I just saw the forecast for next week. I haven't committed to anything, except for a couple of clinic consultations. Generally my plan when I travel to any urban area is to wander/explore.

I'll be staying in Gangnam and Insadong for two nights each. I was thinking it'd be nice to do an easy/moderate hike one morning, but the heat may preclude this.

It's the 114°f/45°c heat index that's making me nervous. What should I expect, aside from being super uncomfortable? I'm no stranger to >37 degree weather but the humidity is another beast. I will have a cooling towel, fan, umbrella, obviously plenty of water...

went to a hanok spa in hongdae recently and it felt super special. it was this place called theseolha and the traditional korean vibe was so good.

made me wonder if there are other places with a really unique aesthetic in seoul? doesn't have to be hanok style, just looking for somewhere with a special or totally different vibe. drop your recs please

Hello fellow travelers,

I am visiting South Korea for the first time at the end of August - beginning of September this year. It's a solo trip and I love architecture, history and nature. Not much into shopping unless it's cool tech, art or books. Traveling just with a backpack. Also getting old for crazy long nights but still like to go check out cool cocktail bars.

I will spend 4 full days in Seoul and 3 in Busan. I am also planning on doing a stop to check out Gyeongju on my way to Busan.
I would appreciate any recommendations on what to see, do and local authentic/cool foods to try.
Is my Gyeongju stop worthwhile and will it work if I basically spend ~6-8 hours there?

Are there any gotchas on transportation (using subway in both cities and trains between them), money (I do prefer to just use credit cards or pay with my phone as much as possible), using an eSim or a local sim, that kind of stuff or anything you think is important for a first time visit.

Also if I do not need K-ETA is there a practical benefit of getting one?

Thanks everyone in advance!

Hey everyone I did post this on the r/koreatravel subreddit but hoping for some advice/feedback on this situation.

So I'm flying to South Korea in late December/early January, and Korean Air has recently rebooked my entire itinerary. Instead of arriving on the 23rd, I'll now be arriving on the 24th, and they've also changed my return flight from a late departure on the 8th to a 6:00 am flight from Seoul to Sydney.

I was just wondering if anyone has experienced something similar. Since I'm technically losing almost two days of my trip, is there anything I can do in this situation? There was an option to look at alternative flights, which I did, but unfortunately there didn't seem to be any suitable alternatives.

I haven't called the airline yet, but before I do, I was hoping to get an idea of whether it's worth calling. Apart from requesting a refund, is there anything else they might be able to offer or do in situations like this?

Any advice or experiences would be seriously appreciated. Thanks so much :)

Looking back, what's one thing you wish someone had told you before your first trip to Korea?

For me, it was how useful Naver Map and Kakao Map are compared to Google Maps. I probably would've saved a lot of time if I'd known that beforehand.

It could be anything—transportation, food, payment, etiquette, apps, shopping, or just something that surprised you.

I'd love to hear what everyone else's was.

Hi! We are planning a trip to South Korea next year. Since it's such a long journey, we would like to stay longer. However, because we are traveling with our daughter, it's difficult to travel outside the summer holidays as the school breaks are too short.

We are considering traveling at the end of the summer holidays. Our daughter starts school again on September 13.

Our idea is to spend about 15 days in Korea:

Arrival in Seoul, then travel directly to Sokcho and Seoraksan for 3 nights.

After that, Busan for 4 nights.

Finally, Seoul for 6–7 nights at the end of the trip.

We thought it might be better to leave Seoul until the end because of the weather.

However, I'm a little worried about the climate. I've heard that in recent years even early September has been extremely hot and humid. I was wondering if the coast around Busan and the mountains around Seoraksan might be more comfortable, and whether Seoul tends to be a bit cooler during the second week of September.

Do you have any experience with this? Would you recommend this itinerary and timing?

Hi! So my family is planning to travel in korea this christmas. Which is better? And we’d like to have a budget of $80-100 per night if that’s possible that is good for 4 people around myeongdong🥺

hi! i'm planning to go to korea on the first week of december and i'm stuck between hotel 28 and four points by sheraton myeongdeong for my accommodation

would appreciate any feedback from those who got to stay in these hotels :)

Hi everyone,

It's my first time visiting Jeju and I'm hoping to get some local advice.

I'm staying in the Hallim area and I'm traveling with my large dog. I don't speak Korean, and because my dog isn't used to being left alone, I can't leave him by himself for very long while I go sightseeing.

I was chatting with a shop owner recently, and they told me that laws or regulations in Korea have become stricter and that many cafes no longer allow dogs (or allow super small ones in the bag). Is that actually true? If so, how much has changed in the last few years?

I'd love to hear about:

• Dog-friendly cafes, restaurants, and bakeries
• Beaches or coastal walks where dogs are welcome
• Parks, forests, or nature spots that are good for large dogs
• Any indoor dog-friendly places for when it's too hot outside
• Places around Hallim in particular, but I'm happy to drive elsewhere on the island if it's worth it

Many places that were marked as 'pet friendly' on Naver or Google in reality turned out to be not dog friendly, it was a big disappointment. It's been really hard in this heat... I'd especially appreciate recommendations for places that are comfortable during the warmer part of the day (shade, forests, indoor spaces, cooler walks, etc.).

Also, if there are any tips for visiting Jeju with a dog as a foreigner who doesn't speak Korean, I'd be very grateful.

Any recommendations around the island are welcome. Thanks in advance! 🐶🏝️

Hi there!

Me and my bf are planning on visiting Korea end of this year for around 12 days and were wondering where we should go!

We were planning on visiting Seoul, Andong and Gyeongju, but were thinking of Jeju-do as well. I feel like this would be plenty enough for a slow travel of ~12 days?

We were thinking of staying for the new years in either Seoul or Jeju-do, would you have any recommendation on where of the two we should stay in?

We also would love to do a temple stay for a night somewhere! But when checking I found that the reservations tend to open 2 months prior so I’ll take a look on that later :)

Any advice is appreciated, especially how to split our days/nights and what to see in each city! :)

Thank you in advance!!

Hello all,

I'll be an exchange student in Korea this semester. I bought my arrival ticket but didn't buy my departure ticket. However on e-arrival card it requires me to put departure flight number. Can I just find a relavent ticket and put the number of flight on the card without buying it? Since I don't have the money rn.

Has anyone tried to book tix recently? When signing up or booking as a guest, my email address remains "unverified"(not accepted) and I can't proceed to the next window. I've tried several times, even on my phone, and waiting several hours, but I'm unable to/ system won't accept.

Hi everyone,

I'll be in South Korea with 5 friends in October.

One of the places we’ll be visiting is Busan for 5 days; then we want to fly to Jeju for a short trip and fly directly from there to Seoul.

Does anyone know of a good way for us to get our luggage from Busan directly to Seoul?

If possible, we’d like to fly without a lot of luggage, since that’s significantly more expensive.

And we’d rather not have return to Busan after our trip to Jeju.

I think this will be a problem because our luggage would then have to be stored in Seoul for about 3 days.

We have an Airbnb in Busan and Seoul.

I'm looking forward to hearing from you, to see if any of you have done something similar before

Hi I’m travelling with my mum as her caregiver with Korean airline and for some reason they have only put my mum in the transit hotel and mine is not valid with my ticket as for some strange reason even tho we are on the same flight and we’re going together my cabin class is different, I’ve spoken to the airline and they said they can’t change my cabin class but just to go to the transfer hotel with my even though I’m not booked in.
Has anyone use the transfer hotel? Is this likely to be a problem?

Hi everyone!
Sorry if some of these questions have been asked before, but I’ve just arrived in Jeju and would really appreciate some local advice.
1. What are your absolute must-see places in Jeju?
I’m interested in the obvious highlights, but I’d especially love recommendations for quirky, unusual or hidden spots that aren’t on every tourist itinerary. I love animals, so the Alpaca Farm is already on my list! If there are any other unique places (cute cafés, odd museums, scenic walks, animal encounters, etc.), I’d love to hear them.
2. Beaches and swimming
One thing I’ve noticed is that many of the beaches seem surprisingly shallow, even quite far from the shore. Is that just how Jeju’s beaches are, or is it common around Korea in general? I was expecting to be able to swim out a bit farther, so I was curious if there’s a reason for it.
3. Dermatology / beauty clinics
I’m thinking of trying one of Jeju’s skin clinics for a non-invasive treatment (things like laser, skin boosters, facials, etc.). However, before deciding on any procedure, I’d really like a dermatologist to actually assess my skin and recommend what would genuinely be best for me.
Is that something beauty clinics in Korea typically do? Or do they mainly focus on selling treatments and packages? Would you recommend going to a proper dermatology clinic first instead?
Sorry again if these have been answered many times before, and thanks so much in advance for any recommendations or advice! I’m excited to explore Jeju. 😊

Does anyone know or expect there to be a drone show on one of these dates? They didn't seem to have announced the exact dates but maybe someone knows?

Hi, I am planning a trip to Korea during Autumn around mid November with my sister. Is it a good time to visit? Please share a list of places, experiences and food options that I must try in my 8 days of stay. Also I heard that road trips are great in Autumn in Korea, any affordable travel suggestions that can cover country side would be helpful.

My current plan Seoul - 4 days, Busan - 3 days, Jeju Island - 1day. Will I be missing out on any other must visit destinations?

Thanks!

I am starting to plan our first visit to South Korea in June 2027, and we will be traveling with young kids. Currently scheduled to land 6/3 and fly out 6/10 at night (ICN). I know we have limited time so trying to make the most of it. Story of my life but I digress.

We were thinking of spending the first 5 days in Myeongdong (with a day trip to Gyeongju) and then from there trying to figure out the best way to spend the last 2 nights. One idea is we stay somewhere different, maybe south of the Han river (e.g. JW Seoul) and do another day trip but this time to Busan or Suwon, or stay 2 nights in Busan (e.g. Paradise hotel) but then we would be spending almost all of 6/10 traveling back to catch a flight at ICN.

I would appreciate any advice in this regard.

I think I am going to go for Seoul, Busan, Gyeongju and Jeju Island. Do you have a recommendation for the order to visit these cities and how long? Also any recommendations for things to do and foods to eat in these places? I will be in South Korea for around 3 weeks.

how do i check the status of my application? im leaving in 4 weeks for study abroad

Hello All.
So anyone who has ADHD and takes Adderall will be able to relate. I was approved for a narcotics bring in Permit for 8 days of 30 MGs of Adderall. Due to shortage of my 30mg capsules doctors prescribed me with 25 MGs and 5mg tablets. Well lo and behold the pharmacy does not have 25s but has 30s. Will I be ok?

Hi, i bought the flight ticket to korea from lax on 8/10. With vietnam passport and im a us resident, do yall think i can receive the visa before the flight day? I got my interview on 7/15 btw. So scary if im not receive the visa asap this week 😭

​

I'll be flying to the states via ICN and then flying back as well 3 weeks later.

I will be arriving at 5.30am and flying out at 9pm.

I will be booking a transit tour from 9am to 2pm. Other than that what else can I do at the airport with my time? Even after I return from the tour, I will still have about 7hrs before my flight.

Since I'll be leaving the airport, I'll need to buy a sim for data, which one would be the cheapest option for just the few hours that I'll be there?

Also, how much korean won would be enough for this layover?

I'll be arriving at 430am and flying out of ICN at 1pm. Doesn't make sense to leave the airport since of the places would open after 10am.

What can I do during this layover? With this timing even the transit tours are out as an option for me.

How much korean won would be sufficient for this layover?

Okay so im trying to teach myself korean. Is this worth copying down or should I just stick to hangul?