24 Things You Need to Know Before Traveling to Korea 2024🇰🇷

but turns out she gets on a bus and she ends up going kind of in the middle of nowhere to some type of underground building here are 24 things you need to know in 2024 before you head out to Korea I love Korea and of course most people like to visit so but I also really like pan and Chu Island as well but in the past I usually spend a big chunk of my time in Sol because my family is there and there's just so many fun things to do I am wearing my Korean Nike shirt that I made in yongdong in Korea actually made it from my husband and I'm borrowing it number one there are two Korean Airlines there is aiana and Korean Air now Korean Air is a lot more expensive I have been on isana and their service is amazing their food is delicious and it's pretty comfortable honestly either flights to Korea will give you the Korean experience but there are other airlines that fly to Korea as well number two in terms of major holidays in Korea Lunar New Year is in February which most people like to call it Chinese New Year but it's actually following the lunar calendar and Koreans also celebrate that so in February a lot of things will be closed Koreans celebrate Korean Thanksgiving which is called Chu hul and it's a whole month earlier than American Thanksgiving but in terms of which season to go in Asia in particular spring and Autumn are the best times to go the weather is going to be great you're going to see lots of beautiful nature Winters are freezing in Korea and then summers are quite hot I went in early June June and I felt like it was fine but it's monsoon season as well so you have to bring an umbrella cuz it can just start pouring at any moment in July and August is just very very humid number three flight time going to Korea takes about 14 hours then on the way back you'll come back in 10 to 11 hours we flew back so much faster going there did feel quite long so be mindful of what time you are landing in Korea given the time difference and how long that flight is soz you're going to be tired number four the airports in Korea the two major ones are inchon and kle the inchon one is the one that most International Flyers head over to and the Kimo is kind of like the local airport that's closer to soul inchan is literally in the middle of nowhere so there's really not much to do outside of inchon so if you have a layover and you're kind of like maybe I'll explore outside of the airport there's really not a lot happening you have to go into the city there are airport trains that will take you into the city a lot faster but you are going to have to transfer to get to your hotel and traffic in Korea is really really bad many times it takes longer to get in a taxi or get in a bus then to take the subway so let's get into Transportation now to get on the airport shuttle SL Subway or a bus you're going to need a transportation card and in Korea we call it the t- money card so the t- money card can be used on buses it can be used on subways pretty much all public transportation and some taxi drivers also accept te- money you can also use a t- money card at any of the convenience stores so this is really just like an all-in-one card you can get this at the airport at the kiosk they also have t- money vending machines so that's one of the first things you want to get at some convenience stores you can also find a t- money card with the face of your favorite K-pop artist now there was a time where I forgot my t- money card at the hotel and I went to the training station and I was like oh no I don't have one so what you do is you actually go to the kiosk machine and you get a temporary card so you have to put it in a deposit and then you're going to get a temporary card put in enough money for however much you want to go around today and then at the end of the day when you are done and you're near your hotel you're going to put the car back into the machines and then it's going to drop you your deposit back number seven let's talk about the culture and English and all of that because of Korean dramas and because of Korean pop stars the rise in tourism has really been exponential and BTS has also contributed to a big chunk of tourism in Korea because of that a lot of lot of Koreans are starting to use bits and pieces of English in their everyday language like okay or no but in Korea I do speak Korean so I haven't had experience myself in trying to get around in full English but from what I hear it's not that bad Koreans are really good at reading body language it's going to be okay the transportation cost in Korea is pretty affordable so you want to start off with like 10 USD go ahead and do that and you can always refill number nine Korea is very safe but also just be aware you know when we're traveling tourists usually stick out like a sore thumb so make sure that you don't get conned or you don't end up joining a cult so the reason why I say that is for being conned some taxi drivers they will kind of go a route that you don't know to try to get more money out of you and because they know you don't speak Korean they may do that I personally haven't experienced that and every time I've gone in a taxi they've gone exactly where I need to go in the time I needed to go just be aware and follow your maps and make sure that you are going in the direction you need to go I have a friend she was approached on the street they asked her if she wanted to do this Korean traditional tour and there's food and unique experience but turns out she gets on a bus and she ends up going like really far away from the city and kind of in the middle of nowhere to some type of underground building and so my friend's telling me this and I'm like there's just so many things that could have gone wrong so she goes to this underground area they do have food but they're also bowing down to to some kind of deity that's is not God and they're kind of you know talking to her about their beliefs and trying to convert her into this cult and so she was able to just say like no no I'm not interested and they did you know find her a ride back home but be mindful that those things can happen and just be aware of that number 10 pocket Wi-Fi so pocket Wi-Fi are very affordable in Korea compared to Japan where I felt like it was just so expensive for me to just have roaming Wi-Fi with me or a little Wi-Fi egg is what they call it right at the airport you can get a pocket Wi-Fi for me it was about $10 to $15 for a week but it was a little bit glitchy and it ran out of the battery very quickly so I just always had to carry an external battery with me to make sure my pocket Wi-Fi was charged and so I would just kind of be stuck waiting trying to load my maps cuz it wasn't working you can also use an eim as well and it takes about like 5 to 10 minutes to set it up but that also is very reliable number 11 let's talk about apps because in Korea there are some apps that you need to use because they are just you know very specific so Google Maps kind of works in Korea but not to the extent of Japan in Japan I could use solely Google Maps and I it was a okay in Korea it will not track your location so if you're like okay current location and I want to go to kungum it's not going to know where you are so before I go to Korea I usually copy and paste all of the Korean addresses of all the places I want to go to and then I paste it into Google Maps and then it'll route me to where I need to go but if I get lost I I need to figure out where I am and type that in but if you're used to Google Maps and the interface of that you can use it just be mindful that it won't be updating live so these are some of the apps that are helpful neighbor map and caca map the caca map is mostly Korean and Not Tourist friendly but it will update live for you but neighbor map is very very popular amongst a lot of international people so I definitely recommend using neighbor map if you want a taxi system you can download the app caca te it is all in Korean and I do have a video here talking about all the different apps and how I use them while I was in Korea the subway Korea app is a way for you to see the subway lines and to figure out where the connection's happening and where you need to go and which way a train is headed so Subway Korea is great or in a train station you can just take a photo of the map because they are posted literally in every station and the trains stop every 5 minutes or so another app that is so so helpful and I still use it to this day even in the states when I talk to my relatives called Papa go so papao you're able to convert from a lot of different languages but it's really good with Korean and you can also take a picture of whatever it is you're looking at and it'll translate it for you so neighbor is the equivalent of Google but in Korea so they really want to push you know their apps and it does a good job number 12 let's talk about locations Korea is very safe and there's a lot of places that you can stay at and it kind of depends on what you're looking for the old historical side and then there's like the upand cominging New York rushing City Live kind of Vibes I like to be in the city but I know some people like to be in the traditional areas too but in the city life I've stayed in k h Mong and then an up and cominging place is yongan so yongan is actually where bts's management is where Hive is and it's walking distance from the Han River and I love that area so much and it had really good food too but those are some of the areas that you can consider but I will say Hond is very loud at night so I had to sleep with air plugs in kangna was a bit pricey but I also love the area but I do think it's a bit far from all the touristy things to do so basically anything that's kind of along the Han river is nice number 13 Korean culture we are in a hurry and we are efficient and that's their main goal people are moving fast they may run into you they may push you and it's not considered rude in Korea that may feel rude for a lot of people who aren't used to that but in Korea that's a norm and it's a cultural thing but in most restaurants it's like get in get out let's go so it's normal to yell at your server be like chugo get them to come over to you to help you you need to be aggressive to get what you want and a lot of these people they work really long hours so they're just tired and they just want to get it moving everything is by by by by by 14 for apps on food use mango plate that's their equivalent of Yelp or you can also use Google reviews too no tipping in Korea in Korea you do not have to tip for anything literally what you see is what you get and what you need to pay for if you can avoid this please do so don't go on the Subways from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday the rush hour time at the train station is crazy people are everywhere and they are literally literally pushing against you and pushing you forward to try to squeeze as many people into the Subways and it's normal like everybody doesn't even bat night as they being shoved against each other and I was shocked number 17 you can eat and walk and do all the things in Korea I didn't see a lot of trash cans though but I do think it's still more than Japan number 18 it's also normal for in some restaurants for them to require you to take off your shoes when you go inside as well so that's something different number 19 Cafe culture as well as pastries are really big in Korea people love really cute and delicious pastries and cakes it's so normal to have cake for dessert def try it out number 20 when you go to a restaurant the Chopsticks the napkins and the spoons are actually on the side of your table many times I was waiting and I was like oh where are my utensils and then I realized oh the servers don't bring it to you and it's not all set at your table it's on the sides in a drawer and they're all just like a pile of Chopsticks number 21 perfectionism as you see in Korean dramas or from K-pop Idols there is this sense of perfectionism in Korea a lot of the students are studying all day all night trying to get into the top Elite colleges people are getting plastic surgery left and right as just very normalized in Korea to look your best and to care a lot about how other people perceive you and that's just the culture there they make skin care Hair Care body care very affordable so because it's accessible for everybody and then everybody looks good and I feel like in Korea I was so shocked by how goodlook everyone was but particularly the woman I was like they're really pretty you think you're really pretty oh and many people are dressed very nicely number 22 go to Olive young which is kind of like a Sephora or an Ulta in Korea and they just have all the Korean skincare you can imagine and it's very affordable so what you see on Amazon it's going to be half the price at all of young in Korea so definitely stock up bring an empty suitcase to just bring all this stuff back and check it in number 23 can't talk about Korea without talking about the convenience stores so there's a couple of convenience stores there's gs25 there is eart 24 there is 7 11 and then there is see you or nice to see you is shown in a lot of creative dramas cuz it's a very cute logo all the little convenience store drinks and the ramen and all of that it's just the culture is just so fun and there's so many snacks to try you can make your Ramen literally in the convenience stores with hot water or a microwave or whatever you need they just make it available to you and there's one near the Han River where you can make your Ramen right outside and then eat it by the Han River H and number 24 drivers in Korea are fast so when you cross the street make sure to look both ways and make sure the drivers are not coming Full Speed Ahead cuz so they just go and it's scary so be mindful of that and then the crosswalk you'll see the levels going down and that indicates your time is running out but they even have umbrellas while you're waiting to cross the street it's just Kore is just so thoughtful in terms of like taking care of your skin and it's also very normal to bring an umbrella around when it's sunny cuz people don't like to be the Sun so those are some of my quick and fast tips about Korea if you have any specific questions please leave a comment below I'd be more than happy to help answer them but Korea is so much fun there are not bangs there's like so many fun things to do so I hope you have a great time if you like what you see please like And subscribe and this really helps me help you [Music] bye

Channel: Maya Lee

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Keywords: maya lee, korea, seoul korea, seoul korea travel, travel guide, korea travel tips, korea travel guide, incheon airport, first time in korea, first time in seoul, seoul for beginners, korea for beginners, first time going to korea, first time to korea, first time traveling to korea, korea 2024

Id: 5_8rjTspXGo

Length: 13min 57sec (837 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 21 2024