South Korea has always been on my bucket list and I was super excited when we found deals to fly to South Korea for about $500 a person. We didn't know what to expect but there were some lessons we've learned from this trip.
AIRLINE
We booked our travels to South Korea on CheapOair through China Eastern Airlines. This flight was from Chicago to Shanghai with a overnight stay in Shanghai and then fly out from Shanghai to Seoul. We decided to find a flight from Chicago because it was a lot cheaper than flying out from Minnesota. We saved ourselves a couple hundred dollars by flying this way. However, I do recommend just flying out from Minnesota. The flight was so long especially with the overnight stay in Shanghai. But it was a nice experience to figure out how we like to fly internationally. China Eastern treated us well on our flight there and back. Everyone spoke English so it was not hard to understand. We also got two free luggage checks as well. You will need to fill out a couple forms when you're exiting the airplane to go through customs. For China, you can get a temporary stamp for the night. For South Korea, you do not need a visa.
This is how the airline food looked like. Because it was a Chinese airline, the food would typically be Chinese. They do have other options in case you cannot eat this.
In this tray, the food is rice with vegetables and beef, bread, fruits and mustard green.
ACCOMMODATIONS
For our overnight stay in Shanghai, we rented a hotel room at the airport for the night. The hotel was called Airport Hotel South. We had to leave customs in order to get to the hotel.
For our stay in Seoul, we rented a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment in Yongsan near the Han River through Airbnb for about $700 for almost a week and a half. It was a pretty big apartment and we were on the 10th floor. The apartment came equipped with all kitchen appliances and a washer. One thing to note, most places in Seoul do not have a dryer so you'll have to air dry your clothes on the balcony. The host left us instructions in English on how to work all the appliances. Most places do require you to wear slippers and sometimes will provide slippers for you. The bathroom in our Airbnb is not like American bathrooms. They do not have curtains to separate between bathtub and toilet. The bathroom is built to be able to get wet everywhere so make you have bathroom slippers so you don't slip.
Across the apartment, there is an underground grocery store which was really convenient when we needed items to cook or snacks. There is also a bakery with a famous pastry chef around the corner and a pizza / chicken wings restaurant across the street. Around the neighborhood, there were small bars and more restaurants. Sometimes when we came back in the evening, there would be street stalls set up with food.
CURRENCY
In China, the currency is the yuan (left side). 1 USD equals about 6.95 Chinese yuan (check conversion since this will change). In China, we exchanged money to be able to use it for the night.
In South Korea, the currency is the won (right side of photo). 1 USD equals about 1133 South Korean Won. Most places do take cards but make sure you check out what your card charges for foreign fees. However, we mostly used cash only for our trip. We found a money exchange place in about every district we went to. Make sure you also notify your bank or credit card services that you'll be out of the country or they'll not let your card transaction go through. We notified our bank in advance however somehow they did not get the notification and had our card on hold so we had to call them to figure it out.
WIRELESS CONNECTION
We rented an Airbnb that included a pocket WiFi. You can also rent one from the airport however it was easy to search for places that included a pocket WiFi. The one our Airbnb host provided us worked really well and we used it throughout the whole trip.
GETTING AROUND/OR TO SEOUL
From the airport, you can take a taxi but it'll cost more (flat rate of 65,000 won = $57.41 USD). We decided to take the airport express train instead (9000 won = $7.95 USD). The airport express skips a lot of stops and takes you straight to Seoul Station. From Seoul Station, you can exit to take a taxi or bus or you can take another train to your destination.
WHAT TO PACK?
We went to South Korea in September so we thought it would be fall weather. We were so wrong. It was hot and humid. It was consistently between 80-90 degrees out.
Besides your usual undergarments...I would say to pack comfortable shoes since you'll be walking everywhere. Pack a couple of hats and sunblock and wear light clothes. Bring a portable umbrella for rainy days.
Happy Planning!