourhoods
Korean experiences
Tipping & etiquette
- Use two hands to give and receive anything — money, cards, a drink — especially with someone older. This one matters and is noticed.
- Don't pour your own drink. Fill your companions' glasses and let them fill yours; turn slightly away from elders when drinking.
- Shoes come off in homes, temple halls, guesthouses and many traditional restaurants. Look for a step and a shoe rack.
- Age structures interaction here more than in most places. Being asked your age early isn't rude, it's how people work out how to speak to you.
- Banchan side dishes are free and refillable — ask for more and it's fine. Wasting a lot of them isn't.
- Don't stick chopsticks upright in rice; it echoes a funeral rite.
- Escalators: stand on the right. On the subway, the seats at the ends of carriages are reserved for the elderly, pregnant and disabled, and are usually left empty even when the train is packed. Leave them empty.
Safety & common scams
Seoul is one of the safest large cities anywhere. Violent crime against visitors is very rare, walking alone at 3am in most districts is unremarkable, and people routinely leave laptops on café tables to hold a seat. The things to actually plan around are environmental and logistical: summer heat and humidity with a real monsoon, January cold that regularly hits -10°C, air quality that can be poor in spring when dust blows in from the west, and a nightlife culture where very heavy drinking is normal. Emergency services are excellent and the 1330 tourist line gives free 24-hour English help with anything.
Scams to know
- Itaewon and Hongdae bar 'hosts' — people inviting you into specific venues where the bill is inflated. Rare, but the standard version of the scam.
- Unlicensed taxis at the airport — use the official rank or Kakao T; licensed taxis are cheap and metered.
- Forgetting to tap off the bus — not a scam, but it charges you the maximum fare every time.
- Free 'gifts' near tourist streets — someone presses an item into your hand then asks for payment or a temple donation. Just don't accept it.
Emergency numbers: 112 police · 119 fire and ambulance. 1330 is a free 24-hour tourist helpline with live English interpreters — it is genuinely useful for anything from lost property to translating with a taxi driver.
Phone & internet
Among the best on earth. 5G is comprehensive, free public Wi-Fi covers the subway, buses, stations and most public spaces, and speeds are excellent everywhere. Prepaid tourist SIMs and eSIMs are sold at both airports from around ₩25,000–45,000 for 5–10 days of unlimited data. Note that Korean map apps (Naver Map, KakaoMap) work far better here than Google Maps, which has restricted data in Korea for legal reasons — download one before you arrive.
First-timer FAQs
Do I need a visa?
Most Western passports — US, UK, EU, Canada, Australia — get visa-free entry for 30 to 90 days depending on nationality. Many visa-free visitors must apply for K-ETA electronic authorisation before flying, though Korea has repeatedly granted temporary exemptions to specific countries. Check the current K-ETA rules for your passport before booking, because they have changed several times.
Is Seoul expensive?
Mid-range for Asia and cheaper than Tokyo. Food and transport are genuinely inexpensive — a proper meal for $6.00, a subway ride for $1.00. Accommodation is where costs sit, and Korean coffee is startlingly expensive at $3.50–4.50 a cup. Budget the room, eat where office workers eat, and the rest is easy.
How many days do I need?
Four days covers the palaces, two or three neighbourhoods, a market, a bathhouse and a night out properly. Five or six lets you add a DMZ tour and a day trip. Seoul rewards going slowly by district rather than sprinting across the map.
Do I need Korean?
No. Transport, signage and menus in tourist areas are well translated, and the 1330 helpline will interpret a phone call for free. Learning to read hangul takes about an hour and is genuinely worth it — the alphabet is phonetic and designed to be easy, and it turns menus from opaque to guessable.
Why doesn't Google Maps work properly?
Korean law restricts exporting detailed mapping data, so Google Maps has limited walking and driving directions here. Use Naver Map or KakaoMap instead — both have English interfaces and work properly. This catches out almost every first-time visitor.
When should I avoid going?
July and August bring heat, humidity and the monsoon. Mid-December to February is very cold. The two peak windows — cherry blossom in early April and autumn foliage in late October — are gorgeous and correspondingly busy and expensive.
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