Korea travel tips that actually matter

Updated August 2026 · 6 min read

Most "Korea travel tips" lists are the same twelve generic lines reworded. These are the ones that cost people actual money or actual confusion when nobody mentioned them first — tipping habits that don't transfer, the plug in the wall, which ATMs will eat your card, and the taxi app locals actually open.

Don't tip. It's not being cheap — it's the norm

Restaurant and taxi prices in Korea already include tax and service by law, payment terminals have no tip prompt, and waitstaff and drivers are salaried employees rather than tip-dependent workers. Handing over extra cash doesn't read as generous here — it usually just confuses whoever you're trying to thank. Pay the number on the receipt or the meter, and that's the transaction finished.

Bring an adapter — and check the voltage first

Korea runs on 220V through round two-pin Type C/F sockets, not the flat pins or 120V that North America uses. A plug adapter alone is enough if your charger's label says something like "INPUT: 100–240V" — most phone and laptop chargers do. If a device's label reads only 110V or 120V, plugging it into a Type C/F adapter without a proper voltage converter risks frying it. Check the label before you pack, not after you land.

Not every ATM will take your foreign card

Look specifically for a Global ATM sticker or a Visa, Plus, Mastercard, Cirrus, or UnionPay logo on the machine — a standard Korean bank ATM without one of those often rejects foreign-issued cards outright. Airports and major bank branches are the safest bet. Convenience store ATMs (7-Eleven, GS25, CU, E-Mart24) work for foreign cards often enough to rely on in a pinch, but it depends on the specific machine, and the fee tends to run higher than at a bank.

Kakao T over Uber, most of the time

Kakao T is the app locals actually open — it has the large majority of the market and usually the fastest pickup, and its "pay the driver directly" option is the standard fix when a foreign card gets declined mid-ride. Uber works in Korea too as of 2026, through a joint venture with a local mobility company, and it has one real advantage: it uses the account and card you already have from home, no new sign-up required. Install both — Kakao T as your default, Uber as the backup when a card won't go through.

Solo diners: watch for the 2-person minimum

A lot of Korean BBQ places won't seat a table of one — not out of unfriendliness, but because the format (a shared grill, a communal pot of stew) is priced and portioned for groups. It's a genuine source of frustration for solo travelers. Two workarounds: restaurants with a self-order kiosk tend not to enforce the minimum since nobody has to say no to your face, and a quick check of reviews before you go usually tells you which specific spot is fine with a table of one.

The rest of the toolkit

Once the money and the plug are sorted, the practical basics are covered elsewhere on this site in more depth: buying and charging a T-money card, reading the subway map, setting up Naver Map or KakaoMap in English, checking your tax refund, and what to do in an emergency.