머스트리치

Taxis in Korea are cheap by big-city standards, clean, and safe. A 15-minute ride across central Seoul usually costs less than a cocktail in a hotel bar. The hard part for visitors is not the price but the booking: most Koreans call taxis through apps, drivers rarely speak much English, and some apps make it awkward to pay with a foreign card. This guide explains how fares work, which app to use as a visitor (Kakao T, K.ride or Uber), how to pay, and how to hail one on the street when your phone is not cooperating. Fares were checked against the Seoul Metropolitan Government's published rates in October 2026 . Short version • Seoul standard taxi: ₩4,800 for the first 1.6 km, then ₩100 per 131 m (or per 30 seconds in slow traffic) • Night surcharge 10 p.m.–4 a.m.: +20% , rising to +40% from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. • Easiest apps for visitors: Kakao T (most cars) or Uber (works with your existing account and foreign card); K.ride is Kakao's app built for foreigners • No ti...

Every price in Korea includes 10% VAT, and as a short-term visitor you can get part of it back on shopping. The good news is that Korea has one of the easiest systems in the world: at most big stores the refund comes off the price at the till, so you never have to queue at the airport. The bad news is that tourists still miss it every day, usually because they left their passport at the hotel or paid at a self-checkout. This guide explains both ways to get the refund (instant in the store, or later at the airport), the thresholds, how much you actually get back, and what changed recently. Rules were checked in October 2026 . The rules in one box • Who: foreign visitors staying in Korea less than 6 months (your passport proves it) • Minimum: ₩15,000 in one purchase at one store • Instant refund: purchases under ₩1,000,000 each, up to ₩5,000,000 in total per trip • What you get back: usually about 5–8% of the price, not the full 10% • Leave Korea with the goods within 3 mont...

“Is Korea expensive?” gets two opposite answers online. People who ate barbecue every night and stayed in Gangnam hotels say yes. People who lived on soups, rice bowls and convenience store snacks and rode the subway everywhere say it was cheaper than Tokyo. Both are right, because in Korea the gap between eating like a local and eating like a tourist is unusually wide. This guide uses real 2026 prices (average restaurant prices from Korea's consumer agency, official transport fares, and admission fees from official sites) to show where the money goes, then builds three daily budgets. Prices are in Korean won, with US dollars at the October 27, 2026 rate of about ₩1,325 = US$1 . Daily budget per person in Seoul (excluding flights) • Budget: about ₩100,000–₩130,000 (US$75–100) • Mid-range: about ₩200,000–₩280,000 (US$150–210) • Comfortable: ₩400,000+ (US$300+) Accommodation is the biggest variable. Shared rooms cut it by half. Food: cheaper than you expect, if you eat...

November is the month Seoul changes season. It usually starts as late autumn, with yellow ginkgo trees along the streets and red maples on the mountains, and ends feeling like early winter, with frosty mornings and the first padded coats on the subway. For visitors that makes it one of the best months to come and one of the hardest to pack for. This guide gives you the real numbers (the official 1991–2020 averages), what those numbers feel like on the street, a packing list that works for both halves of the month, and what is on in Seoul in November 2026. November in Seoul at a glance • Average high 11.9°C (53°F) , average low 3.5°C (38°F) • About 51 mm of rain over roughly 6 rainy days • Early November: autumn leaves, mild afternoons. Late November: near-freezing mornings, bare trees • Dark by about 5:30 p.m. at the end of the month The weather, week by week The monthly average hides a big slide. October in Seoul averages a high of 20.2°C; December averages 4.2°C. November ...

Busan is Korea's second city and its biggest port, and it feels very different from Seoul. The city is squeezed between mountains and the sea, so neighbourhoods climb up hillsides, beaches sit next to the subway, and the best views come from walking along cliffs. Most visitors come for two or three days, usually by KTX train from Seoul. Busan's sights are far apart: Haeundae in the east and Gamcheon in the west are about an hour apart by subway. So rather than a ranked list, this guide groups things to do into two areas , one per day. Train fares, subway fares and festival dates were checked in October 2026 . Coming in early November? The Busan Fireworks Festival is on Saturday, November 7, 2026 , centred on Gwangalli Beach with the Gwangan Bridge as the stage. It is one of the biggest fireworks shows in Asia and the city fills up: hotels near Gwangalli and Haeundae sell out, the subway is packed for hours after the show, and paid seats are sold in advance. If your dates ...

Jeju is the volcanic island off Korea's south coast that Koreans go to for honeymoons, school trips and long weekends. The flight from Seoul's Gimpo Airport takes a little over an hour, and planes leave almost every few minutes. Lots of visitors spend two days there and leave feeling they only saw the inside of a rental car. The island is bigger than it looks on a map, about 75 km from east to west, and its best sights are spread around the coast with a 1,947-metre volcano in the middle. So this guide is organised by side of the island . Pick a side for each day, sleep in the area you are exploring if you can, and you will spend more time at the sights than on the road. Opening hours, fees and booking rules were checked in October 2026 . How many days? 2 days : the east side (Seongsan, Udo) and the south (Seogwipo). 3 days : add the west (Hyeopjae beach, tea fields, Camellia Hill). 4 days or more : add a Hallasan hike, which needs a full day and, for the summit trails, a...