Travel Apps You Should Download for Your South Korea Trip

Booked a flight to South Korea? Have you planned your itinerary yet? Check out these smartphone apps you should download before flying over to the world of Kpop.

1. Subway Korea

If you are a budget traveler like us, you would be riding buses, trains and would be avoiding taking taxis to get you around the city. The accommodation we booked is just a few steps from the subway so we always take the subway to get us to where we want to go. As such, Subway Korea is our best friend.

Its home screen is a map of all the subway lines in Seoul.

If you tap on a station, a menu appears. Timetable shows you all arrivals times of the train. Station info shows where the soonest train is, where the exit doors, restrooms, elevators and other facilities are. Exit info opens up a map showing you all the exits from the station lead to.

Let’s say from Incheon Airport, you want to go to Gimpo Airport. Tap on Incheon Airport Station, select depart from and then tap on Gimpo Airport Station and select arrive at. The screen will show you the fastest way to get you to your destination and one which will require fewer transfers if any. Also, it shows how many stations before your destination, how many transfers, and how much the fare is if you buy a single journey ticket or if you use your T-Money Card.

What I love about this app:

If you click on ‘Detail Info’, it shows you what time the train is arriving and what time you will be arriving at your destination. If you will be transferring to different lines, the details shows you which car and door of the train should you be riding in for faster transfers.

2. 71 Seoul Best Places

An essential item for first time travellers to Korea because it will make your itinerary planning easier. It shows you places most visited by tourists, a little history about the place and which station and exit you should be getting off.  You can also keep track of the places you’ve already gone to.

What I love about this app:

It’s simple and easy to use.  The tourist spots are also categorized according to which station they are near. For example, if you are going to Bukchon Hanok Village which is at Anguk Station, you can see that you can also visit Insadong, Jogyesa Temple and Changdeokgung Palace from there. It’s like hitting two birds with one stone, right?

3. Visit Korea App

If you are planning on a trip outside of Seoul, like Busan or Jeju-do, this app is useful. It is created by the Korea Tourism Organization to provide tourists travel information that can make their trip fun and convenient.

What I love about this app:

Choose an area you will be going to and it will show you practically everything in that area: weather, hotels, attractions, restaurants and suggested travel itineraries.

4. KakaoTalk

Turning on roaming services for our phones is very expensive but I need a way to contact my friends in Korea. Surprisingly, Facebook isn’t a popular social platform for Koreans so messenger is not an option. What they use instead is called KakaoTalk.

What I love about this app:

This app works like Viber. You register your phone number to be able to create an account and then you’d be able to call or message your friends. You can also send photos, videos, notes and your location all for free.

With these in hand, you’ll be able to travel Korea like a pro! All these apps are available for download at the App Store or Google Play.

Tagged: south korea, south korea travel, travel apps