South Korea: practical info + itinerary
This year was the last chance to buy Jony's long-haul ticket for a fraction of the price, and it was simply irresistible! At the same time, however, I realized that with two children (almost 5 and almost 2), it would not be as easy as it was three years ago in Mexico with just Kobliha, so choosing a destination was quite a challenge. My idea was to find a safe, civilized country with good infrastructure; I didn't want to venture into any excessive wilderness. Mauritius and South Korea made it to the final round—both have been on my wish list for several years, but... it was a difficult choice.
In the end, I threw Mauritius overboard because of expensive tickets with transfers that made no sense to us, and KOREA took the imaginary prize. For several months, I spent my nights reading through all the available information, studying various tips and advice, and constantly tweaking and reworking the itinerary to make it more "relaxed." Or at least more relaxed than our original frantic pace before we had children :)
And finally, did Korea live up to expectations? Absolutely! For me, it was the perfect combination of city walks, learning about a different culture and history, balanced with plenty of natural attractions, excellent food, and entertainment for the children. So... if you want some practical details, read on...
Flights
I had been looking for the ideal connection for more than six months. I didn't want to waste time with unnecessary transfers and hours of sitting around at airports, and price was also a big factor. It took a bit of alchemy. You can also get from Prague to Seoul on a direct flight with Korean Air or Asiana Airlines, which is great, but the prices... After endless comparisons and googling, I finally bought the tickets from Finnair, with whom we flew to Thailand a few years ago, with the following flight schedule:
- TO: Prague-Helsinki (2h) + Helsinki-Seoul (12h)
- BACK: Seoul-Helsinki (13,5h) + Helsinki-Prague (2h)
On the way there, the flights basically connected, so we only had about two hours extra, which we spent in the lounge at Helsinki Airport. The return trip took longer because the route was designed to go through the Arctic Circle. We arrived in Helsinki very early in the morning and had half a day to explore the city. However, the weather turned against us and it rained and rained, and in the end we didn't really get to do much. As for the price of the tickets, the return trip cost us adults 680 € per person. I paid 520 € for Nina, a four-year-old child with her own seat, and only 60 € for Jony. All this included carry-on luggage, which wasn't a big problem for us, because I wouldn't have taken suitcases with me anyway. It probably could have been a little cheaper, but we were limited by the date, so I consider the total price to be quite good.
And how did the children handle it? I purposely bought both long flights for nighttime, and it was the best decision, even though it was a little more expensive (daytime flights were slightly cheaper). I had lots of entertainment prepared, various stickers, an Albi pencil, books, tasks, etc., but they were most fascinated by the entertainment panel on the seat in front of them. They don't usually watch cartoons much, so they made an exception here and enjoyed it thoroughly... until they fell asleep :) When they woke up, breakfast was being served and we were about to land. But hey, I'm not going to idealize it, because:
- Jonáš didn't have his own seat (he's not yet 2), so comfort was debatable
- Pepi and I didn't sleep much, of course
- but the children slept well and we had to function after arrival, jet lag or no jet lag
- on the way back, Nina came down with tonsillitis and there was nothing we could do about it at that moment. Fortunately, she slept a lot, but even so, it seemed endless to me...
What to prepare for?
- time difference - in summer, add 7 hours after arrival, in winter +8 (compared to Czech)
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south korean won (KRW) - The easiest way is to convert 1000 won = approx. 0,60 €. You can pay by card almost everywhere, but I still recommend carrying at least a small amount of cash with you. Not all European cards work 100% reliably here, and people using Apple Pay often have problems. The second thing is that street food stalls, of which there are many in Korea, do not accept cards at all. Plus, you will need cash to top up your T-money card, which is used (primarily) to pay for public transport. More on that below.
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arrival card - You do not need a visa to enter South Korea as a short-term tourist. In fact, you do not need anything. However, you can voluntarily apply online and free of charge for a so-called
arrival card, which speeds up the passport control process. The form can be filled out three days before the scheduled arrival, but many people were still typing it into their phones at Seoul Airport.
- adapter – when planning a trip to Korea, you will often read about it, but in our opinion, it is unnecessary. We had one with us and never even took it out of our backpack. The only plugs we used were those in hotels/apartments when charging our phones, and we didn't need an adapter for that.
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data - for the first time in 10 years of traveling, we are buying data! We have time for ourselves on vacation, not for scrolling through the internet, so we always just downloaded offline maps and went. In Korea, however, due to the children and the language barrier, we wanted to have a constant connection just in case. Just in case "something happened." There are many options for data on your phone, but I won't get into that. We bought an eSIM through MobiMatter = 10 giga for 7,50 $ and in the end we didn't even use half of it.
- Korean apps – english won't get you very far here, so I recommend first improving your Korean a little and downloading the Papago translator. Point your camera at a restaurant menu, for example, and the app will translate the text for you, minimizing any surprises when your food arrives at the table :) And then there's our second main reason for getting internet access - navigation, because with two kids, you really don't want to get lost more than necessary. Google Maps works here, but it's quite limited and won't give you exact walking directions. The Koreans also have their own map apps, Naver and Kakao. However, we didn't really take to either of them, and we mostly used a combination of Google Maps (for public transport) and Naver (for car and walking) + tip for parents: playgrounds are best marked on the Czech mapy.cz. You're welcome :)
- minimum number of trash cans – just like in Japan, we struggled with a lack of opportunities to throw away trash. Our salvation was trash cans in public restrooms, museums, and subway stations, which even have special drains for liquids and ice. In general, Koreans like to sort their trash a lot.
- drinking water – you literally don't have to spend a penny on this in Korea. In restaurants, it is automatically brought to your table free of charge as soon as you sit down. In hotels, you will find it in bottles, which are replenished every day, and if you run out of water during the day, you are sure to come across a drinking fountain on the street.
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WC everywhere - What I really appreciated was the availability of toilets throughout the city, free of charge and in excellent condition. So the nightmare of all parents, "I need to pee" (at the best possible moment, of course), didn't scare me so much here.
- really hot in the summer – our trip was in September, so I was hoping that the temperatures would drop a little, but unfortunately :) the temperatures were quite high, as was the humidity. Because of the heat, I would recommend bringing a light jacket (shirt, sweater, etc.) with you for the air conditioning. Indoor spaces such as cafes, restaurants, and even subway stations are often literally freezing compared to the outside temperature, so if you are sensitive to these temperature fluctuations, be careful.
Transport
T-Money Card - simply put, it is a card that you load with money and then use to pay for transportation (among other things). I definitely recommend getting one, because using it saves a lot of time—you don't have to buy individual tickets. How does it work? Important: everyone must have their own card. We did not pay for children in Korea; children under 6 travel for free.
- purchase: The cheapest card can be bought from a vending machine in some metro stations for 2,500 W. When we were looking for one, these machines were out of order, but that's okay. They are also sold in stores such as 7-Eleven, CU, etc., but they are slightly more expensive there—4,000 W. You can also find special multi-colored themed cards, so it's up to you how much you're willing to pay for them. You won't get this purchase price back.
- top-up: there is a slight complication here, as paradoxically, you can only top up your card with CASH. However, since the summer of 2025, vending machines have been gradually added in Seoul, which will allow you to top up your T-Money card with a card, so improvement is on the way. In any case, you can load money onto your card either at a machine or where you buy it—at a convenience store.
- use: the primary use is in public transport, which means that you tap your card when passing through the subway gate and when leaving the station. The same applies to buses – you tap your card when boarding at the driver's door and tap it again when exiting through the middle door. When you pay your fare with T-Money, you get a discount of 100 KRW per trip and can transfer between the subway and bus. Ticket prices are around 1 500 KRW, which is approximately 1 €. In addition to electronic tickets, the card can also be used for payment in the aforementioned convenience stores, where you will also receive any change (refund). They only charge a small service fee of 500 KRW.
If you are interested in our experience, I loaded 50,000 won onto each card, and after our last trip back to Incheon Airport, we still had more than 10,000 won left. I spent most of one of the cards on snacks at a store, and I got a refund for the other one. And to complete the picture: other local cards, such as the WOW pass, Climate Card, Seoul Pass, etc., work on the same principle. Some offer discounts at various stores and attractions, some have a limited number of daily uses on public transport, etc. It's up to you, but we used it primarily for transportation, and for me, T-Money is the easiest and cheapest option.
KTX - high-speed Korean trains run at up to 305 km/h. SRT (Super Rapid Train) trains are slightly slower. We used KTX to travel from Suwon to Busan, which was a great choice, because if I had chosen to fly from Seoul to Busan, it would have taken us much more time (airport checks, time reserve, travel to/from the airport, etc.). Plus, if you've never ridden such a fast train before, it's an experience in itself. Just be aware that these trains must be booked in advance, as they tend to sell out. The official website is here.
Car rental – driving around the city seemed pointless to me (traffic jams, parking...), but on Jeju Island, it was the perfect choice. I will save information about renting and driving in Korea for a special article about Jeju.
Accommodation
We spent a total of 12 nights in South Korea, and this time I tried to stay in one place for several days. The reason was purely practical—apart from Jeju Island, we didn't have a car, and let's face it, lugging all our stuff around for days on end is a real pain.
For 10 nights, we had classic hotel rooms (3 or 4 beds) with breakfast + 2 private apartments with multiple bedrooms and self check-in. When choosing, I took good reviews into account, which paid off and everything was great, and of course also the price. The cheapest hotel was in Busan (64 € per night), while the most expensive was in Seoul, but even that wasn't extreme - 96 € for a hotel / 104 € for an apartment. To be honest, I expected worse. But beware, I booked all accommodations in advance through Booking.com, and you will find specific links in the itinerary. When I checked the situation again as the date approached, prices had gone up, and quite a lot.
Food
Or rather, my biggest fear. I expected that we would get lost, but I was more afraid that we would starve because everything would be too spicy. Fortunately, that didn't happen. Sure, a lot of things in Korea are spicy, and it's good to be prepared for that, but you can still choose something safe. Here are some tried and tested non-spicy dishes for children or those who don't like spicy food:
- bibimbap - rice on top with vegetables, meat, egg - then mix it all together
- kimbap - rice rolled in seaweed like sushi with various fillings, often also mini kimbap at street markets
- mandu - dumplings similar to Japanese gyoza or Chinese dim sum, often with minced meat
- bulgogi - juicy pork with vegetables
- hotteok - sweet pancake sold at street markets, filled with a mixture of nuts or bean paste
Visiting a convenience store (7eleven, CU, GS25, etc.) can also be a lifesaver, where you can buy ready-made meals or instant noodles, rice, etc. Larger convenience stores even have seating areas with hot water and microwaves, so you can eat your meal right there. What caught my attention were the frozen ice cups, into which you buy a drink (such as coffee or soda) in a bag and then pour it in. Of course, there is also a huuuuge selection of various crisps and chips in all possible flavors. In Korea, you will often come across sweet and salty combinations - such as honey-flavored potato chips. Or salt bread, which is currently experiencing a big boom, but even that has a sweet dough, which you probably wouldn't mind if it weren't for the garlic sprinkles on top. And I could go on and on. Some people will like it, some won't :)
In addition to the aforementioned water, restaurants will also bring you a variety of other small plates containing pickled vegetables (kimchi is always included), fish, mushrooms, sprouts, omelets, and more. Everything is complimentary, and you are welcome to add it to your meal as you wish. If you are looking for cutlery, you will likely find it in a drawer at the table... Oh, and you won't find a cutlery set there, just spoons and chopsticks. And what chopsticks! Flat, metal... in short, it takes some practice to eat with them :) Another difference is that you often pay at the cash register when you leave, rather than at the table as we are used to. Plus one more important thing: just like in Japan, you don't tip. Of course, the price depends on the specific dish, but overall, I found food in Korea to be cheaper than at home. You can easily eat here for 6 € (10 000 W).
Coffee deserves a special mention, because Korea really rocks the coffee scene. Coffee shops are literally everywhere here, and they are really beautiful in terms of both interior design and what they offer. Anyone who enjoys various specialty coffees, lemonades, or matcha will be in seventh heaven here. They often have several types of beans in their grinder! And in the summer, iced coffee to go is very popular here. For these street purchases, I recommend Mega Coffee, Compose Coffee, or Park Coffee, which are on every corner and have self-service ordering terminals in English (or you can order by picture), and you can buy a regular americano for the equivalent of 1,4 € and a smoothie for about 2,8 €.
Our itinerary
DAY1
DAY4
DAY8
You can continue directly to the next Korean articles:
- 12 TOP míst v Soulu
- Co stihnete v Busanu za 3 dny
- Jak naplánovat cestu na ostrov Jeju
- 11 nejlepších výletů na Jeju
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