-
Jjimjilbang for the First Time: What Happens at the Door, in the Bath, and on the Floor at 2 a.m.
A jjimjilbang is a public bath with a living room attached. You are naked in the bath, dressed in the house pyjamas everywhere else, and the 24-hour ones let you sleep on the floor. Prices, hours and house rules from Spa Land in Busan, Aquafield in the Starfield malls and Sparex in Dongdaemun, and the two famous Seoul names that have closed. Checked 17 September 2026.
17 Sep 2026 · 6 min
-
T-money: Where to Buy It, How to Top It Up, and Which Foreign Cards Can Load It
A plain T-money card is bought and topped up with cash, and that has not changed. Since March 2026 a phone version can be loaded with a foreign Mastercard, Amex, UnionPay or JCB. The station kiosks that now take foreign cards will sell you a ticket or a Climate Card pass, but they will not top up a T-money card. Checked on the operators' pages, 16 September 2026.
16 Sep 2026 · 8 min
-
Reading a Korean Address: the Building Number Tells You How Far to Walk
Korean addresses look like a random string until you know that the number is a distance measurement. Learn to read one and you can find a door without opening a map, and you will know why your booking confirmation and your map app disagree.
14 Sep 2026 · 5 min
-
Apple Pay in Korea: Your Card Is Fine, the Till Is the Problem
Korea has one domestic bank on Apple Pay, three and a half years after launch. That is a story about residents. For a visitor the only question is whether the till has a contactless reader, and in Korea roughly one in ten does.
14 Sep 2026 · 4 min
-
Navigating Korea Without Data: Seoul Gives the Wi-Fi Away, and the Password Is Seoul
The premise is half wrong. Seoul runs free public Wi-Fi from about 24,060 access points, including on the buses, and logging in takes one word typed twice. Here is where that reaches, where it stops, and what to do when it stops.
14 Sep 2026 · 4 min
-
Where to Put Your Rubbish in Seoul, Now That the Bins Are Back
"There are no bins in Korea" is the most repeated line in travel writing about Seoul, and it has quietly stopped being true — the city is back to roughly the number it had in 1995. Here is why they vanished, where they are now, and the one thing not to put in them.
11 Sep 2026 · 4 min
-
When Something Goes Wrong in Korea: Three Numbers, One of Which You Don't Know
119 for an ambulance, 112 for the police — and 1330, the tourism line that runs 24 hours in eight languages and will interpret for you while you deal with either. Plus what an emergency room actually costs a visitor.
8 Sep 2026 · 4 min
-
Do You Need a K-ETA? The Exemption Runs Out on 31 December 2026
Twenty-two countries have been exempt from Korea's travel authorisation since 2023, and the exemption has been renewed a year at a time. The current one ends on 31 December 2026 with nothing announced for 2027 — which matters if you are booking a winter or spring trip now.
8 Sep 2026 · 4 min
-
Renting a Hanbok in Seoul: the Palace Gets Free, the Rules Get Specific
Rentals start around USD 5 near Gyeongbokgung, and a proper hanbok admits you to the royal palaces free — foreigners included, by official policy. What counts as 'proper' is written down, and jeans under a jeogori fail it. Here is the whole loop.
6 Sep 2026 · 4 min
-
Korea festivals 2026 month by month: what's on when
May and October are the big months: Lotus Lantern parade 16–17 May, Boryeong Mud 24 Jul–9 Aug, masked dance and lanterns in October. Checked Sep 2026.
2 Sep 2026 · 4 min
-
Nakhwa Nori: Korea's Falling-Ember Fire Festivals, and How to Actually See One
Ropes strung over water, hung with thousands of charcoal pouches that burn and shed embers into the wind. Haman's is reservation-only on Buddha's birthday; Andong stages it at Hahoe Village on 19 September and 4 October 2026; Muju folds it into the firefly festival.
2 Sep 2026 · 4 min
-
Getting Your Hair Done in Korea: Booking Without a Korean Number, What It Costs, and What to Say
A Seoul haircut averages 13,231 won for men and 24,462 won for women at neighbourhood salons, per the Korea Consumer Agency's June 2026 figures. Tourist-district salons charge more and speak English. How to book now that Naver takes a passport, the words that get you the cut you meant, and where personal colour and makeup packages fit. Checked 1 September 2026.
1 Sep 2026 · 4 min
-
Korea tourist tax refund 2026: 3 ways to claim the VAT
15,000 won minimum per receipt. Under 1,000,000 won it comes off at the till; downtown refunds are charged back if you skip customs. Checked Sep 2026.
1 Sep 2026 · 5 min
-
Two or Three Days in Seoul, Without Wasting One
The sights a first visit is built around, and the closing days that decide what order you see them in. Gyeongbokgung shuts Tuesdays, Changdeokgung and Deoksugung shut Mondays. Correct as of August 2026.
30 Aug 2026 · 4 min