South Korea was the first country I traveled to, and since I lived there for a year, there are a lot of places I would recommend and tips I have for getting around.

You can fly into Incheon (which is right next to Seoul) or Busan. When you get to the airport, you can get a SIM card from a kiosk, enabling you to use data freely. If you have an iPhone 14, you would just get an eSIM instead of a physical SIM. Even if your carrier has an international plan, I’ve found that doing this is often easier and cheaper. It also doesn’t put a limit on how much data you can use each day, as you can choose which one works best for you.

To discuss public transportation, you absolutely don’t need a car to get around, even if you travel to different cities. All of the cities I went to had buses. The bigger cities (Seoul and Busan) had subways as well. And to go between cities, you could get a coach bus from the intercity bus terminal. Depending on the cities you are traveling between, you can also take a train. For city buses and subways, you use a tmoney card, which you can buy from any convenience store. You can also add money on the card at the convenience store. You have to purchase a physical ticket from the intercity bus terminal to travel in between cities though.

Of course the biggest and most popular city is Seoul. I only took two trips here while I was in Korea, but you could definitely spend more time exploring than I did. If you like kpop, you can visit the HYBE museum, called HYBE INSIGHT (although this did not exist when I went), and Hallyu K-Star Road, where many popular groups have signed bear statues. I recommend visiting the HYBE INSIGHT website before you go to book tickets and make sure it is open for exhibits (as I write this, it is currently closed).

For nature and history lovers, I recommend Seoul Forest and Gyeongbokgung Palace. At the palace, you can rent a hanbok, which is traditional Korean clothing, and walk around the grounds to take pictures. You can spend around 1 to 2 hours here as well, since it is a fairly large place. There are two museums inside the grounds as well. Seoul Forest also contains many attractions and activities within it: park, garden, restaurant, water play area, and natural habitat forest. You could easily spend an afternoon here.

If you like shopping and street food, Myeong-dong would be the place to go in Seoul. Fun fact, one of the reasons why I went here during my first visit was because I forgot to pack pants. (Don’t worry, I was able to buy some.) As a note, if you hate crowds, this is not a destination for you.

Itaewon is another area in Seoul that is well-known, and there are many foreigners here. It’s busy as well, and is more of a bar scene. It can also be quite dangerous in certain areas. There was recently a fatal crowd crush that happened during Halloween, so I advise that you are careful if you go!

If you enjoy history, Gyeongju would be a good place to visit. As a note, it’s in the southwest part of Korea, so not close to Seoul. But you could get an intercity bus or a train to and from easily. Here are a few things I did:

Cheomseongdae Observatory. This is the oldest surviving observatory in Asia. In the same area, you can see ancient tombs of kings and queens from the Silla Dynasty and walk through Gyerim Forest.

Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond. I recommend that you visit this at night, as the building lights reflect off of the water. I wrote about my trip here in this post if you want to read more and see some pictures.

Another destination to visit is the Hanok village in Jeonju. Hanok is the name of the traditional design of buildings (you can see it in the roofs in the photo). Many people go here and dress in hanbok and wander around to take pictures. There are many shops to rent hanbok and even get your hair done. And of course there is always lots of good food to eat and cafes to visit.

I also recommend visiting Busan. As the second biggest city in Korea, there is plenty to do here! It’s a coastal city, so there are beaches and fresh seafood. One of the more popular beaches is Haeundae Beach, although one note is that sun-bathing is not necessarily a common-place activity. There is also Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, which is a beautiful temple built onto the seaside cliffs. It might be easiest to take a taxi to get to the temple.

You can also go to Gamcheon Cultural Village, which is a residential village built into the mountainside. All of the buildings are vibrantly colored, and there are many painted murals, so it’s a popular Instagram spot. There are also a bunch of little shops to visit.

Depending on when you go to Korea, I suggest visiting festivals that are happening. In March (and possibly April, depending on the weather), there are cherry blossom festivals happening all over the country. In the fall, you can go to cosmos festivals (as in the flower). In October, Jinju (which is where I lived) has a lantern festival on the river.

I would not recommend visiting in the summer months, as Korea gets very hot and humid. It’s also monsoon season around July, which means heavy rains every day (which most likely will lead to delayed flights).

Thanks again for reading! Feel free to comment with questions or your own experiences in Korea. Stay safe and stay happy!