Seoul Travel Guide: 12 Useful Apps to Plan Your South Korea Trip
Updated: 17 February 2025
Whether you are traveling as a group or on a solo trip, planning any trip can be a stressful task. The biggest challenge in planning a trip is usually trying to fit in as many of your wish lists (or bucket lists) as possible into a short period, keeping everything within budget and minimizing unnecessary expenses.
From looking for flight tickets and accommodations that suit your desired dates and budgets to planning detailed day-to-day activities, food, restaurants, cafes, etc, planning a trip can be a messy process.
For most of us, these are done after work and on weekends. On top of everything, there is a general belief that the earlier you book these, the better. So seats and rooms are not sold out, and you have a higher chance of getting early bird deals.
This post lists the apps I have used before and find very useful. There are a few on the list that I have started using only this year and have found surprisingly useful so far.
1. Hopper
Why you should give this a try: Hopper is similar to Skyscanner in that it helps you check and compare available flights and prices. However, the Hopper app provides additional “cool’ features:
Price freeze feature. Users can pay a small fee to freeze the price of their reservation for a set period. If the price increases before the reservation is booked, Hopper will cover the difference up to a certain amount. If the price decreases, then the user will pay the lower price.
“Best time to book” feature. This is one of Hopper’s selling points where the app will inform users, during the booking process, if it is best to make the purchase right away or wait. The app will then inform you when it is best to make the purchase. These predictions are based on historical trends and current market analysis.
2. Booking.com
Why you should give this a try: I use this to book accommodations. There are a lot of similar apps out there, almost too many. I have tried a few of them and Booking.com is the one that I kept returning to for the reasons below:
Once you have your information saved in the app, searching and booking accommodations are super easy and quick.
Accommodations listed on the app include hotels, hostels, and Airbnb. I have seen the same Airbnb posting on Booking.com.
Direct communications with the host and hotel concierge are all done via the app and they will respond within 24 hours.
Most listings provide the option to pay at the property and have free cancellation up to 24 hours prior this is very helpful in case of last-minute changes and also gives me assurance that any request for upfront payment will be a scam. See note below.
Overall the user interface of the app is easy to use, booking, payment, and managing booking steps are all very clear which I appreciate. the last thing I want is to discover any “hidden fees and terms” about my booking.
IMPORTANT. There have been a lot of scams on booking.com since it is one of the most widely used hotel booking services. The most common cases are when communication between the user and hotel is hijacked, in which case the user receives emails with requests to make credit card payments via another website or bank transfer. Please be very mindful of all emails, SMS, and in-app messages that you receive from booking.com or the hotel you are booking. Do not provide any of your personal and financial information to anyone before confirming directly with the hotel by calling them.
A sample itinerary created using ChatGPT (free version).
3. ChatGPT
Why you should give this a try: This is a new one that I am still trying out myself. I do use ChatGPT (the free version) for work. So I thought why not use it to plan my trip? The key here is knowing how to write the prompt to get the best results for your needs. If you need a detailed itinerary, then the prompt should also provide enough detail for the AI to narrow down your options.
After each response from Chat GPT, you can keep refining the answers by giving it more prompts such as: “Remove Item A, replace with Item B”, “Switch all food options with vegan options”, etc. Think of it like speaking to a new, personal, and very organized, travel agent who does not know anything about you and your preferences yet. So you need to let them know.
Tip: You can request that the itinerary be put into a table format that you can then copy and paste into a Google Sheet or Excel sheet file. Neat, right?
Must do: Also, ChatGPT is not 100% accurate or correct, so always double-check the facts, e.g. make sure the restaurant it recommends is open on your desired date, make sure the hotel it recommends is suitable for you by reading more reviews on other sites.
4. Visit Korea, Visit Seoul
Why you should give this a try: This is the official tourism app for South Korea. It is most useful if you are planning to visit South Korea for the first time. It has essential information for tourists from transport to recommended attractions in the country.
Download Visit Korea for: iOS | Android
If you are planning to visit Seoul only, Visit Seoul might be a better choice, because the information will be more specific to your needs.
Photo by Photos of Korea on Unsplash
5. Korailtalk
Why you should give this a try: Use this app to look up and book any train (not including local subway trains and SRT) for inter-city trips, such as from Seoul to Busan. this includes the KTX, ITX, and regular trains. Note that most train tickets in South Korea are reserved seating only.
Chances are, you will not do a day trip or a multi-cities trip at the very last minute, so searching for and booking your long-distance train tickets should be done as part of your trip planning (before your departure).
Tip: You can book your tickets via this app for up to 1 year in advance. Some tickets sold out very quickly, depending on destinations and time of the year, e.g. it is difficult to get tickets during South Korea’s Chusok holiday.
However, changing your train ticket schedule is a little tricky so it is better to finalise your plans before making any payment.
6. Bustago, Intercity Bus
Why you should give this a try: The bus equivalent to the Korailtalk app above. Another option for traveling beyond Seoul and Busan is by bus. Long-distance buses in South Korea are pretty convenient and clean, some operate at night to save you some daytime, so you can sleep through the journey.
The app is available in English, however, the user interface of the app, especially the English functionality, is not the best, so it might take some time to get used to it or to get your desired results.
Another alternative, which I have not tried, is the Intercity Bus, also recommended on the Visit Korea website. Both these apps accept payments via overseas cards.
Photo by jet dela cruz on Unsplash
7. Klook and Get Your Guide
Why you should give this a try: I use these mostly for activities and small group tours. If you prefer small group tours, which means seats are limited, it is best to book early. These apps also have a good cancellation policy, with most activities having free cancellation up to 24 hours before the scheduled meeting time.
I use these apps as a solo traveler for half-day tours, and activities that are best done in smaller groups. These activities typically include transportation and lunchtime, ideal for destinations that require driving
How to choose between these 2 apps? While most of the tour offerings in Klook are for bigger groups and are provided by travel companies, Get Your Guide, on the other hand, is more focused on connecting travelers directly to local tour guides.
As such, Get Your Guides is more focused on guided tours for smaller groups and is in general, cheaper than Klook. Also, with Get Your Guides, there is a high chance that you can get a private tour for the price of a group tour. So if private tours or very small group tours are your thing, you might want to try Get Your Guide first.
Tip: Always read the reviews before booking any tour or activity, make sure it is not suspicious. Feel free to message the service provider before making any payment.
Source: Creatrip.com
8. Creatrip
Why you should give this a try: This app helps you search and book activities in South Korea. It might be more specific to Seoul areas and younger demographics, but what makes the app unique are the activities not usually covered in other apps, such as hair, beauty, photography studios, and K-pop-related activities (e.g. dance classes). It also has food recommendations and insider blogs.
Another unique feature is the “guidance by Seoul Metro”, link here. This feature allows you to select a subway station and view food and activities around that station. This is a quick way to filter your options if distance and transport are an important factor in your travel planning.
The app is available in English and is designed for tourists.
Source: catchtable.net
9. Catch Table
Why you should give this a try: This is an app that allows you to make and manage reservations, join a waitlist, take queue numbers, and check the queue progress of most restaurants in South Korea. The app is available in English as it is intended for foreigners.
With this app, you have access to a variety of restaurants and eateries, from well-known local, family eateries, and cafes to fine dining. You can filter the list by region and city, and view the reviews of each restaurant. Overall, it is very similar to Yelp in the US but specific for food and beverages in South Korea.
10. Google Maps
Why you should give this a try: As the names suggest, these apps allow you to look up locations of your desired destination and plan your routes.
When you are physically in South Korea, the Naver Map is best because it is more accurate. However, Naver Map is not 100% available in English, you will find missing translations (sentences still in Korean) even when you are in the English language mode.
So, for planning purposes, I find Google Maps more useful to look up locations and see rough distances of different destinations that I want to visit each day. The user interface is also more intuitive for researching and planning because you can save your desired destinations into different groups or folders.
Note: Technically I can do these with Naver Map as well, but I would need to create an account with Naver. Also, I want to be able to refer to these locations in the future as well.
For planning trips, I like to group things by neighborhood first, so I know what activities, restaurants, cafes, etc. I can group in one day to minimize travel time. Once my day-to-day plans are roughly finalized then I will look them up on Naver Map. I usually do this during the trip itself, like the night before.
11. Notion (or pen and paper)
Why you should give this a try: If you prefer to document your findings digitally, but do not want it to feel like you are working on a complex document like Excel, then Notion is for you.
The Notion app is designed for collecting and organizing information. The user interface is simple. At the very basic level, it allows you to create pages, and then group these pages into folders. You can type these findings in simple paragraphs, bulleted and numbered lists. You can also create lists in a table and add tags for the different categories so you can view them dynamically in the future.
Think of it as a Word Doc combined with Excel but with much fewer formatting options a much simpler user interface and more flexibility when it comes to adding images into your document. Also, the Notion app is free for personal use!
There are many tutorials on how to get started with Notion for different things, including travel planning. Give it a try on the web version first, play around, and see if it is for you. It is free anyway.
12. ICN Smart Pass
What is this? Pre-register your e-passport, facial information, and boarding pass before your trip and skip the long queue at the immigration when you arrive at Incheon airport.
Download the app, register your e-passport and facial information first, then register your departure boarding pass closer to your flight date. Learn more here.
Tips on registration:
Have your passport ready because you need to scan it with the app. Uploading an image or a file is not allowed.
Make sure your phone has NFC scanning capability
Make sure you have an e-passport. This is usually indicated by a digital chip icon (a small, gold camera logo) that appears on the front cover of your passports. But to be safe, double-check the info specific to your country.
Look up where the chip is located on your passport, the visual instructions on the app showed the front cover of a passport, but I realized later that for my country, the chip is located at the back cover.
Important: You still need to carry your physical passport, boarding passes, and whatever other documents you might need to enter the country.
If you find this post helpful, 📌 pin this image to save it for later and share the inspiration with others! ❤️