Travel expenses to South-Korea

Hi everyone I'm finally back~

I got my laptop back a few days before my guarantee was up and guess what, this laptop started exact same thing which for I brought it to maintenance only one day after my guarantee was up.. dunno if they did that on purpose so I would buy their newest model or whatsoever. Next time I'm not gonna buy Acer laptop. I won't be bringing this to maintenance anymore because now it costs alot so when my laptop is in a state I cannot use it anymore I just buy a new one. I'm sick of going back and forth in maintenance... like with my last laptop. This is only one year old but started faults less than half year when I bought it... ggaaaahhh..

But anyway let's go to this post's topic which is

Travel costs and things you need to consider when travelling to South-Korea.

 These are my personal experiences and 3 out of 4 times I stayed 2 weeks so my calculations are based on that. And also because everyone usually stays only in Seoul I'm talking about travel expenses in that point of view. And I live in Finland so my calculations of travel expenses are most useful to those who live in northern europe.

Travel expenses

I live in Finland near Helsinki airport so I always leave from there. I got most of my flights as promotion tickets and I always had Finnair's direct flights. As I have mentioned earlier I have pretty serious motion sickness so I don't want to take connecting flights because it would make me feel sick two or three days (even though it would be most likely cheaper). But I have to say when Finnair is holding promotions you'll get flights to Seoul in pretty affordable prices. Cheapest roundtrip I have gotten was 459€ and the most expensive was 895€. It really depends when you're reserving and also if it's off season or not. But I would advice to reserve approximately 800€ for flights. Finnair has had promotions pretty often so *wink wink* if you're eyeing fligths to Korea from Finland (I feel like they have discounts every 2-months). And I advice you to join Finnair plus especially if you're finnish person, you will get news as soon as they have campaigns.


I have not stayed in hotels in Korea because guest houses and hostels are basically in level of average european hotel. To finnish person hostel or guest house might at first sound cheap accommodation with messy rooms but in Korea 7 out of 8 guest houses I have stayed in have been very clean and cozy, almost hotel like. So I always go with guest house option rather than spending my money on expensive stay in hotel. Cheapest price I paid for two weeks in guest house was 130€ and most expensive was about 290€. So if you would like to save money but still get comfortable accommodation I recommend guest houses. I would advice to save about 300€ for 2 weeks stay in guest house.

When you're in Seoul you will need travel card for subway because believe me, you will use subway alot. It's convenient and easy way to travel inside the city. I have to admit I rarely use buses because a) subways go almost everywhere in Seoul and b) because it's sometimes difficult to know where you are supposed to get off.
Most easiest travel card is T-Money which you can purchase from convenience stores for example. If I remember correct the card itself is 5000won (approximately 4€) and you can load it in machines that are usually near gates in subway stations. You can also return your card to those machines when you don't need it anymore and get a refund. I don't remember how much is the refund because I have been keeping my T-money card because I travel to Korea often.
I recommend you save 30€ (approximately 37000won)  for T-money for 2 weeks.

Food is really cheap in Korea. You can get a meal with couple euros in korean restaurants. For example kimbap is usually 3000won (2€), kimchijjigae 5000won (4€) and tonkasu 6000won (4,50€). More expensive is to eat something like samgyeopsal which is meant to be eaten with at least 2 persons and it costs about 11000won (9€) per person. So I'd say you'll only need a little over 120€ for 2 weeks for food.

I'll put this in here even though I said I will mainly talk about Seoul travel point of view; some people want to visit second largest city Busan while in Korea. I advice you to take KTX to save time. Even if it's a bit more expensive (something like 47000won for foreigners). But it's a bullet train and it takes you to Busan in 3 hours instead of 5½ hours. KTX leaves from Seoul station so it's right in center of Seoul.

Other things to consider

I advice to take big luggage. Especially for western people clothes and cosmetics are very cheap not to mention good quality so most people will end up buying alot. I mainly bought cosmetics because compared to Finland it was cosmetics heaven with really affordable prices :P

If you're average size in european sizes (M or L) you will most likely not find pants so if you like wearing pants like me for example, pack more than one pair. (with pants I mean mainly jeans etc). If you're bigger size in shoes than eu 38, it will be difficult to find any shoes also. You will find sneakers but that's mainly it so if you like wearing f.e ballerinas then take your own with you. Korea uses different size chart than europe, I'm eu size 41 and my size in Korean shoes is 260.

Check if your vaccinations are effective. You will need hepatitis vaccination for travelling in Seoul but if you're planning to go outside Seoul it is adviced to take vaccination for japanese encephalitis (this costs about 100€ so it's very expensive but the most important thing is health right).

I advice to take mosquito repellant with you, about half of guest houses I have stayed have had mosquitos. They are alive even in winter (really how?!)... so if you want to sleep comfortably then seriously take repellant with you.

 Learn couple words in korean. You will get treated more kindly even if you can only say "hello" in korean. But it would be good to know basic korean when you're going because even in Seoul people mostly don't speak english.

Because you are foreigner, people will stare. More than in most countries. Some even want to take photos with you if you're blond westerner (more if your eyes are light color). This is just normal behaviour for koreans as they consider everything light colored very beautiful. If you have pale skin people will most likely comment on this and call you pretty. Some might want to touch you to test if your skincolor is "real" but this you can decline though most people just touch you without permission. It's not rude to say "please don't touch me" because they are invading your personal space in their curiousity.

Beware of scooters. Seriously, they do not care if you are in the way... they're crazy. Even if it's small street they will just increase speed so as much as possible walk on side of road, not right in the middle.

This is just my personal tip but visit Myeongdong at least once in the evening. It's crowded but they have unique korean street food stalls in there. You can get ddeokbokki, hotteok, jjimbang, mandu and many more. They usually also have some things that is hard to find elsewhere.

Cost together

So how much you should save money for 2 weeks trip? If you're on low budget like me usually, you have to have at least 1300€ for flights, accommodation and food. If you have to take vaccinations, add 100€ more to cost (I took my vaccinations when I visited there first time).

So that's only cost of basic things. You will need more money saved if you want to do some shopping. Conclusion is... yes, from western countries it is pricey to go to Korea but it's amazing country with lot to offer so I recommend the experience. Look at me, I have visited there 4 times and I still have many things left to see and experience :P I hope I can go to Korea again early next year.

If you have something you want to ask me about travelling to Korea, leave comment below :)