Destinations in South Korea — where to go
Seoul or Busan (or both) — how many days each needs and what each city actually feels like.
South Korea's two headline cities couldn't feel more different. Seoul (4-6 days) is intense, fast, and endlessly stimulating — palaces, K-pop, shopping, 90,000 cafes. Busan (2-3 days) is a slower coastal port city with beaches, mountains, and Korea's best seafood. First-timers with 5 days should stay in Seoul; with 7+ days, combine both via a 2.5-hour KTX train ride.
South Korea rewards you for showing up with almost no plan and just following your stomach and your Instagram feed — which is exactly how most people end up planning this trip anyway, thanks to K-pop, K-dramas, and a genuinely obsessive food and coffee culture. Here's every major destination, with an honest take on who it's actually for and how many days it deserves.
The Slow Loris Take: On June 28, 2025, the basic Seoul-area subway and bus fare rose by ₩150 — the first hike in two years — pushing the base subway ride from ₩1,400 to ₩1,550 (about $1.10) and buses to a similar bump. It's a small number on its own, but it means any per-ride budget you copied from an older blog post or a friend's trip notes is now quietly stale. Load a bit more onto your T-money card than the old guides suggest, and don't be surprised if the balance drains faster than expected on a transit-heavy day.
Seoul
4-6 nights, K-culture headquarters — palaces, shopping, and 90,000 cafes.
Busan
2-3 days, beaches and mountains together, Korea's best seafood.
Gyeongju
2 days, a 1,000-year Silla capital where the whole city doubles as a museum.
Jeonju
1-2 days, Korea's food capital and its most photogenic hanok village.