Transportation In Korea ♥︎

Here's another post about Korea! ^^

Instead of just writing about what we did in Korea daily, I'll try to write whatever other things I can think of. It's like an observation record kind of thing? I mean spending 2 weeks in another country, there are bound to be many things that's new to me and interesting things I've observed. And I'll apologise beforehand if I repeat some things. Honestly, I don't have too good a memory. Haha! As long I think it's important and relevant to what I'm writing, I'll just write it down without remembering if I've mentioned it before~

So let's get on with the topic! Transportation in Korea!

There are 3 main modes of transportation that we used in Korea, the subway, bus and taxi. But I will also touch a little on the 4th one the KTX since we did take it in Korea too.

1. Subway

Living in a country that has a train system as one of the main form of transportations, it wasn't difficult to navigate the Seoul subway system. It was only a tad confusing since Seoul has 9 different lines and we only have 4 or 5 lines.

As you can see, it kind of looks like a very colourful spider web. Sometimes it's confusing because there are many routes to get to a station. So with the help of a Seoul subway phone application, it was easier and so much more convenient! I've introduced the application in an earlier blog post which I will link here: Useful Things For Korea ♥

Otherwise, the Seoul subway system is pretty sufficient for getting around Seoul. There's like a station for every place you wanna go to. Of course, you have to do your homework beforehand and find out which stations and which exits to take. But don't worry, it's really not difficult at all! There are signs everywhere and they are both in Korean and English. And if you don't know what stations to alight at, there'll also be announcements telling you the station that's coming up. The stations that tourists frequent will have the station name announced in English, Chinese and even Japanese.

Transferring from station to station can be a little confusing so I would really recommend you to use the phone application to help you! Also, be prepared to climb stairs after stairs after stairs! I've not climbed so many stairs before! So I really would recommend you to wear good shoes!

One thing I really liked about travelling on the subway there is that we get to eat inside the station and on the trains! We get fined like $500 if we eat and drink on the trains here. It like like a cheap thrill and we kept eating snacks just because we could. Hehehe.

2. Bus

Compared to taking the subway, we didn't take the bus as much. It is more confusing since we weren't familiar with road names and the roads. If we alighted at the wrong stop that would be a problem since google maps didn't really work there. But we did have some opportunities to take the bus.

There are a few different types of buses. The red buses that are bigger and similar to a tour bus goes longer distances. So we took a red bus to Everland and to Suwon. The journey usually takes a longer time if you have to take the red bus as it brings you out of Seoul and into the surrounding areas. The fare for the red bus costs more but it depends on where you alight. It'll be cheaper if you have the transportation card and I talked about it in the post linked above ^^

The green and the blue buses are regular buses. There's also a yellow bus that I didn't get to see when we were there. You can read about the different buses here! We only had the opportunity to ride on the green bus when were going to the 63 building.

Taking the bus was kind of nerve wrecking and it might be risky if you don't read or understand Korean. As you may have noticed, the circles on the front and the side of the bus are the stops at which the bus will stop. If not for the announcement system in the bus I wouldn't know where to alight. They don't display their road names obviously around Seoul. So I wouldn't recommend taking a bus unless it's just a stop away, you can read and understand Korean or you're just really daring and not afraid of getting lost.

But of course, if you do get lost, just hail a cab ^^

3. Taxi

We took the taxi quite a few times. It's pretty cheap compared to back home. Plus there were 4 of us so we could divide the fare by 4 so it really wasn't too bad. I don't remember how many times we've taken a taxi during our stay in Seoul, I think it was about 3 or 4 times.

I don't think it's difficult to flag down a taxi in Seoul. You just might want to take note of like whether there are many cars or little cars. Of course, it maybe harder to get a taxi when there are not many cars going down that road.

There are a few different types of taxis in Seoul. It would be easier to take the orange or silver taxis instead of those luxury looking ones. Usually the luxury looking ones have drivers that can speak English and therefore costing more! You don't have to speak Korean to take the normal taxis with non-English speaking drivers. I think most of them do understand simple English and all you gotta do is show them the address of your destination and they'll be able to take you there! ^^

One thing that was pretty scary about riding in a taxi was the way the taxi drivers drove. I guess I was pretty used to the strict traffic rules and regulations we have here. One driver, changed 3 lanes without signalling. And well all the taxis we rode had drivers that sped. I guess they aren't so strict about speed limit there? But then again, taxi drivers don't always abide by the rules. Even taxi drivers here (totally dislike driving near to a taxi). They're known to be the worst drivers. Maybe it's the case in Seoul too.

If you need more information on taxis in Seoul, check this link out: Taking taxis in Seoul. We referred to this link as well when we couldn't get a cab outside the SM building. We were worried we were doing something wrong. But eventually we got a cab outside the JYP building instead where there were more cars and moving traffic.

4. KTX

We took the KTX to Busan for a day trip. The ticket price for the KTX isn't cheap, costing around 44,800 per trip since Busan is the final stop from Seoul. However, we found out about the KR Pass which allows us to get a day's pass for only 53,600 for student. Which meant we only needed to pay that price for both our train rides instead of paying 44,800 twice.

The KTX is a long distance train so it took us about 2 and a half hours to get to Busan. There are many other stops in between Seoul and Busan so if you wanted to visit other parts of Korea, you can go via the KTX as well but of course there'll be different charges for the different places you are traveling to. Busan being the furthest stop, will cost the most.

The KTX station might be a little difficult to navigate. But not to worry, there are signs in both Korean and English so it isn't difficult to find your train. On the signboard, beside the name of your destination, they'll display the departure time and also the track number. So all you gotta do is find the track number and check if the train number matches that on your ticket. Once that's done, you just need to board the correct car and find your seats!

It might be a good idea to bring snacks onto the KTX as you might get hungry during the journey. They do have pushcarts selling food on the KTX but the menu is pretty limited plus it'll cost more than getting the same things at the mart.

I think it's quite straightforward taking the KTX but the only thing that might worry most tourists is the cost of the tickets. It is pricey but it gets you to your destination much faster than the normal train or bus or even the ferry.

So these were few forms of transportation that we took while we were traveling around Korea! Hope this little writeup will be helpful to those planning a future trip to Korea! If you've any questions, leave them in the comments :)

xoxo, Fid♥