South Korea
South Korea prices its sights like a public service and its hotel rooms like a scarce commodity. A royal palace in Seoul costs 3,000 won to enter. Hotel rates across the Seoul and Incheon area averaged about 296,000 won a night in September 2026, a record, on STR’s numbers.
One date here matters more than any price. South Korea requires an electronic travel authorisation, the K-ETA, from visa-free visitors, but it has waived that requirement for 22 countries and regions since 2023. The Ministry of Justice extended the waiver only to 31 December 2026. From 1 January 2027, nationals of those countries, which include the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia and most of western Europe, need a K-ETA again at 10,000 won. Anyone booking a trip that begins in 2027 is booking a form their last trip did not need.
Visa-free stays run to 90 days for most of those nationalities. Leaving costs 24,000 won in airport fee and departure tax, collected inside the ticket price, so there is nothing to pay at the airport.
The trains are excellent and the rail pass usually is not, because it excludes the Seoul subway and the SRT network.
Come in late spring, or from late September to November. July is the month to avoid: Seoul takes 414mm of rain in July alone against 1,418mm for the entire year.
- Entry and visas
- Most Western nationalities enter visa-free for 90 days. The thing to check is the K-ETA. South Korea requires this electronic travel authorisation from visa-free visitors, but has waived it for 22 countries and regions since 2023, and the Ministry of Justice extended that waiver to 31 December 2026 on its own notice board. The waived list is Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States, plus Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. From 1 January 2027 all of them need a K-ETA again, a date the US State Department states in the same terms. A K-ETA costs 10,000 won. Applying while you are exempt is allowed, optional and non-refundable, and buys you one thing: no paper arrival card. Apply only at k-eta.go.kr or in the K-ETA app, because resellers charge a markup for the same government form. Anyone not on the waived list needs a K-ETA now if they are visa-free, and a visa if they are not.
- Taxes and fees
- VAT is 10 percent and shop prices are quoted tax-inclusive. Visitors can reclaim it, and the mechanics matter more than the rate. At a store offering immediate refund the tax comes off at the till, but only if that single payment is at least 15,000 won and under 1,000,000 won, with refunded spending across the whole trip capped at 5,000,000 won, per the Korea Tourism Organization. Go over the per-payment limit and you pay in full and claim at the airport instead. The refund is never the full 10 percent once the operator’s handling fee comes out of it. There is no national hotel tax or city tax added to a room rate. Leaving Incheon costs 17,000 won in international passenger airport fee plus 7,000 won departure tax, both collected inside the airline ticket. Children under two are exempt. A rise in the airport fee to 22,000 won was reported in October 2026 as a proposal put to the National Assembly. It is not in force, and a 2026 ticket does not contain it.
- Getting around
- The rail pass is the decision to get right. A KORAIL PASS select pass costs 131,000 won for 2 days, 186,000 for 3, 234,000 for 4 and 275,000 for 5, and Korail’s own terms exclude the metropolitan subway, SRT trains and seasonal tourist trains. A trip that stays in Seoul gets nothing at all from it. Book point to point from Korail directly. Korail publishes a warning of its own that unauthorised resellers charged 76 dollars for a Seoul to Busan standard fare it sells at 43 dollars, which is a 77 percent markup on the same seat. In the cities, a T-money card costs 3,000 won, loads with cash at any convenience store and takes 100 won off every fare, per the Seoul Tourism Organization. Driving requires an International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention, or a Korean licence. The US State Department states it is required of all drivers, and rental desks check.
- Cards and money
- Korea runs on cards, and the catch is that it runs on Korean cards. Payment terminals, ticket kiosks and domestic booking sites reject foreign-issued cards often enough to plan around. That pattern comes from visitors reporting it consistently rather than from any published figure, so treat it as a reason to carry a backup rather than as a rule with a number attached. Bring two different card networks and keep some won. Kakao Pay and Naver Pay, which locals use for almost everything, need Korean identity verification for most functions and are effectively closed to short-term visitors. Not every ATM takes foreign cards either, and the reliable machines are the ones in convenience stores and at airport arrivals. Load T-money with cash for the same reason. Refuse dynamic currency conversion. If a terminal or a hotel front desk offers to bill you in your home currency, choose won, because that rate is set by the terminal’s operator rather than by your own bank.
- Currency
- KRW
- Best months
- Late March to May, and late September to November
Prices checked 2026-10