First Time in Seoul: Essential Korea Travel Tips

Korea rewards preparation more than almost any destination in Asia — the difference between a smooth trip and a confusing one is almost entirely logistics decided before you fly. These are the essentials.

Apps before anything else

Download these at home, while you still have fast Wi-Fi:

• Naver Map — the only map that works properly in Korea; Google Maps can't route walking or driving here
• Kakao T — taxis, late at night, in the rain, when nothing else stops
• Papago — Korean-English translation that vastly outperforms Google Translate for menus
• KakaoTalk — how Koreans actually communicate; many shops and hosts use it for everything

Money that just works

Korea is card-first — most places take credit cards, transit cards and even phone payments. But: street markets, some restaurants and rural areas are cash-only. Get a T-money card for transit (it also pays at convenience stores), and withdraw ₩100,000–200,000 from a Global ATM inside a bank (open hours only) for the cash layer.

The WOWPASS card deserves a mention: it works as a rechargeable payment card AND lets you withdraw cash at tourist-exchange machines without an ATM fee — genuinely useful for visitors.

Etiquette that locals actually notice

• Give and receive with two hands (cards, drinks, gifts)
• Shoes off indoors — always
• Don't tip — it's not expected and sometimes refused
• Quiet cars on the subway; priority seats stay empty for elders
• Table shouting at restaurants is normal; headphone music on a bus is not

None of these will make you enemies if you miss one — but hitting them consistently earns the visible delight of locals.

Tax-free shopping

Tourists can reclaim up to 8–10% VAT on purchases over ₩15,000 at certified tax-free shops. Bring your passport when you shop (it's scanned at purchase), and get refunds at the airport or via instant refund machines downtown.