Where Should I Stay?
Korea for first timers

Your first trip to Korea, sorted.

Planned by your sunbae (선배, the one who went before you): your friend in Seoul, 24 years in, who'll tell you what the other blogs won't. Exit numbers included. Hype not included.

Start Here See The Itineraries
24 years in SeoulChecked on the groundNo clinic kickbacks
I'm a…
1Start Here출발2Seoul서울3Beyond Seoul지방4Eat & Drink먹방5After Dark밤8The Reset휴식9Money & Apps급행
Seven lines, one for each part of the site. Tap a stop to ride it. Swipe for more stops ▶노선도 · Line map

NOW ARRIVING · 도착 예정
▶ WHAT'S ONFULL TIMETABLE ›
Plan your trip · 여행 준비

Your Seoul passport.

Tick things off as you go. Your ticks stay in this browser, no account needed. Then see roughly what the trip costs.

Seoul Passport Checklist

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Before you fly
Landing day
In Seoul

Trip Budget

Nights, people and style. Room rates are per room, the rest per person per day.

Nights
5
Travellers
2
Style
0 won0 won each
Edit the rates

Example rates in won, not quotes. Transport is four subway rides a day at the 1,550 won adult fare. Carry about 50,000 won in cash; cards work almost everywhere else.

The map

Pick a line. Ride it.

Every section of this site is a Seoul subway line, in its real colour. Learn the map here and it will already feel familiar when you land.

What's on

Time your trip to the good stuff.

Festivals, holidays, seasons and big nights across Korea, filtered for who you're travelling as. Dates marked TBC are our best estimate from past years until organisers confirm.

MONTUEWEDTHUFRISATSUN
First timersFamiliesSoloHealth

Every listing links to its source and carries a Beep Check. Last full sweep: 24 Sep 2026. Always confirm with the organiser before you book travel around an event.

Sunbae says

Things I wish someone told me.

Swipe through. Screenshot the ones you need. Every card is something first timers get wrong in their first 48 hours.

Sunbae Says · Apps

Google Maps won't get you around. Naver Map will.

Walking and driving directions are limited on Google in Korea. Download Naver Map or KakaoMap before your flight and switch it to English.
Sunbae Says · Transit

Tap out when you get off the bus. Every time.

Skip it and you lose the free transfer. Listen for the reader to say 환승입니다, "transfer," on your next ride.
Sunbae Says · Food

Nobody is coming until you press the bell.

Most restaurants have a call button on the table. Waving and making eye contact will get you nowhere. Press it and relax.
Sunbae Says · Money

Put the tip money back in your wallet.

Tipping isn't part of the culture. Leaving cash on the table usually just earns you a confused staff member chasing you out the door.
Sunbae Says · Nunchi

The pink seat on the subway is not for you.

It's reserved for pregnant passengers, and locals leave it empty even at rush hour. Read the room. That's nunchi.
Sunbae Says · Streets

Bring a bag for your trash.

Public bins are rare. Hang on to wrappers and cups until the next convenience store or your hotel.
Departing soon

Next trains out of the station.

The next guides to publish, in order. Each one is checked against official sources the week it goes out.

Seoul In Late October: Why The Second Half Is The Best station signLaunch day · 8 OctSeoul In Late October: Why The Second Half Is The BestKorea In November 2026: Weather, Events And What To Pack station signLaunch day · 8 OctKorea In November 2026: Weather, Events And What To PackSeoraksan In Autumn: A Day Trip Or Overnight From Seoul station signLaunch day · 8 OctSeoraksan In Autumn: A Day Trip Or Overnight From SeoulThe Climate Card Changed: Which Transit Card Tourists Need Now station signLaunch day · 8 OctThe Climate Card Changed: Which Transit Card Tourists Need NowSeoul Fall Foliage 2026: Peak Dates And The Best Spots station signLaunch day · 8 OctSeoul Fall Foliage 2026: Peak Dates And The Best SpotsThe Unwritten Rules Of Korea: A Sunbae's Guide station signLaunch day · 8 OctThe Unwritten Rules Of Korea: A Sunbae's Guide
All guides · 전체 노선

Every guide, every line.

Forty five guides for your first trip, filed by subway line. Filter by line or search, then tap a station sign to read.

233
지하철 예절
SEOUL SUNBAE
Stamp rally · 스탬프 투어

Collect all 49 stations.

Korean stations love a stamp tour. So do we: finish any guide and its station stamp lands in your passport, line by line. No sign up, it lives in your browser.

Start At Station 131
Pillar guide · 눈치

The unwritten rules of Korea.

Priority seats, tipping, trays, toilets, photos and the ajumma who is about to tell you off. Fourteen short guides, one big one, and a myth check of the things travellers online get wrong.

Read The RulesSeven Myths Checked
필수 앱Five Apps Before You Land지하철 예절Subway Etiquette돈과 결제Money In Korea주문하기How To Order고깃집Korean BBQ Etiquette혼밥Eating Alone화장실과 분리수거Toilets And Trash사찰 복장Temple Dress Code택시Taxis In Seoul사진 촬영Photos And Privacy오해와 진심Why Koreans Seem Rude아줌마The Ajumma Guide깜짝 놀랄 것들Twelve Surprises진실 혹은 거짓Myths Checked
Neighbourhoods · 동네

Eight stops, eight Seouls.

Tap a station to see why you'd get off there, the exit we've checked and the guides to read first.

The map · 노선도

A subway map for first timers.

Sixty stations visitors actually use, in the real line colours. Tap a station for why to get off, the exit we've checked, offers nearby, what's on and the guide to read next.

Seoul Sunbae first timer's Seoul subway map Open The Interactive Map ↗
Airport To HongdaeIncheon · Gimpo · DMC · Hongik Univ. Airport To MyeongdongAREX to Seoul Station, then 2 stops on Line 4 The Palace MorningGyeongbokgung · Anguk · Jongno 3-ga · Jongno 5-ga Gangnam To Lotte WorldGangnam · Samseong · Sports Complex · Jamsil The Hongdae LoopSinchon · Hongdae · Hapjeong · Sangsu
60 second quiz

Where should you stay?

Where you sleep decides half your trip. Four questions, one neighbourhood, and the exact exit to aim for with your luggage.

Routes

Routes for this season.

Plans built around real travel times and this year's forecasts, so you are not crossing the country for leaves that have already fallen.

OCTlateStart here

Seoul In Late October: Why The Second Half Is The Best

Why the second half of October beats the first: forecast foliage peaks, silver grass hills and quieter palaces.

Haneul Park · Palaces · Jeongdong · Nodeul
WALK도보World Cup Stadium Stn→Haneul Parkabout 40 min
1day trip

Seoraksan In Autumn: A Day Trip Or Overnight From Seoul

Bus times, cable car tips and whether to stay the night for Korea's most famous autumn mountain.

Seoul · Sokcho · Sinheungsa · Gwongeumseong
BUS고속버스Seoul Express Bus Terminal→Sokchoabout 2h 20m
NOVJeju

Jeju In November: Tangerines, Foliage And The Olle Walking Festival

Tangerine picking, Hallasan foliage and the Olle Walking Festival, with or without a car.

Jeju City · Olle routes · Seogwipo · Hallasan
FLIGHT항공Gimpo→Jejuabout 1h 15m
Line 8 · The Reset

Health checks, skin and wellness. No clinic kickbacks.

Seoul is one of the world's great cities for health screening, skin care and serious rest. Most of what you read about it in English is written by someone selling you a procedure. This isn't.

We never take commissions from clinics or hospitals.
We explain how the system works and what to ask. Your doctor makes the medical calls.
Every clinic guide shows you how to verify a clinic yourself on the official Medical Korea portal.
검진

Health Checkups

How Korean screening packages work, what's inside, and how to fit one into a trip.

→ 피부

Skin Clinics, Safely

How to check who treats you, the 2026 rules, and the red flags that mean walk out.

→ 찜질

Jjimjilbang For First Timers

The Korean spa rules nobody explains, and the famous spas that have closed.

→ 사찰

Templestay In Seoul

A first timer's guide for late autumn and winter, 4am bell included.

→

Need help in Seoul? The Medical Korea Support Center helps foreign patients in English and other languages: 1577‑7129, or +82‑2‑1577‑7129 from abroad.

Your checkup day · 건강검진

A health checkup in Seoul, hour by hour.

What a typical screening day looks like, so nothing surprises you. Your centre's own instructions always come first.

  1. The night beforeFast as instructed (금식)

    Your centre tells you when to stop eating and drinking, and what to do about regular medication. Ask for it in writing.

  2. Early morningArrive early and register

    One visitor in a 2026 Herald Business report started at 8:30am.

  3. The next few hoursBlood work, imaging, endoscopy

    Screening centres move you through the tests in a few hours. That visitor finished around 1pm; another was done in three hours.

  4. AfternoonKeep it free

    Sedation for endoscopy can leave you drowsy. Book nothing important, and ask in writing if someone must take you home.

  5. One to two weeks laterYour written results

    Reports typically arrive by email within one to two weeks. Urgent findings can be flagged sooner.

Examples from published 2026 reports, not medical advice. No clinic pays us. Full guide: Health Checkups In Korea For Foreigners.

Day and night · 낮과 밤

Same street, two cities.

Seoul changes after dark. Drag the handle to see the same spot by day and by night.

Photo slot · daynight-day
Your own photo: Cheonggyecheon stream from the Gwanggyo bridge at midday.
Photo slot · daynight-night
Your own photo: the same spot and angle after dark, with the lights on.
낮 DAY밤 NIGHT
Cheonggyecheon, by day and by nightOwn photos only · 직접 찍은 사진
Line 5 · After Dark

Seoul after dark, from the DJ booth.

Two decades behind the decks in this city means I know which streets wake up at midnight, where the last train leaves you, and which bars are worth the queue. Deeper cuts live on The DJ Diaries.

Visit The DJ Diaries
Word of the stop 환승 hwan‑seung

Transfer. The bus card reader says 환승입니다 when your free transfer kicks in. Hear it and you have just saved a fare.

Who's your sunbae?

24 years in Seoul, and still riding Line 2.

In Korea, your sunbae (선배) is the one who went before you: the friend who has already been through it and shows you the unwritten rules. I landed in Seoul in my twenties and never left. Since then I've presented on Korean TV and radio, taught at a Seoul university for nearly two decades, and DJed this city's clubs long enough to watch whole neighbourhoods change.

Everything here is written from the ground, checked on the ground, and dated so you know it is current.

Arirang TVSBS RadioTBSUniversity professorDJ since the 2000s