About NewToKorea
Welcome to NewToKorea — a practical travel guide for people visiting South Korea for the first time.
Planning your first trip to Korea is exciting, but it can also bring up a surprising number of questions.
Do you need a K-ETA? How do you get from Incheon Airport to Seoul? Where can you buy a T-money card? Will your credit card work? How do you use the subway? And what happens when a restaurant menu is only in Korean?
NewToKorea was created to make those questions easier to answer.
Practical Korea Travel, Made Simple
There are plenty of travel guides showing you where to go in Korea. NewToKorea focuses on something slightly different: how to actually navigate Korea once you're here.
Our guides cover practical topics such as:
- Korea entry requirements, K-ETA and e-Arrival Card
- Getting from Incheon Airport to Seoul
- Buying and using a T-money transportation card
- Using the Seoul subway
- Taking taxis and using Korean taxi apps
- SIM cards, eSIMs and Pocket WiFi
- Using cash and foreign credit cards
- Ordering food at Korean restaurants
- Using restaurant kiosks and table-ordering systems
- Korean convenience stores
- Useful Korean phrases and everyday travel etiquette
Our goal isn't to overwhelm you with information. It's to give you the practical information you need, when you need it.
Built for First-Time Visitors
Korea can be remarkably convenient to travel around once you understand how things work.
But some everyday systems may feel unfamiliar at first. A subway station can have many numbered exits. A restaurant may expect you to order from a touchscreen. Your spoon and chopsticks might be hidden in a drawer under the table. A convenience store may also be where you recharge your transportation card.
None of these things are difficult once someone explains them.
That's what NewToKorea is here to do.
Keeping Our Guides Current
Travel information changes. Transportation fares can increase, apps can add new features, airport services can change, and government entry requirements may be updated.
For time-sensitive topics, NewToKorea aims to use reliable and official sources whenever possible, including Korean government agencies, tourism organizations, transportation authorities, airports, and official service providers.
Our articles are reviewed and updated periodically. However, travelers should always confirm important information — especially immigration, entry requirements, visas, transportation schedules, and government policies — with the relevant official authority before traveling.
Start Your Korea Trip Here
If this is your first trip to South Korea, you don't need to figure everything out at once.
Start with the basics. Check your entry requirements, plan your airport transportation, get connected, learn how public transportation works, and know how you'll pay.
Then go explore.
From your first steps out of Incheon Airport to your first subway ride, convenience-store stop, and Korean meal, NewToKorea is here to help make Korea feel a little less unfamiliar.
Welcome to Korea.
New country. New experiences. NewToKorea.