🇰🇷Cost of Travel in South Korea (2026): Daily Budgets for 3 Cities
Joseon palaces between glass towers, the best subway system on earth, mountains at the end of the line, and a volcanic island with its own language. Easier than Japan to travel and cheaper than it to eat in.
Daily budgets in South Korea
The cheapest city in South Korea is Busan, at $65–130 a day mid-range per person; the priciest is Seoul, at $80–160 — about 22% more for the same style of trip.
| City | Budget / day | Mid-range / day | Comfort / day | Cheap meal | Mid-range hotel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Busan | $40–80 | $65–130 | $120–230 | $4.50–7.50 | $55–115 |
| Jeju | $45–90 | $75–150 | $140–270 | $5.50–9 | $60–130 |
| Seoul | $50–95 | $80–160 | $140–290 | $5–8 | $70–140 |
Per person in US dollars, flights not included. Mid-range is each guide's researched figure and includes a mid-range room; budget and comfort scale it by 0.6 and 1.8, so treat those as rough. How we work these out.
Plan a trip across South Korea
Set the nights you'd spend in each city. Per person, before flights; each night counts one day of that city's daily budget.
Cities
🇰🇷Busan
South KoreaKorea's port city and second capital — beaches at the end of the metro line, a hillside village painted every colour, and the country's best raw fish. Slower and warmer than Seoul in every sense.
🇰🇷Jeju
South KoreaA volcanic island south of the peninsula with its own dialect, its own myths and a dormant peak in the middle of it. Korea's holiday island — hiking, lava tubes, black rock coastline and women who free-dive into their eighties.
🇰🇷Seoul
South KoreaSix-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.
Head to head
Two cities side by side — costs, best months and what you'd do in each.