🇰🇷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.

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HOMEAny gate, any dayICNSeoul, South Korea

Daily budget

$80–160

mid-range, per person

Cheap meal

$5–8

local staple

Mid-range hotel

$70–140

per night

Transit ride

$1.05–1.20

single trip

Avg. monthly salary

≈ $2,730

local, approx.

Mid-range figures, per person

Budget

$50–95/day

hostel, street food, transit

Mid-range

$80–160/day

hotel, sit-down meals, sights

Comfort

$140–290/day

nice hotel, taxis, restaurants

Per person, no flights — those are just below. The mid-range figure is researched; budget and comfort scale it, so treat the two as rough. The trip calculator and hotels below break the day down properly.

Getting there roundtrip economy, per person

From the US East Coast$900–1,400

From the US West Coast$700–1,100

From the UK & Western Europe$600–1,000

Fares are into Seoul. Busan is the KTX train; Jeju is one of the world's busiest (and cheapest) domestic hops, often under $50. Ranges are typical fares booked 1–3 months out, checked mid-2026 — school-holiday peaks run higher, and patient shoppers beat the bottom end.

Prices checked July 2026 · how we work these out

Is Seoul expensive to visit?

Somewhat: a mid-range day in Seoul costs $80–160 per person, and its $120 midpoint is 33% above the $90 median across all 127 cities here. Within South Korea it runs 9% above the $110 average of our 3 South Korea guides. That makes it pricier than 90 of the 127 cities, with a cheap meal at $5–8 and a mid-range hotel at $70–140 a night.

How much does a trip to Seoul cost?

Trip length	Budget	Mid-range	Comfort
3 days	$150–285	$240–480	$420–870
5 days	$250–475	$400–800	$700–1,450
7 days	$350–665	$560–1,120	$980–2,030
14 days	$700–1,330	$1,120–2,240	$1,960–4,060

Per person and before flights, 3 days in Seoul costs $240–480 mid-range, five days $400–800, a week $560–1,120 and two weeks $1,120–2,240; a week costs about $350–665 on a budget and $980–2,030 travelling in comfort.

Per person in US dollars, flights not included. Each total is a daily range from the band above multiplied out: mid-range is the guide's researched figure and already includes a mid-range room; budget and comfort scale it by 0.6 and 1.8, so treat those two as rough. The trip calculator lets you set your own days and group size.

Entry & 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.

Visa rules turn on your nationality and change often — always confirm the current requirement for your own passport with an official government source before you book.

Quick facts

Language

Korean. English signage is excellent on transport and at sights; conversational English is patchier than in Japan's tourist areas

Currency

Korean won (₩). Around ₩1,450 = $1 in mid-2026, but the won moves — check before you convert

Time zone

KST (UTC+9). No daylight saving

Best time to visit

April–May for blossom and October–November for foliage. Summer is hot, humid and has a proper monsoon; January is bitterly cold

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Power

220V, Type C/F — the round two-pin European plug, not the flat Japanese one

Tap water

Safe to drink, though most Koreans drink filtered water at home and from office dispensers

Emergency

112 police · 119 fire and ambulance · 1330 tourist helpline (24h, English)

Wi-Fi

Among the fastest and most widely available on earth. Free public Wi-Fi is everywhere, including the subway

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

Earnings	Amount	Note
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.

Why this matters: Korean wages are high by Asian standards and not far off southern Europe, which is why Seoul isn't the bargain that Bangkok or Hanoi is. What makes it feel cheap is a food culture built around volume and speed: a full meal with side dishes at a neighbourhood restaurant costs ₩8,000–12,000 because that's what an office worker pays for lunch, every day. The banchan — the small side dishes that arrive free and get refilled free — are part of that logic, not a special offer. Tipping is genuinely not practised and can cause confusion; the price on the menu is the price you pay.

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

Days

Travelers

Budget tier

Flights from

Lodging

≈ $270

Food & daily spending

≈ $330

Total trip cost

≈ $600

$120 per person per day · 4 nights of lodging (Mid-range hotel)

A rough estimate, not a quote. The daily budget already includes a room, so one traveler pays exactly days × that budget; lodging is the room’s part of it, priced from the hotels below but never more than 45% of the trip. Extra travelers share the room and add only their own spending. Flights use the midpoint of the Getting there ranges above.

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.

Map

Drag to look around, or open Google Maps ↗ · Apple Maps ↗

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

$$$

Tipping & etiquette

Tipping: Not practised, at all. There is no tipping culture in Korea and leaving money can genuinely confuse or embarrass staff — it's occasionally chased down the street and returned. Prices include service. The only exception is a small gratuity to a hotel porter at high-end international hotels, and even that isn't expected.

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.

How to spend a trip to Seoul

Seoul's districts are a long way apart and the subway between two of them eats half an hour each way, so every plan below stays on one side of the city per day. Sprinting across the map is the standard first-timer mistake.

One day gets the old city and one night out, which is a fair version of Seoul. Do not try to add the south of the river as well.

MorningGyeongbokgung at opening, timed to catch a changing of the guard, then up the hill into Bukchon Hanok Village.
MiddayGwangjang Market: sit at a stall, point at what the next person is eating, repeat.
AfternoonIkseon-dong's hanok alleys, which are Bukchon's charm without the signs asking you to be quiet.
EveningHongdae for buskers, cheap food and a noraebang if the night heads that way.

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

Is Seoul expensive?

Mid-range for Asia and cheaper than Tokyo. Food and transport are genuinely inexpensive — a proper meal for $6, a subway ride for $1. 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.

Similar cities to consider

Elegant 18th-century stone, a UNESCO-listed city center, and the vineyards of Saint-Émilion and the Médoc a short drive away. France's wine capital, built for wandering on foot.

Two cities glued together by bridges: hilly, castle-topped Buda and flat, loud, café-lined Pest, with a river of hot springs underneath both. Grander than you expect, cheaper than Vienna, and no longer the bargain it was ten years ago.

A red-roofed medieval town inside a double loop of the Vltava, under a castle almost as big as the town itself. Tiny, very beautiful, and full of day-trippers from ten to four — so sleep here and have it to yourself.

Seoul or…?

Side-by-side cost comparisons with other guides.

vs Busan vs Jeju

Or weigh it against the other South Korea guides and its rivals abroad:

Tokyo Osaka

🇰🇷Seoul

Is Seoul expensive to visit?

How much does a trip to Seoul cost?

Entry & visa

Quick facts