Getting Around South Korea
You genuinely don't need a car in South Korea. The KTX high-speed train covers Seoul–Busan in 2.5 hours ($44), the Seoul subway is extensive and cheap with a T-money card ($1.10/ride), and even Jeju Island is just a busy 1-hour domestic flight away. The one real catch: download Naver Map or KakaoMap before you land — Google Maps doesn't give turn-by-turn walking or transit directions in Korea.
Getting to South Korea
Incheon International (ICN), just outside Seoul, is the main gateway, with Busan's Gimhae Airport as a smaller secondary option. Figure 11–15 hours depending on your origin, with round-trip fares typically $700–1,200.
Getting around: the real options
South Korea's transport system is genuinely one of the best-run in the world — fast, clean, and priced to actually be used by everyone, not just tourists.
- Trains — the KTX high-speed rail is the backbone: Seoul to Busan takes about 2.5 hours and costs roughly $44, with departures running frequently and reliably all day. It's genuinely one of the best ways to experience the country's punctuality culture firsthand.
- Buses — an extensive, comfortable intercity network that's cheaper than KTX for the same routes, worth it if you're not in a rush.
- Domestic flights — Seoul to Jeju Island is about an hour and one of the busiest air routes in the world, so seats are plentiful and fares are often just $40–80 if booked with reasonable notice.
- Car rental / driving — genuinely unnecessary for most trips; public transit covers nearly everything a typical itinerary needs. If you do rent, you'll need an International Driving Permit and should note Korea drives on the right.
Getting around inside cities
Seoul's subway system is enormous, cheap, and easy to navigate once you have a T-money card (about $1.10 a ride, and it works on buses and most subways nationwide, including Busan). For ride-hailing, Uber technically exists in Korea but functions mostly as "Uber Taxi" — essentially hailing a regular metered taxi through the app rather than true peer-to-peer rideshare. Kakao T is the dominant local ride-hailing app, but signing up typically requires a Korean phone number, which makes it awkward for short-term visitors. The easiest approach for most tourists: just hail a taxi on the street (cheap and plentiful) and navigate everything else with Naver Map or KakaoMap instead of Google Maps.
| Route/option | Typical cost | Typical time |
|---|---|---|
| Incheon Airport to Seoul (AREX express train) | $9 | 43 min |
| Seoul to Busan (KTX) | $44 | 2.5 hrs |
| T-money subway single ride | $1.10 | — |
Buy a T-money card at any convenience store the moment you land — it covers subway, bus, and even some taxis nationwide. And swap Google Maps for Naver Map or KakaoMap before you need directions; Korean law restricts detailed mapping data for security reasons, so Google's turn-by-turn walking and transit directions simply don't work here.
Common transport mistakes
Relying on Google Maps for walking or transit directions is the single most common trip-up — it can locate places fine but won't route you properly, so switch to Naver Map or KakaoMap as soon as you land. The second mistake is expecting Uber to work like it does at home; it's really just a taxi-hailing layer here, so don't be surprised when it books you a regular metered cab instead of a private rideshare car.