Last updated on June 9th, 2024 at 12:59 pm

Visiting S. Korea definitely felt like going on a blind date. But actually, in a good way, you know .. the one where you fall madly in love with each other and eventually get married and have a dozen grandchildren whom you lovingly narrate your love at first sight story.

Ok, maybe not so dramatic, but on a serious note, it is totally a love story in the making. Gaurav and I are smitten by the experiences we’ve had in Seoul in a short period of time. And I can’t convince you enough to add Seoul to your bucket list .. like right now!!

We have another detailed blog post on a 4-day Seoul itinerary but in this post, let’s talk about the things we found fascinating in Korea.

20 Interesting Facts & Travel Tips – Seoul, S. Korea 

Some of these travel tips can save you a lot of money on your visit to Seoul, so take mental notes!

1. Seoul is one of the safest cities which makes it a great destination for solo female travelers (I traveled solo for a part of this trip). People in Seoul are super friendly if you ask for help at the same time keep to their own business without being intrusive.

2. The currency of Korea is Won where 1000 Won = 1 USD roughly. It takes a little getting used to paying in tens of thousands. Credit cards are accepted at almost all the big stores and malls but carry cash for street vendors and for some underground shopping malls.

3. Koreans are very respectful even in a casual setting. For e.g. in the shops, they’ll always receive and return your credit card with both hands.

4. Seoul is a bustling metropolitan city where almost everyone speaks English very well. However, it’s important you learn these two Korean words – Anyeong Haseo (Hello) and Gamsahamnida (Thank-you) because you’ll hear them everywhere.

5. Conversely, local taxi drivers are not very well versed in English. Make sure to ask your hotel staff to write your destination in Korean. And keep your hotels business card with you at all times to show them the address in Korean. Uber works in Korea, just in case you want to use that instead.

6. We noticed that a large population of American expats live in S.Korea, and I mean beyond the American military that is stationed there. Almost half of my hotel staff were Korean by ancestry but born and raised in the US. We also met a few exchange students and volunteer teachers from the US.

7. Unless you are staying in a western hotel chain, most local and Asian hotel chains offer only tea in the room, no coffee. This is also true for most Airbnbs. Having said that, there are plenty of coffee shops all around Seoul to fulfill your caffeine cravings.

8. Seoul tourism offers amazing free guided walking tours for international tourists. Yes FREE! I haven’t seen any other big city do anything like that. Just go to Seoul’s tourism website to book in advance, I took the Bukchon village and a Palace tour.

Things To Do in Seoul, South Korea

9. Entry to the Seoul Palaces is Free if you wear a Hanbok. Hanbok is a traditional Korean dress for both ladies and men.  Here is more information on renting a Hanbok in Seoul.

10. The Global Cultural Center of Seoul, the official visitor center, is located at the top floor of M Plaza in Myeongdong (next to Zara). I highly recommend everyone to stop by here to get city guides, maps, shopping discount coupon, and best of all to learn about all the free events hosted for international tourists. I mean, imagine you can take a K-pop dance class for FREE. Just need to show your passport as proof that you are not a Seoul resident. They even let you try a Hanbok, Korean traditional dress, for Free within their office premise.  

11. Seoul is very well connected by local trains or subways which is the best way to move around within the city. When traveling by subways, if you buy a single journey ticket, you will be charged a deposit fee. Do not forget to get a refund of the deposit by returning your ticket at the final destination. Deposit refund machines are at every subway station next to the ticket vending machines.

12 Don’t underestimate the technological prowess from S. Korea. You’d be surprised how much of technology in your house might be coming straight from Seoul, from Samsung to LG to Hyundai to Kia. It’s straight up competing with Japan in everything including the high tech toilet seats. Bless them for having heated toilet seats, for real!

13. Google map doesn’t show walking directions in S. Korea. I was surprised that even our hotel staff recommended public transport or cabs for distances we are normally used to walking. I ended up manually mapping on Google maps to explore Seoul on foot.

14. Underground subway shopping is a “big thing” in S. Korea. Pretty much every subway station has an underground mall, some with even food courts. The best and largest ones are Gangnam underground mall and Express bus terminal underground mall (GOTO mall). Paying by cash is better at these shops to avoid additional taxes that come with credit card payments.

15. Clothes shops in the underground malls don’t have trial rooms and the majority of these shops carry only petite sizes. Fortunately, I seem to fit in the Asian society really well so the shopkeeper would look at me and say “it good for you”. 

16. Skincare, beauty and cosmetic industry seem to have taken over Korea. You will find more face masks and skin care products than groceries at stores here.

17. When you spend over 30,000 won while shopping, you can get a tax refund if you are an international tourist. You will need to show your passport and depending upon the shop’s policies, you either get the tax deducted from your total purchase at the store or take the final receipt to one of the tax refund centers in the city. I ended up asking at the shop where the closest tax refund center was and it happened to be the ground floor of the same shop. There they gave me a barcode which I had to show at the airport tax center for a refund.

18. Cute hand and face gestures are totally normal for both men and women. This show of affection is called “Aegyo” in Korean.

19. It might be worthwhile to invest in pocket wifi at the airport upon your arrival. Pocket wifi is a small device that essentially lets you be online with high-speed data without using your mobile data network. It came super handy for me to get walking directions.

20. Koreans like their food spicy. Street food is just as good as any high-end restaurant meal in Korea. Don’t forget to try some of the Korean alcoholic drink, Soju. Grape Soju is my favorite! For our vegetarian friends – there are plenty of vegetarian food options available in Korea than Japan, to be honest. Look for dishes with Korean rice cake, it is a great substitute for meat or vegetarian dumplings is always a great fallback. Just make sure to ask if the broth has meat in it or not. 

I hope we were able to generate some if not a lot of interest and curiosity for you to consider Seoul as your next travel destination. It’s awesome, trust us!

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Happy Traveling!