Visiting South Korea
Travelling in South Korea
One compact, easy country — from neon Seoul to mountain temples.
South Korea has quietly become one of Asia’s most rewarding destinations, and one of its easiest. In a single, compact country you can move from the hyper-modern energy of Seoul — all neon and street food — to serene mountain temples, royal palaces, coastal national parks and villages of traditional hanok houses. Add a food culture that has won the world over, a wave of global influence from K-pop to cinema, and some of the best public transport anywhere, and the appeal is obvious.
The country feels, right now, both effortless and exciting — safe, cheap and fast to travel, yet in the middle of a cultural moment the whole world is watching.
Explore South Korea
The country divides, loosely, into eight regions — the capital and its border in the north-west, a mountainous east, a historic south-east, a food-rich south-west, and the holiday island of Jeju offshore. Below they run from north to south, and under each one every place we have published a guide to.
South Korea at a glance
Where South Korea changes character
North to south, with every place we have published a guide to listed under the region it belongs to — nothing is held back. Seoul is marked in depth: it carries neighbourhood and attraction guides of its own as well.
Royal palaces, all-night markets and futuristic districts, with the tense border an hour north.
Granite peaks and autumn colour at Seoraksan, Olympic ski slopes, coffee-and-surf beaches.
The gentle heartland — ancient Baekje capitals, spa towns, unhurried rural roads.
Silla royal tombs at Gyeongju, Confucian villages around Andong, temples in the hills.
Beaches and fish markets, seaside temples, and green islands around Tongyeong.
The culinary heartland — a great hanok village, lavish banchan, the definitive bibimbap.
Green and slow: the tea fields of Boseong, the wetlands of Suncheon.
A volcanic holiday island — Seongsan crater, lava tubes, waterfalls, black-sand coast.
Fifteen guides across eight regions. If we have published it, it is here.
Compare the regions →The four practical questions
The best time to visit South Korea
Decide what you want from Korea before you decide when to come. Cherry blossom, green summers, fiery autumn maple, ski-season snow — each has its season, and they are not the same season.
Read the guide → What it costsWhat South Korea actually costs
Korea’s reputation is modest and its value is real — noticeably cheaper than neighbouring Japan. Here is what a day actually costs, at three budgets.
Read the guide → Where to stayWhere to stay in South Korea
From a night on a heated bathhouse floor to a hanok inn with paper screens and an ondol floor you sleep on. Knowing the types makes planning easier.
Read the guide → Getting aroundGetting around South Korea
Fast, spotless, cheap: Korean transport is half the trip. The trick is knowing which pass is worth buying — and that the famous one usually is not.
Read the guide →Where most first trips go
Most first trips run Seoul to Gyeongju to Busan, with Jeju bolted on by a short flight. It works because Seoul is where you land, and the KTX makes light work of the rest.
Then go further
Seoul makes a superb base for days out — the DMZ, the pottery towns, the Suwon fortress. Take your pick from our day trips from Seoul.
Want a trip shaped around what you love? The itinerary guide builds outward from the classic route.
And wherever you go, ride the KTX at least once — the getting-around guide covers passes, T-money and the apps.
Six things worth planning a trip around
Scroll or swipe for all six — every one is a link
The practical ground
South Korea’s main gateway is Seoul’s Incheon International Airport (ICN), one of the world’s best, with Busan (PUS) and Jeju also internationally connected. Once you land, internal travel is easiest by the fast KTX and the excellent city metros.
Getting there
| From | Flying time |
|---|---|
| London | 11–14 hrs |
| Sydney | 10–11 hrs |
| Auckland | 12–13 hrs |
| San Francisco | 11–13 hrs |
Return economy from London runs roughly £500–£1,000 by season. Fares from Sydney, Auckland and San Francisco vary widely — verify before booking.
Weather by season
| Season | Months | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Spring | Apr–Jun | Cherry blossom in early April. Mild and clear — one of the two best windows |
| Summer | Jul–Aug | Hot and humid, a rainy spell (jangma) in July, occasional typhoons |
| Autumn | Sep–Nov | Superb. Crisp skies and spectacular foliage in the national parks |
| Winter | Dec–Mar | Cold and dry with snow; quiet for sightseeing, good for skiing |
Chuseok and Seollal, the Lunar New Year, are the big national holidays. Many businesses close and Koreans travel home — atmospheric, but worth planning around.
Entry requirements
No visa for a tourist stay of up to 90 days on most Western passports. The K-ETA is waived for 22 specified nationalities until 31 December 2026 — check whether yours is one, and complete the free e-Arrival Card.
Read → Before you landMoney and cards
Korea is one of the most cashless countries on earth — the near-opposite of Japan. A T-money card taps you onto every metro and city bus. Carry a little cash only for markets.
Read → Before you landStaying connected
Your phone becomes your map, ticket and translator. An eSIM is easiest; a tourist SIM or pocket wifi are cheap at Incheon. Get KakaoMap or Naver Map — Google Maps barely navigates here.
Read → Before you landThe Korea Rail Pass
The famous one, and whether it is worth buying. For most itineraries it is not — here are the sums, and what to buy instead.
Read →The culture you’ll travel through
What feels strange in Korea is rarely any single custom; it is a different centre of gravity. Where a Western visitor tends to carry the self as a bounded individual, Korean life leans on a self that is relational and communal — shaped by a long Confucian inheritance in which age, seniority and one’s place in a group quietly order almost every exchange.
That inheritance is less a religion than a way of living: around half of Koreans profess no faith, Christianity and Buddhism sit side by side, and an older shamanic layer runs beneath both. Bind it together with jeong, a warm and obligating attachment between people, set it against a history hard enough to leave its mark, and compress the whole into two breakneck generations of modernisation — and you have a country where a shrine, a palace and a neon tower share a street.
The surface follows from the centre, and the surface is where you meet it: in food shared from the middle of the table, in the etiquette of a bow or a two-handed pour, in the easy nakedness of a communal bathhouse, and in the disciplined fervour of a pop culture it has sent worldwide.
It is there most of all in the sacred landscape, which braids three traditions — mountain Buddhism, Confucian ancestral rite and an older shamanism — and which repays a little understanding before you stand in front of it. See understanding Korea’s temples and shrines.
Each has a guide of its own. Begin there, and explore.
Tasting Korea
BBQ, banchan and the art of the shared table — how eating in Korea actually works, and how to do it well wherever you are.
Read → EtiquetteKorea etiquette
Age and seniority, shoes off, the two-handed pour — the handful of customs that carry you almost anywhere, and what you needn’t fear.
Read → BathhouseThe jjimjilbang
The Korean bathhouse — nude baths, scalding kilns and a scrub that removes a layer of you. How to walk in without worrying.
Read → HallyuK-culture and Hallyu
K-pop, drama and film — what you can actually do on the ground, and the soft-power story behind the wave.
Read → The sacredKorea’s temples and shrines
Mountain Buddhism, Confucian ancestral rite and the shamanism beneath both — why the temples went to the mountains, and what you are looking at.
Read → TemplestayA temple stay
The sacred entered as practice — monastic meals, dawn drums, and what a night inside actually asks of you.
Read →A final word on South Korea
South Korea has a rare ability to exceed expectations. Build in a hanok night and a slow day or two beyond the cities, time your visit for spring or autumn, and it tends to become the trip people most want to repeat.
Andrew + Margaret
- Seoul The capital
- Busan Second city
- Gyeongju Silla capital
- Getting around South Korea KTX and T-money
- South Korea itinerary A worked route
- The Korea Rail Pass Worth buying?
- Temples and sacred mountains Where to go
- Cycling South Korea The best routes
- Korea Tourism Organization Official
- K-ETA portal Entry rules
- Korea Meteorological Administration Weather
Do I need a visa or K-ETA to visit South Korea?
Most Western passport holders can visit visa-free for up to 90 days for tourism. Separately, the K-ETA travel authorisation is currently waived for 22 specified nationalities until 31 December 2026, and those travellers complete a free online e-Arrival Card instead, within three days of arrival. The waived list does not cover every European country — check the official K-ETA portal for your own passport rather than assuming.
Is South Korea expensive to visit?
It is good value, and generally cheaper than neighbouring Japan. Long-haul flights and city hotels are the main costs, but food, transport and everyday spending are affordable — the street-food culture means you can eat superbly for very little.
How many days do you need in South Korea?
Seven to ten days suits a first trip, comfortably covering Seoul, a historic city such as Gyeongju, the coast at Busan and perhaps Jeju Island. The country is compact and fast to travel by KTX, but it rewards more time.
When is the best time to visit South Korea?
Spring, April to June, for cherry blossom and autumn, September to November, for crisp skies and foliage are the most beautiful — and the busiest. Summer is hot and wet with a rainy spell; winter is cold but good for skiing.
Is it hard to travel South Korea without speaking Korean?
No. English signage is common on transport and at major sights, translation apps such as Papago work well, and Koreans are helpful to visitors who try. South Korea is very manageable for independent English-speaking travellers.