ULTIMATE KOREA TRAVEL GUIDE 2025 🇰🇷 Tips I Wish I Knew Sooner

hello my friends it's nina and for this video i am finally giving you the ultimate korea travel guide so as you can see on my channel i have traveled to korea many many times ever since 2019 and i can see that now i am pretty familiar with it and i think it's about time that i give you my tips and things that i wish i knew sooner about traveling to korea so let's get started for this video i'm going to focus mostly on seoul but i will go into other cities as we continue here are all the things we'll be covering in this video these are just the most important beginner things that you might need to know before your trip to korea and this is kind of tailored for people who haven't been there yet if you've already traveled to korea some of this might be familiar to you but if you're planning your trip to korea and everything is brand new hopefully this video helps i also have all my notes on my phone right now so if i'm looking down ever it's because i am looking at my outline but the first category that we're going to get into is planning and preparation before you go to korea so first things first is you should figure out when is the best time to visit the first thing i want to mention is that korea has four very different seasons but i will break down the weather in korea based on what i observed obviously because of school or work you might be limited to summer or winter but if you have the ability to choose when you want to go to korea my first recommendation would be fall i feel like this is the most not extreme weather and it's also really pretty but i'm kind of biased because i personally love layering my clothes i think it makes for cuter outfits the weather is pretty good in fahrenheit which is what i use i would say it's like 50-65 degrees maybe maybe 70 and the best time to go in the fall would be late october to november i think flights are also relatively cheaper in the fall because it's obviously an off season time to travel the next season i would recommend after fall would be spring spring again has pretty decent weather it's not too extreme but it does have more chance for rain another thing about spring is that it is usually cherry blossom season this happens around late march through early april this is also a popular time to travel so be aware that it might be a little bit more crowded but the cherry blossoms are beautiful you can wear cute outfits weather is like 60-70 if you go earlier in like march it's going to be cold next season i will break down is summer this is usually festival time and the time for heat so if you're someone that loves hot weather this might be the time for you and also you're probably off of school you probably have found time at work to go on vacation obviously this is going to be a popular vacation time i would say that if you're going to korea in the summer go for late may through june maybe the early half of july or like the first week or two of july because after the first half of july even the beginning of july monsoon season will start this is when there's just heavy rain it's almost hard to do anything really so when i usually go to korea in the summer i make sure that i get out of there either in late june or early july i will say that korea's summers are pretty hot not only is it literally hot but it's also pretty humid remember to carry a portable fan keep yourself hydrated wear absorbent clothing but honestly summer is a vibe you can have picnics by the river go to aquariums which are indoors honestly there's so much you can do so i do still think summer is a good choice too and then finally i'm going to break down winter in korea i have gone to korea in the winter but it was always like january february i've never been there really during december when things are nice and festive but yes korea does have snow and so if you like snow if you like skiing, snowboarding any of those activities winter might be a great time for you the winters are very cold a really popular look in korea is the kimbap puffer i think it's called kimbap padding or something it's the long padded jacket you will see every korean with this jacket it is so nice to wear protective kind of a winter staple a good time to go if you want to experience winter but it's not too harsh would be february but if you do want to experience the holidays of course december but that is the gist of korea's seasons and how you can decide when you want to go honestly every season has its pros its cons but any season is pretty much good to go so at the end of the day it's up to you moving on to must-have apps i always get asked about what apps i use when i travel in korea and these are going to save your butt the app that i use to navigate around korea is neighbor maps there's also kakao maps i think it's based on preference you can save places that you've been to make appointments i just love looking through all my bookmarks i have so many bookmarks neighbor maps also specifically tells you what subways you need to use for your route it will show you all the transfers which car to stand at for faster exits and transfers and everything's nicely color-coded so if you're familiar with a metro or subway system everything is organized and mapped out it will just make traveling so much easier you can send restaurants or places to your friends all of the basics another app that i use is kakao tea this is the app for booking taxis so through kakao tea it's basically like getting an uber if you want to book a taxi, you put in your destination you can see the different options for taxis so if you have a lot of luggage and you need a bigger car they do have that option if you just want a general taxi they have that option as well and also you can add a payment method to the app you can already pay ahead of time and just get out when you arrive at your destination so it's just a more simple way to book a taxi and then it's also good to have a translating app the one that i use is papago which is in partnership or owned by neighbor so papago is known to be a little bit more accurate natural, not awkward in translation especially english to korean, korean to english so this is the one that i would recommend if you're going to korea i don't use google translate because sometimes it's not a good translation so if you need a translating app i would recommend papago before we get into the rest of the video i wanted to talk about a useful app that you need to get your hands on if you will be traveling soon it's an app called ubg who i've also partnered with for this video it's basically a travel lifesaver when it comes to staying connected without stressing over sim cards or out-of-pocket surprise roaming charges ubg gives you access to e-sim data plans in over 200 destinations including korea of course you just download the app, choose a plan and your data activates as soon as you arrive at your destination just as long as you have activated your e-sim and selected it as the source of your mobile data no physical sim cards no confusion at airport kiosks no stress ubg is the only app that is rechargeable even without wi-fi connection and no cellular data left this could literally save you if you find yourself lost in a new country compared to regular roaming fees from a carrier you can also be saving around 90% and there is no commitment you can even share your data with other devices which is great if you're traveling with friends it's also way more practical than swapping sim cards or dealing with pocket wi-fi that randomly runs out of battery during the day so download ubg now either from the app store or the play store even if you don't need it yet it's just smart to have it set up before your trip so you can land and go and if you do want to try ubg out you can use my code ononina for 10% off using the link in my description thank you to ubg for partnering with me on this video and let's continue on with the travel guide another thing to think about before your korea trip is budgeting i know a lot of people say that korea is cheaper there's no tipping culture after conversion things are cheaper blah blah blah but just remember things do add up especially going to cafes, shopping, transportation just obviously be smart with your budgeting another money tip i have is to have a physical won in your possession i like to have a pouch full of korean won which is korean currency and this is because a lot of things in korea even though you can pay by card for most places most things there are some things that still need physical cash you usually can get physical won at the airport you might have to keep in mind currency rates because i think certain areas places have different rates what i usually do is i don't get won at the airport i usually just wait till i'm at some sort of bank somewhere in seoul usually around where i'm staying i don't know i just prefer this more so i just put in my debit card and then i get physical won and then i put it in my little pouch street food markets, small shops, arcades, blah blah blah they do require physical cash and also if you want to refill your t-money card which is the transportation card in korea you need physical cash to refill your card they're not going to take a debit card credit card so make sure you have a good amount on hand now that we have covered the preparation part of your planning let's get into the section where we talk about where to stay and where you should go in korea so i'm going to first look into seoul because obviously that is a popular destination if you're going to korea and i will go into the best areas to stay so this is where you're going to stay and book your hotel so if you're going to korea for the first time and you are a foreigner you are not familiar with korea you might not even speak that much korean the areas that i would recommend for first timers would be hongdae and myeongdong if you're going to korea for the first time and you're young-ish you might want to stay in a place that is pretty hip trendy, pretty modern and i also would recommend staying where people can't speak english another candidate would be itaewon honestly a lot of areas in seoul are pretty friendly and easy to navigate for foreigners but specifically if you want just like the classic first time experience in korea those would be the areas to go to they also both should have a lot of hotels around so if you want to check that out you can and then i'll tell you my personal favorite areas to stay so i personally like to stay in either yongsan, gangnam and then a recent recommendation i haven't stayed here but i visit here often is seongsu so personally i stay in yongsan a lot because that is my family's hometown it's very literally central in seoul and i like to stay next to yongsan station but if you're booking your hotel, your stay i definitely recommend making sure that your stay is near some sort of subway, subway station other nice areas to stay i haven't tried these places yet but chamsu is also a nice place to live or stay honestly that's what i would recommend i would say that above the river it's more like traditional a little bit touristy so it might be a good first experience but if you're just there to shop and chill maybe below the river, again up to you and then other cities to go to if you're going to korea besides seoul an obvious recommendation is busan of course a lot of travelers like to go to seoul and then take a ktx or train to busan there is a movie called train to busan after all and this is because busan is a nice escape and you're surrounded by the ocean which is beautiful it really does feel like an escape so it kind of adds to the vacation feel specifically in busan i like to go to haeundae or gwangalli beach these are pretty touristy but honestly touristy is pretty fun there's street food markets lots of good food activities to do and also just the walks along the beach are so nice i would recommend booking hotels along the beach hotels that i have stayed at in busan are the park hyatt and also more recently singnil another popular destination in korea that i haven't been to yet but obviously i would recommend because i've heard a lot of good things and it's just somewhere that you should go eventually is jeju jeju is an island and it is very interesting geographically it's famous for its tangerines it has a lot of nature, coastal vibes but i definitely want to go to jeju one day and it is just obviously a place that people visit so make sure you go to jeju honestly let me know how it is, i wanna go and then other cities that i recommend in korea these are cities that i visited recently and i fell in love with them first recommendation is jeonju jeonju is very historical it has a famous hanok village i think it's the biggest most preserved hanok village hanok villages are traditional villages and jeonju just has so much good food it is known for its food especially the famous jeonju bibimbap and then another city that i went to is yeosu it is down literally at the bottom of korea next to the ocean here you can also experience beach, coastal vibes it's so gorgeous there's tiny islands everywhere we've got the ocean cable car there's a lot of history in yeosu and i feel like it has a bit of a romantic vibe it just feels like an escape from city life now moving on to a tip i'm gonna talk about airbnbs, hotels, guesthouses, blah blah blah i'm not sure what the state of airbnbs are right now but i used to book airbnbs i would say if you're traveling to korea for the first time maybe do a hotel if you can because at least hotels they have amenities they have people who can speak in multiple languages i think for your first korea trip you shouldn't be overwhelmed or have language barriers so i would personally recommend getting a hotel for your first korea trip just so you can be comfortable i also didn't know that the front desk or the concierge can give you recommendations for what you can do in the area but again airbnbs are nice and decent in fact you can find good places you can find apartments, officetels and just have an experience that feels like you're living in korea i've also recently stayed in modern hanoks or just hanok in general those traditional houses those are also a nice experience especially a modern hanok the architecture is just so cool and then here is a quick overview of my favorite places to go in seoul so these are my favorite places to do things my top favorite place is jamsil this is where lotte world is you have the lotte world tower the amusement park the lake it is just so beautiful everything is stunning the walks are so nice and then also next to jamsil there's an area called songpa and this area has so many good restaurants, cafes, photo booths, arcades it's a really cute area perfect for couples, friends, yourself there's just so many fun things you can do another area that i love in seoul is seongsu this area has a lot of interesting korean brands in fashion, beauty, accessories, home, lifestyle, whatever and i think seongsu is really popular for its pop-ups there's just pop-ups constantly and also cafes galore there are so many cafes just you will constantly find somewhere to go lots of boutiques, popular korean brands i think there's also like little activities you can do such as candle making, soap making, phone case making again just a lot of fun things to do another area that i like to go to is hongdae even though i did say it is for a younger crowd i still feel like there's a lot of fun things to do whatever your age is i personally love going to noraebang in hongdae there is a big noraebang place that has like giant windows so it's just fun to sing there and get good views but also in hongdae if you kind of explore there's a lot of good affordable cheaper shopping in hongdae just watch out for quality because sometimes the quality is not amazing but if you walk around there's also popular korean brands just popular famous brands in general and then near hongdae is yeonnam-dong which is a place for cafes, trendy restaurants places where you can do fun activities and then if you want more upscale shopping upscale experiences hannam would be the next place that i recommend there are more upscale designer brands korean brands, western brands there's a lot of good restaurants in hannam whether it's upscale dining, mom and pop, korean restaurants and of course there's lots of cafes and then near hannam is itaewon i think they're literally right next to each other but itaewon is also a pretty nice place to go to it's very foreigner friendly people from all over the world are here the food is also very global and the nightlife in itaewon is pretty famous next category for this video is getting around in korea this is probably a section that is really important for travelers first things first i think the most primary mode of transportation in seoul or in korea is going to be taking the subway korea has an amazing subway system at least to my standards when you take the subway in korea you need a t-money card this card right here it has a t on it and it has cute images there's all sorts of t-money cards you can get and all you do is just press the card onto that machine and you can go through you can just get a t-money card a physical t-money card at a convenience store i'm pretty sure another mode of public transportation is buses for both subways and buses you can use neighbor maps to figure out your route ah and this is also a big tip that a lot of people kind of get wrong or don't understand but when you go on a korean bus you're going to tap your t-money card first when you get on the bus it's going to make that sound and then when you're about to get off the bus you tap out as well so you have to tap in tap out make sure you do this i don't really know what happens when you don't tap out but i'm sure that it makes it confusing for the next time you use your card so just take precaution and tap in and tap out you can also just see other people do it and then the other mode of transportation is taxis again i did mention kakaot which is how i book taxis if you don't use kakaot again if you see a taxi with bincha on it that means the taxi is not in use and you can pull over the taxi if it says yeyak on it that means it's reserved so it's for someone else usually they're color-coded bincha is usually red yeyak is blue or green but sometimes the color doesn't matter so just read it and if you reserve your taxi it's going to have yeyak on it because you reserved the car another random taxi tip that i have if you find yourself in a late night out and you need a taxi from a very busy place at like 3am this usually happens maybe in gangnam, hongdae, itaewon, blah blah but if it's a really busy area it's late at night and you need a taxi try to go to a place that is less crowded and book your taxi this might mean like a 5 minute walk somewhere else just try to get out of a busy crowd or the small windy streets go to a main street maybe near a subway station just somewhere that's easy to find for the taxi because around that time probably a lot of people are trying to book taxis to go home as well so just make a bit of a safe walk go somewhere that is open, less busy and book your taxi i am telling you this because sometimes it was 3am, we had a night out and we were trying to book a taxi and it took 20 minutes to find one another getting around tip that is very important is walking culture in korea korea is very fast paced so you kind of have to keep up with the crowd i feel like everyone walks really fast try to avoid stopping in the middle of walking especially if you want to look at something don't just stop and look follow with the traffic if you're taking the escalator it's really important that you stay to the right side of the escalator in korea if you're not walking up the escalator and you're just staying in one place you're staying on the right and then you're leaving space on the left for people to walk up if they're in a rush if you're in a group of two or multiple people stand in a single file line so that people can still pass and then of course some subway etiquette try not to talk too loud on trains the subway trains people do talk just don't be obnoxious i think this is just common sense and courtesy keep your voice down try to avoid phone calls but again i don't think it's too strict so play it by ear and then in korean subways there are color-coded seats try to avoid sitting on the seats that are usually next to the door they will have a different color this is usually for elderly pregnant people handicapped people try to avoid these seats because they are designated for someone else and another random tip when it comes to getting around if you need to use a restroom in korea pretty much every subway station should have a public restroom they're pretty clean efficient and it's just convenient next up in this video we're going to talk about food if you're going to korea try every korean food you can but if you don't know where to start here are some of my recommendations i think obviously a good place to start is the simple staple foods a lot of these are provided at street food markets a pretty classic travel experience in korea is trying street food personally i love going to mangwon market another famous one is gwangjang market but it is so popular that it might be packed so if you want an alternative i recommend mangwon market but there usually should be street food markets in whatever area you're in and these will usually have the popular typical tteokbokki, gimbap, hotteok trendy foods as well any korean food that you have seen you're probably going to find at a street food market it is a great place to get a taste of a lot of korean food usually the portions are not too big so you get to try a lot i think it's a fun experience there's also a lot of cuisines from other cultures as well in korea due to globalization so if you want to find food recommendations i would recommend looking on tiktok, on naver, youtube videos a random tip i have most hole in the wall places in korea have really good korean food another tip is that a lot of places in korea don't open that early so if you find that you wake up early in korea due to jet lag or any other reason good luck because a lot of places are not open till like past 11 if that is the case maybe go to a convenience store that might be your only option or wake up later and i think also on sundays a lot of things are closed so be careful for that in a lot of korean restaurants there are self-serve areas just kind of be observant and see if there is a self-serve area because this means you get your own water, your own sides, blah blah blah you don't have to waste time trying to ask for it you can just get it for yourself and also be on the lookout for little call buttons on your table sometimes it's on the wall, on your table this is typical in busy korean restaurants especially korean barbecue restaurants if that is the case that's how you call your waiter or that's how you get to request anything and for my solo travelers another question i do get a lot is how you can eat as a solo traveler something to be aware of especially in korea is that a lot of restaurants serve portions of two or serving sizes of two and so sometimes they don't serve people who are by themselves and so if you find yourself wanting to go to a restaurant and just eat by yourself find a restaurant that has those kiosks those are pretty much guaranteed to make ordering simple and you can just order for yourself you can also try going to chains usually chains are built for any party of people whether it's one or multiple people but i usually find that any modern restaurant with kiosks should be able to serve one person but honestly i have talked for so long and there are so many other things that i could talk about in a travel guide video but these are the most important things to take note of especially if this is your first time going to korea i won't go into recommendations because i have so many if you would like to see my recommendations for places to go to in korea maybe i'll make another video on that it's not going to fit in this video i have already talked for so long but those are basically all the travel tips that i wanted to cover in this video for when you travel to korea i hope that anything in this video was useful to you don't forget to check out ubg with my code ononina the link to check out ubg is in the description but that is going to be it for this travel guide if i left anything out or you have more questions please let me know in the comments maybe i can make a part two because there's always something that people want to know thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time goodbye my friends