South Korea is quickly becoming one of the hottest tourist destinations in Asia and I was lucky enough to visit recently to interview Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman about their new movie Deadpool & Wolverine.
I only found out I was going to be visiting the nation’s capital of Seoul about a week before flying out, so I had no clue what to expect when I touched down.
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After three days in Seoul’s bustling streets, I’d fallen completely in love – and worked through some major culture shock in the process.
Now I’m recommending it as a travel destination to all my friends, and I’m telling anyone who will listen about the five things I wish I knew before arriving.
1. Google Maps won’t work in South Korea
Waking up on my first morning, I searched ‘coffee shops near me’ in Google Maps and found – well, nothing. Cue the panic.
Google Maps’ functionality is very limited in South Korea and while it can pull up some major landmarks, you really can’t rely on it to get you around.
Instead, make sure to download Naver Map or KakaoMap to navigate cities like Seoul.
Neither offer 100 percent English language versions, but they’re accurate and easy to use even if you don’t speak the language.
I walked everywhere with Naver Map open and found it super simple and reliable for directions.
2. Hardly anything’s open before 11am
After sorting out my map issue, I headed out into Seoul bright and early at 8am only to find that hardly anything was open.
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Convenience stores like 7-Elevens and a few cafes had their doors open, but everything else was shut and the streets were super quiet compared to mornings in Australian cities like Sydney or Melbourne.
I quickly learned that most businesses in Seoul don’t open until late morning, usually between 10am and 11am, so I didn’t make the mistake of starting the day early again.
3. There’s a Starbucks on every street corner
Fortunately, I was able to while away my extra morning hours at a nearby Starbucks.
In fact, I had nine within a 10-minute walk of the hotel where I was staying at The Westin Josun Seoul. Talk about being spoiled for choice.
It turns out that Starbucks is massively popular in South Korea, with over 1,893 stores as across the Asian nation as of 2023. Here in Australia, there are just 69.
That means that South Korea has around 27 times more Starbucks locations than Australia, despite only having about twice the population size.
4. Lots of people speak (some) English
I was nervous about ordering my coffee with alternative milk on my first morning in Seoul, but I needn’t have worried.
Almost everyone I encountered working in service, retail or hospitality could speak at least a little bit of English and was friendly and helpful even if they couldn’t, which was a massive relief.
Though English isn’t a very widely spoken language in South Korea, you’ll usually be able to find at least one person who can speak it in touristy areas and AI translator apps like Naver Papago can help make up the difference.
5. Don’t waste your money on data roaming
Usually I won’t travel anywhere without buying some roaming data or an eSim, but I found I didn’t need one at all for my three days in Seoul.
There was heaps of free public WiFi all throughout the heart of the city’s tourist areas, making it easy to get by without data roaming.
Free WiFi networks offered by businesses, restaurants, the local government and major telecom companies are common throughout the cities in South Korea and you can save on expensive roaming fees by just relying on these.
That said, you might not always have access to WiFi in smaller towns or rural areas.
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