Korea Seasons

Operating notes

The things that decide how the day goes.

Money, transport and language, written for the moment you are standing at the stall rather than planning at home.

Transport

Booking KTX Trains and Intercity Buses as a Foreign VisitorTransport

Booking KTX Trains and Intercity Buses as a Foreign Visitor

Which app accepts a foreign card, when a bus beats the train, how seat classes and refunds work, and why the last departure matters more than the first.

Getting Out of Incheon Airport and On to a FestivalTransport

Getting Out of Incheon Airport and On to a Festival

The four ways out of Incheon Airport, what each costs in time rather than money, and which one to take when your festival is not in Seoul.

T-money and Transit Cards in KoreaTransport

T-money and Transit Cards in Korea

Where to buy T-money, how to load it, the fare gap between cash and card, and what changed in 2026 for foreign credit cards and Apple Pay.

Food

Eating at a Korean Festival Without Speaking KoreanFood

Eating at a Korean Festival Without Speaking Korean

How festival food stalls actually work — ordering, paying, sharing, allergies, prices by weight, and what to eat at each kind of festival.

Culture

Festival Etiquette in Korea: What Visitors Get WrongCulture

Festival Etiquette in Korea: What Visitors Get Wrong

Photography, shared tables, drinking, shoes, temples and queues — the small rules that are obvious to locals and invisible to visitors.

Money

How to Pay for Things in KoreaMoney

How to Pay for Things in Korea

Which foreign cards work, where they do not, how much cash to carry, and what to do at a festival stall that only takes Korean transfers.

Planning

Korean Festivals With Children: Toilets, Strollers and TimingPlanning

Korean Festivals With Children: Toilets, Strollers and Timing

What a Korean festival ground is actually like with a small child — the surfaces, the queues, the changing facilities, the food, and the hour to arrive.

Rain, Typhoons and Cancelled Festivals: How to Plan Around ThemPlanning

Rain, Typhoons and Cancelled Festivals: How to Plan Around Them

Korean festivals rarely cancel outright — they change. How to find out what changed, who to call, and what to do with a wet afternoon.

Staying Online in Korea: SIM, eSIM and the Apps That MatterPlanning

Staying Online in Korea: SIM, eSIM and the Apps That Matter

Why Google Maps does not give walking directions in Korea, which apps replace it, how to get data before you leave the airport, and what to do when a festival crowd kills your signal.

What to Wear to a Korean Festival, Season by SeasonPlanning

What to Wear to a Korean Festival, Season by Season

Korean weather swings harder than the monthly averages suggest. What that means for a day standing outdoors in spring, summer, autumn and winter.