Seoul: 5-Day Itinerary and Budget

I admit it: I’m obsessed with Korea, so if you ask me: yes, you have to go. It is a country that feels quite uncertain for some people, as there are many doubts about whether it is worth visiting or not, but it is gaining more and more interest among travellers. In autumn 2019 we had planned a trip to Japan, but we decided to cut a few days to visit Seoul since it is around two hours from Tokyo by plane and flights usually cost less than €100. I was left wanting to do the rest of the route around the country, but it is clearly in my top 3 priorities for my next trips. Seoul is the capital of South Korea and nowadays around 10 million people live there, although the metropolitan area has around 24.5 million inhabitants. To give you an idea of how explosive this city can be, in 2012 the United Nations declared that its quality of life was above that of other capitals such as New York or London. Are you more interested now? *If you are looking for a longer trip, I have also created a 10-day itinerary including Seoul and Busan.

5-day itinerary in Seoul

• • Day 1 – Arrival in Seoul and walk around Myeongdong, the shopping district in the city centre
  • Day 2 – North of the city:
    • Breakfast at Insadong-gil street, a traditional-style area with many cafés and shops.
    • Bukchon Hanok Village, which you will have seen in many photographs because it is an area with traditional houses where people dress in Hanbok and walk around taking photoshoots.
    • Gyeongbokgung: Keep in mind that it is closed on Tuesdays. You can check the opening hours here and the price is 3,000 KRW (around €2.30).
    • Extra: If you have time, you can also visit the palaces Changgyeonggung, Changdeokgung and Huwon.
  • Day 3 – Gangnam, Seong-su and Dongdaemun neighbourhoods:
    • Start the day by having a good coffee at Arabica, and entering Starfield COEX Library, an incredible library that you absolutely have to see. The library is inside the shopping centre, so you can also have a look around.
    • Leave the shopping centre, where you will see a statue honouring PSY’s song “Gangnam Style”, and walk along Teheran-ro to Gangnam-daero, where you will find many large shops such as Line Store, among others.
    • Continue straight ahead to reach the neighbourhood of Sinsa-dong. It is one of my favourites, don’t miss it!
    • Seong-su is a neighbourhood with countless cafés, so it is perfect for starting the sixth day.
    • Take the metro to Dongdaemun and visit DDP Dongdaemun Design Plaza.
    • You can also go to Gwangjang Market to have dinner at one of the restaurants or simply grab some street food.
  • Day 4 – Hongdae, the student area:
    • This day is more relaxed. We spent it walking around this neighbourhood without a plan, as it is where Hongik University is located. You can start with Hongdae Shopping Street, also visit Hongdae Mural Street, and go into many shops and cafés.
  • Day 5 – Namsan Park, N Seoul Tower, Itaewon and heading home:
    • Start the day by visiting the area around Seoul Tower (N Seoul Tower). I recommend taking the cable car to get to the top and then walking back down. The one-way price is 11,000 KRW (around €8.20).
    • Walk down through Namsan Park to the neighbourhood of Itaewon, which will take around 45 minutes.
    • Afterwards, you can walk around the Yongsan area. We went there to visit the Hybe Insight exhibition (the record label and agency of groups such as BTS, TXT, Enhypen, New Jeans and Le Sserafim), although it is currently closed and will reopen soon in another location.

To travel to South Korea for tourism purposes, you do not need to apply for a visa. However, since 2025, South Korea has introduced a mandatory E-Arrival Card to speed up the immigration and customs process. You can now submit your details online within 72 hours before your arrival, avoiding paper forms on the plane or at the airport. You simply need to access the official E-Arrival Card website, upload a photo of your passport, and complete your flight, accommodation, and some personal details (such as your occupation).

When to visit Seoul

In general, it is very important that before planning a trip to any part of Asia, you do some research about the weather and the best times to visit. Seoul’s weather is similar to what I explained in my Japan post, as it is characterised by a humid summer with very hot temperatures reaching highs of 30ºC and an extremely cold winter with highs of 2ºC and lows that can reach -6ºC. Therefore, the best time to visit is during spring or autumn, as you can enjoy both the cherry blossom season in April and the red and orange autumn colours in October/November. These are also the best months to avoid heavy rainfall, as from July to early September it tends to rain quite frequently. Below you can find a chart from the Korea Meteorological Administration with more detailed information:    

Accommodation

Seoul has 25 districts (map below), but these are some of the neighbourhoods I recommend staying in during your time in Seoul:

• • Myeong-dong (Jung-gu district) is a shopping area 100% adapted to tourism, packed with streets full of cosmetics and clothing shops and neon lights. From here, you can also take a free bus to Namsan Tower.
    1. Hotel Venue-G Seoul: €60 per night (we stayed here and I recommend it 500%)
    2. Staz Hotel Myeongdong 2 for €62/night
    3. Hotel 8 Hours for €62/night
    4. Sunny Guesthouse Seoul City for €45/night
  • Insa-dong (within the Jongno-gu district) is the area closest to the city’s main attractions, where you will be surrounded by the most traditional side of Seoul and plenty of cafés (my obsession). Bukchon Hanok Village and the main palaces, Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung, are located in Insa-dong.
    1. Insadong Crown Hotel for €53/night
    2. Petercat Hotel Insadong for €42/night  
    3. 24 Guesthouse Insadong for €37/night
  • Hongdae (Mapo-gu district) is one of my favourite areas in Seoul, as it is a university neighbourhood with a more local atmosphere, full of art galleries, bars and restaurants. This is where you can enjoy the best “nightlife” in the city, or so they say! Most of the accommodation options you will find here are guesthouse-style:
    1. Grape Garden House for €40/night
    2. Bunk Guesthouse Hongdae2 for €41/night
    3. Hotel The Designers Hongdae for €70/night
  • Gangnam (Gangnam-gu district) is the area that reminded me the most of Tokyo because of its atmosphere and skyscrapers. It is a financial district with many shopping centres and the birthplace of the K-POP industry.
    1. Dormy Inn SEOUL Gangnam for €60/night
    2. K-Grand Hostel Gangnam1 for €45/night
    3. Hotel Star Gangnam for €60/night

 

Getting around Seoul – How to move around

To get around Seoul, the best option is to buy a T-Money or Cashbee card and top it up as needed. These will allow you to use the subway and buses throughout the country. The T-Money card can also be used as electronic money in shops, although Cashbee has more options for this. If you want to top them up at convenience stores, keep in mind that they only accept cash. For each journey, you can make 4 transfers with a discount, and for the discount to apply you will need to tap your card before getting off the bus or leaving the subway. The transfer time limit is 30 minutes. You can top them up with amounts ranging from 1,000 won to 90,000 won. There are several ways to get around Seoul:

1. 1. Subway: operates from 5:30 am until midnight and you can pay for a single journey or multiple trips using a T-Money card, which can be purchased at convenience stores and subway stations. A single journey costs 1,250₩ (€0.93) and 1,350₩ (€1) if paying with cash.
   2. Bus: there are several bus lines differentiated by colours and the price varies depending on them:
      • Blue and green: 1,200₩ (€0.89) and 1,300₩ (€0.97) in cash
      • Local green: 1,100₩ (€0.82) and 1,000₩ (€0.74) in cash
      • Yellow: 1,100₩ (€0.82) and 1,200₩ (€0.89) in cash
      • Red: 2,300₩ (€1.71) and 2,400₩ (€1.79) in cash
      • Night buses: 2,150₩ (€1.60) and 2,250₩ (€1.67) in cash
   3. Taxi: there are 3 types: regular, deluxe and Jumbo, and not all taxi drivers speak English. I didn’t find it to be an expensive service.

To get to and from the airport, there are also several options: a single ticket or you can start using your cards on this first journey. It is very important to keep in mind that you will need to buy them at a convenience store or at the information point when leaving the airport, and payment is ONLY in cash:

1. 1. AREX Train (Airport Railroad Express) from Incheon International Airport to Seoul Central Station. There are two types and you will need to add a 500W deposit to the price, which will be refunded when you arrive at the station:
      • All-stop train, which takes one hour and makes 11 stops until Seoul Central Station. It costs 4,750₩ (€3.54) from Terminal 1 and 4,150₩ from Terminal 2 (€3.10), and 100₩ less when using the transport card.
      • Express Train, which reaches Seoul Central Station without making any other stops. It takes 43 minutes from Terminal 1 and 52 minutes from Terminal 2. It costs 9,000₩ (€6.70).
   2. Bus: buses leave from the first and third floors and you can reach Incheon, East Incheon, Gyeongsang, Choong-chung, Gangwon, Jeolla, Gyeonggi and Seoul. It takes around 70 minutes to reach Seoul. There is also a deluxe service. Prices range from 9,000₩ to 15,000₩ and you will get a discount if you pay with the transport card. You can find more detailed information about the routes here.
   3. Taxi

Important point! In Seoul, Google Maps will be of little use. This, which I find fascinating, is because South Korea banned Google from using the country’s official maps “for security reasons related to the conflict between South Korea and North Korea”. The limitations mainly affect walking routes, driving directions and 3D maps. For this trip, I recommend downloading Citymapper or using Naver Maps.

Internet

Although in Seoul there is Wi-Fi everywhere, I believe that travelling with mobile internet is important, especially for checking train schedules, finding your way around, or knowing how to get somewhere. In South Korea, there are several options:

• • eSIM: nowadays the most common option is to get an eSIM, so I’ll leave you a link with a 5% discount for Holafly here. If the discount is not automatically applied, you can use the code “WHERETOFINDJESS” during the purchase process.

• • Data SIM card: This is the option I always choose. It is a SIM card that you can buy as soon as you arrive at the airport. There are also shops selling cards, but I like to arrive prepared from the beginning. There are 3 main mobile phone companies: SK Telecom, Korea Telecom and LG U+. The most recommended are the first two, although the second one only offers data-only cards. A card for around 5 days will cost approximately €22.
  • Pocket WIFI: It is a portable device that you can rent and it will provide internet until the battery runs out. It is very small and easy to carry, and you can connect several devices. You can rent it at SK Telecom official stores.

Travel insurance

For this type of trip, I always take out IATI travel insurance so we can feel more relaxed in case something happens. We once had an incident in Japan and it worked perfectly for us. We usually choose the “IATI Básico” or “IATI Estándar” options, although depending on the country you should check whether the “Estrella” or “Mochilero” options are more suitable. Additionally, you can add or purchase cancellation insurance. There is an option called “IATI Anulación Premium”, which has been specifically designed to cover costs associated with trip cancellations (flights, accommodation, excursions, among others), up to a limit of €6,000, if you are unable to travel due to any of the reasons covered by the policy. By clicking on this link you can purchase any IATI insurance with a 5% discount: https://www.iatiseguros.com?r=81717716852618.

Money during the trip – N26 Card

In South Korea they use the South Korean Won (₩, KRW), and you can get an idea of its value by keeping in mind that ₩1,000 is around €0.70. We used our credit card to pay for everything during this trip and had no problems. The only downside to keep in mind is that if you get a public transport card and want to top it up at konbini (convenience stores such as 7-Eleven, for example), they only accept cash. I got this card to travel to Iceland and since then it has worked amazingly well for me on all my trips. As I have travelled quite a few times to Japan and other countries that don’t use the euro in recent years, I was a bit tired of having to pay exchange fees at airports or currency exchange offices, the approximately 3% fee my bank charged me for every card purchase I made, or for withdrawing money… So I tried to find a solution to this problem because although it may seem like a small percentage, when you add it all up, the amount of money wasted on fees really adds up. So, when I travel, I pay for everything with my N26 prepaid card. You can request it through this link. A few points to keep in mind:

• • I opened an account free of charge at Spanish and eurozone ATMs, as long as they were contactless.
  • If you want the physical card, you can request it for €10.
  • Adding money to the card is very easy, as it is done via bank transfer.
  • Some important points to keep in mind while travelling with this card:
    • • You can pay in any currency other than the euro. N26 does not charge fees for making payments abroad, even when another currency is involved. The exchange rate applied is the one provided by Mastercard.
      • If you have a standard N26 account and want to withdraw money from an ATM outside Europe, you will have to pay a 1.7% currency exchange fee (but nothing for the transaction itself). With an N26 You or Metal account, you won’t be charged this fee. I use the Standard one.

All the payments I have made in countries with currencies other than the Euro have had a very good exchange rate (in this case, the Visa exchange rate applies). I kept comparing it every now and then with a currency converter to see what the daily exchange rate was, and the rate they used was even better than the one shown online. If you have any questions about this topic, send me an email and I’ll be happy to help, but the process is really very easy. Here is the link again: N26.

Food

Here is a short list of Korean dishes that you absolutely have to try while you’re there:

• • Korean BBQ (of course) 고기구이
  • Bibimbap: Korean mixed rice, 비빔밥
  • Tteokbokki / Ddeokbokki: spicy rice cakes, 떡볶이
  • Chi-maek, fried chicken and beer, 치맥
  • Dakgalbi, stir-fried chicken, 닭갈비
  • Kimchi-jjigae: kimchi stew, 김치찌개
  • Kimbap / gimbap: Korean sushi, 깁밥
  • Bulgogi: thinly sliced beef marinated with soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and garlic, then grilled, 불고기
  • Dakkochi: chicken and spring onion skewers, 닭꼬치
  • Gyeran Bbang: street food, bread with egg, 계란빵

Fun facts

1. 1. South Korea is the country that consumes the most alcohol (according to the WHO), and soju (the Korean equivalent of sake) is the best-selling alcoholic drink in the world. It is part of their daily culture, and it is considered rude to refuse an alcoholic drink. In fact, employees often go out drinking with their bosses, and many business deals are even made in bars.
   2. K-POP: I’m not going to include this as a fun fact because I’m completely obsessed with it, but you’re already late if you haven’t listened to something yet. Long live BTS. End of my fan moment. They often organise street gatherings where they play K-POP songs and dance in public. I’ll leave a video below that I love.
   3. I mentioned this before, but I’ll add it again: In Seoul, Google Maps won’t be very useful. This fascinates me because South Korea has restricted Google from using the country’s official maps “for security reasons related to the conflict between South Korea and North Korea”. The limitations mainly affect walking routes, driving directions and 3D maps.
   4. In Korea, you’ll notice that almost everyone seems to share the same surnames. This is because there are only around 300 surnames in the entire country, and the most common ones are Kim (around 30% of the population), Lee (around 17%) and Park (6%).
   5. Seoul is the city with the highest number of cafés per capita in the world.
   6. They are terrible drivers, seriously terrible.
   7. There are no rubbish bins on the streets.
   8. They absolutely love their food. Even when they travel, they continue looking for Korean food wherever they go.
   9. All food, no matter how spicy it is, has a slightly sweet flavour.
   10. When entering many shops, you’ll find a set of coasters where you can place your drink and pick it up again when you leave, so you don’t make a mess.
   11. The Korean alphabet, or hangul (Hangeul, 한글), contains 24 phonemes: 14 consonants and 10 vowels, and it can be written both horizontally and vertically.
   12. They don’t speak much English, and most things outside tourist areas are not translated. I recommend memorising or writing down a few specific words, especially for ordering in restaurants.

Budget for two people in Seoul

1. Main flight – €650 per person. €1,300 for two people. 2. Internal transport

• • T-Money: €25 per person. €50 for two people.
  • Return trip to the airport: €13 per person (Express train). €26 for two people.

3. Accommodation – €280, 4 nights, two people. 4. Entrance fees

• • Gyeongbokgung Palace: 3,000₩ per person (€2.23)
  • Deoksugung Palace: 1,000₩ per person (€0.74)
  • Cable car to N Seoul Tower: 11,000 KRW (€8.20) one way

5. Other expenses

• • SIM card: €21 per person. €42 for two people. Or an eSIM from Holafly with 5% discount.
  • Food (supermarket shopping for dinners at the apartment and some restaurants or fast food): €300 for two people, considering we spent around €50 on Korean BBQ.

APPROXIMATE TOTAL PRICE FOR 2 PEOPLE – €2,010*

*Not including souvenirs and other little things that come up while you’re there. This price covers the basic things you’ll need. And here comes the end of my Seoul experience. Right now, what I want most is to return soon and do the route around the rest of the country, which I’m sure is just as spectacular as the capital. I hope you decide to go!