Is Seoul Worth It After Japan? What's Different, and How to Get There

Yes, Seoul is worth it after Japan, as long as you don't come looking for a smaller Tokyo. Japan does polish, quiet and order better than anywhere. Seoul is louder: dinner on plastic stools, a mountain you can climb before lunch, and streets still busy at midnight. It's two hours from Haneda. Come for what's different.

Don't come for a smaller Tokyo

Last year about 3.3 million Americans went to Japan. About 1.5 million came to Korea. Most of the American friends who ask me about Seoul have already done Japan, loved it, and wonder whether Korea is just more of the same.

It isn't. I'd still send a friend to Tokyo for sushi, ramen and that calm, perfect service. I'll admit Seoul loses those fights. But if Japan is a beautifully set table, Seoul is the table where everyone reaches across and the food keeps coming. If you liked Osaka more than Kyoto, you're going to like Seoul.

What feels different in the first 24 hours

• Maps: Google Maps works for transit, but not for walking or driving directions. Korea only cleared Google to export its detailed map data in February 2026, and walking directions may come in 2027. There's no date yet. Use Naver Map or Kakao Map. Since June 2026, Naver also lets foreigners verify with a passport to book and pay.
• Cards: in Japan, I always carry cash. In Korea, cash was only about 16% of in-person payments in a 2024 Bank of Korea survey. Tap or insert, done. If you have an iPhone, here's what Apple Pay can and can't do (opens in a new tab).
• Side dishes: the little plates that come with your meal are free, and so are the refills. At a yakiniku place in Japan, you'd pay for them. More on that at the BBQ table (opens in a new tab).
• Tipping: same as Japan. You don't. Some upscale hotels and restaurants add a 10% service charge. Our tipping guide (opens in a new tab)
• Late nights: Seoul eats late, and around Gangnam Station and Hongdae you'll find 24-hour restaurants.
• Getting around: subway fare starts at 1,550 won with a transit card, which is cheap. Buy a T-money card at the first convenience store you see. Which card to get (opens in a new tab)

Five things Seoul does differently

1. The noisy dinner. Korean BBQ is a party: a big strip of pork belly on the grill, scissors, lettuce wraps, a green bottle, and everyone talking over each other. Yakiniku is its quieter cousin. If you've had yakiniku in Japan, the Korean table will feel familiar for about five seconds. Start with pork (opens in a new tab), then save a night for hanwoo (opens in a new tab).

2. The street at night. Japan has its yokocho alleys and Fukuoka's yatai stalls, and I love them. Seoul's version is bigger and louder: whole alleys of steel tables and red plastic stools, with the party spilling onto the street. Euljiro (opens in a new tab) is my neighborhood for this. I work there, and on a Thursday night, it's the best show in town.

3. Mountains in the city. Seoul is ringed by mountains, and you can be on a granite ridge an hour after breakfast. Bukhansan National Park, on the city's northern edge, had 7.5 million visits in 2025, more than any other national park in Korea. For a first time, take the old city wall up Inwangsan from Gyeongbokgung Station before sunset. For a real climb, try Baegundae (opens in a new tab).

4. Palaces in hanbok. Wear a hanbok, the traditional dress, and you get into the four main palaces for free. Gyeongbokgung is 3,000 won otherwise and closed on Tuesdays. Japan has kimono rentals, but nothing quite like a whole palace full of people in hanbok. How to do it (opens in a new tab)

5. A border you can visit. The DMZ, the strip between North and South Korea, is a day trip from Seoul. It's not fun exactly, but it's unforgettable, and nothing in Japan compares. Is it worth one of your days? (opens in a new tab)

And the cafés. At the end of 2024, Korea had slightly more Starbucks than Japan, and that's just the chain. Every neighborhood has independent cafés stacked on top of each other. Japanese visitors also come for the skin clinics: they were the biggest group of foreign patients in Korea in 2024, and about 70% of them went to dermatology.

Getting there from Japan

• Tokyo: Haneda to Gimpo is about two hours, with a dozen or more flights a day between JAL, ANA, Korean Air and Asiana. Narita to Incheon has lots of budget flights, but Incheon is farther from the city.
• Osaka: Kansai to Incheon is one of Korea's busiest international routes, about two hours in the air.
• Fukuoka: about an hour to Busan. Start your Korea trip in Busan and take the KTX bullet train up to Seoul.
• By sea: the fast Queen Beetle ferry between Fukuoka and Busan ended for good in 2024. The slower Camellia Line ferry still sails, about six hours a crossing. Check its timetable before you plan around it.

Will it cost less than Japan?

Some things, yes. The subway is cheap, there's no tipping, and the free side dishes help. But don't assume hotels are a bargain. Seoul hotel rates hit a record in 2025, Tokyo's were climbing again in 2026, and the won has swung around a lot against the dollar this year. Compare your actual dates.

Before you fly

• K-ETA: US passport holders don't need one through December 31, 2026. Traveling in 2027? Check the latest (opens in a new tab).
• e-Arrival Card: file it online in the three days before you land, unless you hold a K-ETA.
• Phone: download Naver Map, and set up data before you board. Will a Korea eSIM work on your phone? (opens in a new tab)

If you'd like a guide for your first night

You land, you drop your bags, and you're hungry. This is a good way to see how Seoul eats, with someone to show you the ropes.

Small-Group Night Food Tour in Seoul with Korean BBQ

• Good for: your first or second night in Seoul, solo travelers, anyone who wants the BBQ etiquette explained.
• What you eat: pork belly or soy-marinated pork barbecue with side dishes, then a traditional pub, a street-food stop and dessert in Ikseon-dong. About 3.5 hours, starts at Anguk Station.
• Know before you book: it's a tasting tour across four stops, not a full BBQ dinner, and tips aren't included.

If you only have three days

Day one, land at Gimpo, eat pork belly, walk Euljiro after dark. Day two, a palace in hanbok in the morning, the wall up Inwangsan before sunset. Day three, whatever you missed: the DMZ, a market, or a long lunch. Then come back and do the other two days properly.

Useful links

• K-ETA temporary exemption notice (opens in a new tab) (Korea Ministry of Justice)
• e-Arrival Card (opens in a new tab) (Korea Immigration Service)
• Gyeongbokgung Palace (opens in a new tab) (Visit Seoul)
• Camellia Line ferry, Fukuoka–Busan (opens in a new tab) (Camellia Line)