13 Ways To Save Money on Travel In Korea
Ready to travel to Korea on a budget? While we’d all love to live that luxurious lifestyle and travel in style, for most of us, we gotta work travel out to be budget friendly and with inflation and prices soaring everywhere, it’s important to know how to cut costs where we can. It is actually possible to travel in Seoul and see some amazing places within a budget in Korea.
If you want to save money in Korea but still see all of the travel hotspots, here are tips and tricks or travel hacks, if you will. This article is for the cheap hack lovers out there. From free places to go to money-saving cards and deals, here’s how to plan a budget friendly trip to Seoul and beyond!
Money saving tips when you travel to Korea:
- Taxis are awesome, subways are cheaper
- Check the right hotel websites
- Opt for pensions with kitchens
- Borrow hiking gear for FREE
- Take advantage of the FREE tours
- Find out which museums are FREE
- Plan to do things on Culture Day (문화가 있는 날)
- Travel more with the Korea Rail Pass
- Eat at traditional markets
- Get the Discover Seoul Pass
- Pre-purchase attraction tickets online
- Find out what festivals and events are happening
- Get your tax refunded
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1 Taxis are awesome, subways are cheaper
Know which transportation is best/cheapest. While a taxi is in so many ways easier and less hassle, it’s also easier to rack up higher transportation costs by using them. (Also, learn more about tipping in Korea so you know if you should be tipping your taxi driver.) Taking a subway or local bus is also a great way to see what’s going on along the way, see event posters hung up or to just actually get involved and see what living in in Seoul is like day to day.
Make sure you have a T-Money card, or other travel card that will work on transportation, and if you transfer from bus to subway, or subway to bus, you’ll get a discount on the fare. If you pay in cash, you’ll end up paying more.
On the flipside, sometimes it can actually be cheaper to take a taxi if you have enough people in your group. If you’re a family traveling, a taxi may actually save you more money so know what the base rate is and try to figure out distances in advance.
2 Check the right hotel websites
It can be overwhelming knowing which site will give you the best deal on your stay and sometimes it’s just better to go directly on the brand’s site to get a package. If you can use Korean, then searching on Naver will get you directly to pensions and Korean spots, but no worries if you can’t.
Generally, I use Booking.com for major cities in Korea for most of my hotel needs BUT if you’re going to go to more regional areas of Korea, be sure to check out Agoda.com which has more options outside of the major cities than Booking. Different websites for different regions. Do your research before you book!
3 Opt for pensions with kitchens
When you’re traveling in Korea, hotels are nice, but often pensions are cheaper AND they have full or half-kitchens as well. A lot of pensions in Korea will even have BBQ options that you can tack on. You bring your own meat and they’ll provide the fire.
Eating out meal after meal or even just ordering room service may seem like a good idea and what vacation is all about but gosh can the costs add up. If there’s a kitchenette in the room, going to a local market and really being a part of the local scene to buy some local produce is a great idea and opportunity to save money. It’s usually cheaper to prep some meals in the room.
Also, if you’ve got a kid like ours that munches tidbits throughout the day and doesn’t eat a whole meal in one go, this might be the way to go for you.
4 Borrow hiking gear for FREE
Are you traveling in Seoul and want to go hiking along the Seoul Fortress Wall or up into the Bukhansan National Park but don’t want to bring your hiking gear? Or maybe you are trying to keep your luggage costs down and don’t have room in the bag.
Whether you’re coming to Seoul from a regional area of Korea or want to hike on a whim, you’re in luck. The Seoul Hiking Tourism Center (도심등산관광센터) actually provides free rentals of hiking gear from hiking boots to hiking clothes. They also have lockers and shower rooms that you can use for free.
FYI, there are some sizing limitations. Check the reservation form below to see what is available.
- Address: 52 Samyang-ro 173-gil, Gangbuk-gu, Seoul
- Directions: Go out of Bukhansan Ui Station, exit 2 and turn left. You’ll find the Seoul Hiking Tourism Center across the street a block down.
- Website: Reserve your hiking gear in advance on the Seoul Hiking Center website.
- Hours: 9:00am ~ 6:00pm
- Days: Closed Mondays, Lunar New Year and Chuseok
5 Take advantage of the FREE tours
Tour guides are amazingly useful and informational. I think everyone should join at least one or two tours when they come to Seoul for the first time so they can get a better understanding of the history and culture. With a guide, you can ask questions and learn so much more than just walking around and trying to pick up everything on your own. However, not everyone has the budget for a personal guide and I get that.
In Seoul, The Seoul City Government actually has almost 40 free walking tours available. Volunteer guides that speak multiple languages guide a group of up to just 10 people through markets and talk about Korean culture, history, and more. There may be some small admission fees required if the tour goes to a museum or palace, but all of that information is available on their website so you won’t be surprised. This is one of the best ways to save money when you travel to Seoul.
- Languages: Tours are available in English, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean.
- Hours: Weekdays: 10:00am, 2:00pm; Weekends: 10:00am; 2:00pm; 3:00pm
- Website: Learn more about the Seoul Guided Walking Tours and make a reservation.
- Reservations: Reservations must be made at least 3 days in advance. Peak season is April, May, September, and October and tours fill up quickly then so sign up as early as you can.
6 Find out which museums are FREE
Seoul is actually amazing in that so many museums and culture spots are completely free for everyone. If you’re only in Seoul for a short time, I highly recommend fitting the War Memorial of Korea and the National Museum of Korea into your trip at the very least. If you’ll be here longer, see all of them multiple times!
- War Memorial Of Korea (전쟁기념관)
- National Museum of Korea (국립중앙박물관)
- National Folk Museum of Korea (국립민속박물관)
- Seoul Museum of History (서울역사박물관)
- Seoul Museum of Craft Art (서울공예박물관)
Want some more great budget friendly things to do in Seoul? Check out this guide to best free things to do in Seoul, Korea.
7 Plan to do things on Culture Day (문화가 있는 날)
The last Wednesday of every month is Culture Day in Korea and there are over 2,000 places including movie theaters, performance halls, museums, art galleries, cultural heritage sites, and sports facilities across the country that are open to the public for free or discounted prices. On top of the regular places, they also host cultural events open to the public.
You can gain free entrance to places like Gyeongbokgung Palace, Changgyeonggung Palace, Deoksugung Palace, and Changdeokgung Palace as well as get discounts at major theater chains like CGV, Lotte Cinema, and Megabox as well as discounted tickets to baseball events and plenty more.
- Website: Check out what places are open at discounted or free rates on Culture Day in Korea here.
8 Travel more with the Korea Rail Pass
If you want to get out and about and all around Korea, rather than buying individual tickets for every location, check out the Korea Rail Pass. You can take advantage of unlimited rides on the high-speed train and travel all around South Korea. Rather than heading directly to Busan, see where else you can hop off and on. The Korea Rail Pass isn’t free, but it will save you a lot of money if you want to get all around the country and see more.
9 Eat at traditional markets
When you’re staying in touristy areas, it’s easy to end up in some of the more expensive restaurants just because you can read everything. I get it. If you don’t know what the signs say, ordering can be daunting. To get around that, head to the traditional markets where the food is right in front of you.
Even if you can’t read the menus (though most are pretty foreign friendly now), at least you can see what’s available and point to exactly what you want.
Top traditional markets I suggest to visit:
- Tongin Market: The great thing about Tongin Market, just to the west of Gyeongbokgung Palace, is that it’s set up so you can try a ton of different Korean foods in smaller portions. At most markets, you order one thing and it’ll be big enough for a meal. At Tongin Market, you get coins, a tray, and you can go to all of the stalls and get smaller portions of a lot of different things. I suggest starting here so you can get a feel for different options and try a lot of different food items at one time.
- Gwangjang Market: Another popular market with great food, Gwangjang Market is near Cheonggyecheon Stream, Jongmyo Shrine and the Dongdaemun Design Plaza. This market has been featured on Netflix and is often the market touted to tourists. But it’s for good reason, the food is fresh and delicious.
- Mangwon Market: If you’re staying more to the west in the Hongdae area, you still have access to traditional markets. Mangwon Market is one of our local favs and they have a great kalguksu spot and chicken soup spot inside as well as other great budget friendly foods.
Pro Tip: If you aren’t near these though, you’re bound to be near one. Just get out your map and search 시장, which is Korean for farmers market, and see what comes up nearby. There are plenty of great traditional markets all around Seoul to visit.
10 Get the Discover Seoul Pass
The Discover Seoul Pass is a great card that offers free or discounted rates to a lot of attractions in Seoul and on different modes of transportation. The thing is, you need to pay attention to what you’re going to do and plan a route well because the card is available in 24 hour, 48 hour, and 72 hour increments. On top of that, some of the places they list that you can hit are already cheap or free so if it were me, I wouldn’t visit those when I’ve got a time limit and more expensive attractions that I can get a discount on.
There are definitely benefits to the Discover Seoul Pass which can also be used on the AREX, the train from Incheon International Airport to Seoul, and for Seoul Bike, the city’s bike sharing system. But to reap the most benefits, you definitely need to plan a good itinerary.
11 Pre-purchase attraction tickets online
Koreans almost never buy admission tickets at a location because there are always discounted tickets and package options available online. Be like the locals, and pre-purchase what you can online before you go. While you can’t use all of the same sites Koreans do, you can get discounts on trusted sites like:
- Klook: Klook is a trusted seller of attraction tickets and travel services all around the world. If you haven’t used them yet, check out what they offer for Korea. They offer tickets and have great discounted rates on options for travel attractions in Seoul and around Korea in major areas.
- Trazy: Trazy is a local site that caters to travel in Korea. They have a lot of the same options as Klook but often have some extra things like discounted tickets to concerts and they create seasonal trips to regional festivals that include transportation.
I’ve used both sites and they’re both easy to use and very responsive to messages and emails if there are questions or issues arise.
12 Find out what festivals and events are happening
From seasonal festivals to special events, there is always something going on and the vast majority of these kinds of events are completely free to enter. You’ll have to pay for food, but you’ll often be able to get experiences and performances completely free.
Take the Lotus Lantern Parade and festival in the spring, there’s a massive and beautiful lotus lantern parade and experiences for free over a weekend and it is a major highlight of the year. Visit and you can have so much fun and dance the night away in the streets of Seoul with thousands of other people. Same goes for regional events. You have to get there, but once you do, you can have so much fun.
- The Visit Korea website keeps an updated list of festivals that are happening now or coming up. Check out their “Current Festivals” section to see what’s going on.
- Some festivals we’ve attended:
- Seoul Fireworks Festival
- Nonsan Strawberry Festival
- Icheon Sansuyu Festival
- Cheongsong Apple Festival
- Goyang Flower Festival
- Jindo Miracle Sea Road Festival
- and more… there are so many festivals around the country. See what you can get into.
13 Get your tax refunded
If you’re a tourist headed to Korea, then make sure you take advantage of the tax refund available to you. All prices in Korea include a 10% sales tax which is refundable on purchases by tourists between W30,000 and W500,000. Just keep your receipts and claim the money at the airport on your way out.
A lot of stores participate in the tax-free system, but not all of them do. You’ll be able to tell as there’s a sticker at the entrance of participating stores. You can only redeem up to W2,000,000 of purchases, but that’s a lot savings.
Now you’re ready to travel to Korea on a budget. It’s always great to save money and anything to cut costs in Seoul is great if you ask me. Enjoy your trip to Korea and don’t even think about the funds. With these money saving travel tips, you’ll be good to go!
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