I was in Seoul in September and October of this year and I can’t wait to go back now that I kinda know the lay of the land. Here are some things I learned that might help you when you’re there, too.
Learn a bit of Korean! A lot of public places have English signage and the subway announcements are in Korean and English, but it’s not easy if you have no knowledge at all.
But Google Lens is pretty useful when you have to read the instructions on a kiosk to buy coffee :) And don’t be afraid to ask for help, too. Korean people are generally very friendly. I’ve had many strangers help me figure out menu items at restaurants and cafes.
Buy a Korean sim card for your phone. It’s cheap and so useful because it isn’t actually true that there’s wifi “everywhere.” I think most people buy them at the airport but after a 15 hour flight and more than an hour waiting for our covid tests we didn’t feel like getting in another line. So I eventually bought them at a money exchange place in Hongdae.
Taxis are super cheap but hard to find. There is a taxi shortage in Seoul so don’t super rely on this mode of transportation. I’m not sure if this was temporary while I was there.
Kakao T, the taxi app, doesn’t take foreign credit cards. It took me a while to figure out that you have to swipe a screen to “pay driver directly” while you set up the app. I found this info on reddit and nowhere else for some reason.
Put plenty of money on your bus/subway card. Because you can use it for taxi rides too!
Naver is just for Koreans. Don’t try to use this to book travel like I did lol.
But use Naver Maps, which is the closest to Google Maps and is amazing for figuring out bus and subway travel.
Don’t use Google Maps. Technically it works in Korea but it has no data so they are empty maps with just street names on it.
The major food delivery app doesn’t take foreign credit cards. So it’s pretty hard to experience that awesome food delivery system they have in Korea. You can’t even set it up if you don’t have a Korean social security number. I had to use my friend’s account. If someone has a workaround for this let me know!
Default to a latte or be a grown up and drink it black. You can’t add milk to your coffee. You just can’t.
“Can I have milk for my coffee?”
“No, if you want that you should order a latte.”
“Can I just have milk on the side then?”
“No sorry we don’t do that. Order a latte.”
Everywhere I went.
Or drink coffee at home. There are a billion amazing coffee shops but most don’t open till 10 am! Maybe it’s just me but I’ve had four coffees by then.
Use the city bicycles!! So cheap and the app is super easy to use with your foreign credit card. Comfortable, adjustable seats! bikeseoul.com
Don’t miss the incredible biking and walking paths!!! OMG I cry about this. I wanted to move to Seoul for this.
Drink soju and makgeolli. Wine is expensive, and I don’t love beer but soju and makgeolli are cheap and delicious. The best soju imo is the lower alcohol one labelled “fresh,” which you can get anywhere, but the best makgeolli we had in Seoul isn’t in Canada! Sad, but it looks like this:
Eat fish and sea products everywhere you go. Grilled mackerel, dried croaker, salted fish eggs, fermented squid, seaweed soup, fish-broth based soups. All incredibly delicious.
Eat all ice creams and popsicles. Such an array of flavours!! My fav was this corn one, likely available at your local Korean grocery store.
Fall in love Tous les Jours. That is all.
Controversial take: skip the instant ramen. Instant ramen tastes the same in Korea as it does in Canada. Why did someone tell me otherwise? Okay so full disclosure: I’m not a fan. I have a package of ramen that’s been in my cupboard for over a year that I should prob throw away.
Enjoy the convenience of CU. It’s one of the three major convenience store chains that in long form is called Nice to CU, but everyone calls it CU and they are everywhere and have literally everything you need and open a very long time, sometimes 24 hours. For a while I kept thinking it was called “See you soon” prob because that’s what I was saying to the store.
Enjoy the dream that is the subway system. It is incredibly efficiently laid out, easy to use, cheap and so clean. It’s probably my favourite thing about Seoul. That and the mountains.
Climb every mountain. Visit the sans! (Mountains — well, it’s actually san, but I added an s for the plural which makes no sense, but here we are). I partially climbed two mountains and WOW the scenes were breathtaking. I’m gonna do more of this when I’m there next and maybe actually climb a whole mountain (I need climbing buddies — please let me know if you’re interested cause my entire fam and friend circle said no way)
Visit all the Buddhist temples. I’m not a religious person but the temples were the most beautiful places I visited.
Public bathrooms are everywhere. You don’t have to worry about asking random restaurants to use their bathrooms.
Public spaces are made for people. It’s amazing how well the pubic green spaces are planned out. They are designed for walking and socializing, and some even have bug spray and shoe cleaning stations installed at the entrances and exits. We even went to one where there was a walking path for shoeless walking to maybe message your feet? I’m not sure, but it was cool.
Try to make new friends. It’s not easy making friends in a foreign city but I think if I was there a bit longer, I would have tried to figure out how to make more friends in Seoul. I did have my bumble app installed and did check out the bff mode and there were people on there! I wasn’t in Seoul for that long and I was lucky to have family and friends with me, but if you’re travelling alone, it might be a thing to try, like somehow.