Traveling to Korea

A few years ago, traveling to Korea, especially Seoul, could be a bit daunting. Signs were lacking, hotels expensive and communication difficult. But even as Korean culture has grown more popular abroad over the last decade, Korea has become a more inviting, friendly country for visitors.

Today, there are plenty of resources to help out tourists, making exploring Korea more fun and interesting than ever. There are walking tours and shopping tours, and most of the big ticketing websites have English (and other) options, helping you buy tickets to concerts, musicals or whatever else you might want to try. Interpark is one of the best (ticket.interpark.com/global).

Of course, finding a place to stay is one of the most important parts of any vacation. Once upon a time, hotels could be difficult if you weren’t a total moneybags. Mid-range hotels were tough to come by. Today, however, the options really have multiplied.

Guesthouses and B&Bs have sprung up all over Seoul, many of them in the best parts of town, especially in Hongdae, operated by friendly people who like playing host to international guests.

Yellow Submarine (yellow-submarine.kr) in Yeonnam-dong, a short walk from Hongdae, is one popular option.

Kpop Stay (kpopstay.com) gets great marks from many budget travelers and is right in the middle of Hongdae, so you cannot beat the location.

Cozzzy (cozzzy.co.kr) is another good option for the Hongdae area.

For other parts of town, in the Hyehwa area, another fun, student neighborhood famous for its theaters, you can stay at Stay in GAM (facebook.com/Stayingam).

In Insa-dong, a charming part of town close to the old palaces, Banana Backpackers (bananabackpackers.com) is popular.

On the slopes of Mount Namsan in the heart of town, there are many guesthouses, including Soo Guest-house (sooguesthouse.com) and Bong House (www.bonghouse.net).

South of the river, in expensive parts of town like Apgujeong and Gangnam, guesthouses are unsurprisingly much harder to find. But for people who have a bit more money, Seoul also is starting to get into the boutique hotel trend, with more creative and fun options springing up around town. Two of the most popular options are the Hotel the Designers (thedesignershotel.com), with one location in Samseong-dong, in the rich, southeast of the city, and another in Hongdae, the cool bar and artsy part of Seoul in the west. Each room was created by a different designer and the results can be pretty funky.

If you want to stay in the fashionable Garosu-gil neighborhood, then La Casa (hotellacasa.kr) is probably your best bet.

For a really different experience, there is always the Rakkojae (www.rkj.co.kr) guesthouse, a beautiful hanok (traditional building) in the center of old Seoul. This hanok is more than 130 years old, but the interiors are gorgeous, giving you a taste of what life used to be like in olden-day Korea, well, the olden days for rich people, anyhow.

Remember that Korea gets pretty hot in the summer (and hot and wet in mid-July) and pretty cold in the winter, so whenever you choose to come, be prepared and dress appropriately.

These days, most of the banks in Korea are much more international than they used to be, so it is not too hard to find ATMs that work with banks cards from all over the world accepted. A lot of ATMs stop operating after midnight, so be careful about that. Convenience store ATMs usually run 24-hours, although they can be a bit dodgy.

Taxis are relatively cheap in Seoul and are often a good way to get around quickly. But if you choose to try out the public transportation system, it is quite well developed, if a little disorienting at first. Seoul now has nine subway lines and several other train lines that work with the subway (www.smrt.co.kr/).

Buses and subways cost a flat 1,100 won for your average ride, although longer trips cost more. Everything is electronic now, so if you plan on taking public transportation, the first thing you’ll need to do is get a T-Money card and charge it up with some money. Fortunately, the T-Money machines are multilingual, ubiquitous and fairly easy to use.

Restaurants can be a bit intimidating because most menus are in Korean, but English and other language menus are increasingly common (mostly Japanese and Chinese), especially in the more tourist-friendly parts of town.

Remember that nearly everywhere in Seoul there is no shortage of 24-hour convenience stores, so if you need water or toiletries or whatever at three in the morning, you should be in luck.