Mountains behind every city, a capital that does not sleep, and food that has taken over the world in the last decade. Cheaper than Japan and far easier than its reputation.
South Korea is roughly the size of Portugal and seventy per cent mountains, which means every city has hiking trails within reach of a metro station. Seoul even has a national park, Bukhansan, inside its city limits.
Seoul is the centre of everything: a city of ten million with distinct neighbourhoods — Hongdae for students and live music, Itaewon for international, Gangnam for money, Bukchon for hanok houses — and a nightlife that genuinely runs until the metro restarts at five.
Busan on the south coast is beaches, seafood and a more relaxed pace, two hours twenty by high-speed train. Gyeongju has the tombs and temples of a thousand-year kingdom, and Jeju island off the south coast is volcanic, green and where Koreans themselves holiday.
Two weeks covers Seoul, Busan, Gyeongju and Jeju comfortably.
KTX high-speed trains link the country end to end in under three hours.
Palaces, mountains, markets and the best nightlife in Asia. A week would not be too long.
Seoul inspires you with their culture, great sites, advanced easy transport options. As well as great food.
A traveller, on Hostelworld
The second city: beaches, the world's largest department store, and a hillside village of painted houses.
Will definitely be back. People only speak of Seoul but this is a hidden gem.
A traveller, on Hostelworld
The main city on Jeju island: the base for volcanic craters, lava tubes, coastal walks and the haenyeo diving women.
The old Silla capital: burial mounds, temples and a thousand years of history in a small city.
Gyeonju is definitely worth a visit. Once the capital of the Silla Kingdom, there is plenty to see and do here. I stayed 3 nights and that was too short. The city is built for loads of tourists but when I visited in January it was completely dead. Perhaps that’s different in other seasons.
A traveller, on Hostelworld
A preserved hanok village and the city Koreans name as the country's food capital.
Korea does cities, mountains and food, and links them with excellent trains.
Seoul, which rewards a week more than a weekend.
Korean barbecue, fried chicken, and markets that run all night.
Until the metro restarts at five, and then some.
Seventy per cent mountains, and trails from every city.
Palaces, temple stays and a thousand-year-old capital.
Busan and Jeju in a short, intense summer season.
In Seoul, the palaces are the anchor — Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung, both free to enter if you wear hanbok, which you can rent nearby for a few euros and which most visitors enjoy more than they expect. Bukchon's hanok village sits between them.
The mountains are the surprise. Bukhansan National Park is inside Seoul's city limits and reachable by metro, with granite peaks and a full day's walking at the end of a subway line.
Elsewhere, temple stays let you spend a night in a working mountain temple with monks, meals and a 4am service, for around €40 to €60. Gyeongju has the Silla dynasty tombs and Bulguksa temple, and the DMZ tour to the North Korean border is a half-day trip from Seoul that must be booked in advance with passport details.
Korean food is built around sharing and side dishes. Order a main and banchan arrive unasked — kimchi, pickles, greens — and they are refilled free. Korean barbecue is cooked at your table and runs €10 to €18 a head, and it is designed for groups, though many places will serve two.
Cheap eating is everywhere: kimbap rolls at €2, bibimbap at €6 to €8, and street food at Gwangjang and Myeongdong markets for a couple of euros a portion.
Fried chicken and beer — chimaek — is a national institution and the correct late-night meal. Soju costs about €1.50 a bottle in a convenience store and is drunk with food rather than instead of it. Solo diners were once unusual and are now entirely normal.
Seoul has one of the best nightlife scenes in the world and it runs on a simple logic: the metro stops around midnight and restarts at half five, so you either leave early or stay out. Most people stay out.
Hongdae is the student district with live music, clubs and street performers; Itaewon is the international quarter; Gangnam is expensive and glossy. Between rounds, noraebang — private karaoke rooms rented by the hour — are where half the night ends up.
Drinking here is social and food-centred: soju and beer with barbecue, then a second round somewhere else, then a third. Pojangmacha, orange tented street stalls, serve food and drink outdoors until very late.
The KTX high-speed train runs Seoul to Busan in two hours twenty for around €40, and the network reaches most major cities. Regular trains and express buses are cheaper and only slightly slower on shorter routes.
In cities, a T-money card covers every metro, bus and most taxis nationwide, and it is sold in any convenience store. Seoul's metro is extensive, cheap and signed in English.
One practical thing that catches everyone out: Google Maps does not work properly for directions in South Korea because of mapping restrictions. Download Naver Map or KakaoMap before you arrive — they work in English and they are genuinely necessary.
South Korea is cheaper than Japan and considerably cheaper than western Europe for food and transport. Dorms start around €18, bibimbap is €6 to €8, a metro ride is about a euro, and convenience store meals are genuinely good for €3 to €5.
A day comes to €40 to €60 without effort. Korean barbecue, a temple stay or a KTX leg are the things that push it up.
Card payment is close to universal — Korea is one of the most cashless countries in the world — and foreign cards work almost everywhere, though a small amount of cash is still useful at markets.
South Korea is one of the safest countries in the world. Violent crime against travellers is very rare, people leave laptops on café tables to reserve seats, and walking alone at night in Seoul is unremarkable.
The practical cautions are small: drinking culture is heavy and pacing matters, and Korea has strict drug laws that apply to foreigners and, in some cases, to Korean citizens for offences committed abroad.
On North Korea — the border is 50km from Seoul and the situation makes headlines periodically, but daily life is entirely unaffected and tourism continues normally. The DMZ tours are safe, well organised and require passport registration in advance.
Most Western nationalities enter visa-free for 30 to 90 days depending on nationality.
K-ETA, the electronic travel authorisation, has been temporarily waived for many countries while the scheme is reviewed, and the list of exempt nationalities and the waiver period have both changed more than once. Check the official K-ETA site before booking — it is the single most changeable entry requirement in this guide.
There is also an arrival card, now often submitted digitally. Passports need to be valid for the stay.
Spring and autumn are the two great seasons here, and both are short. Summer is hot, humid and includes a proper rainy season; winter is genuinely cold.
Average highs for Seoul, which is genuinely cold in winter and humid in summer. Jeju is a few degrees milder year-round, and the rainy season runs late June to late July.
Pick how you travel and how long for. Per night, for one person, in euro equivalents of won.
Excludes KTX legs at around €40 each. Temple stays at €40–60 and Korean barbecue are the other notable extras.
Two national holidays fill every train in the country, and cherry blossom is as busy here as in Japan.
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The highest-rated hostels in the country, live from Hostelworld. Seoul has the most, concentrated in Hongdae and Myeongdong, with Busan next.
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