Getting around South Korea without overpaying for rail

The mainland runs on one fast rail spine. KTX covers Seoul to Busan in about two hours forty, with Daejeon, Daegu and the Gyeongju stop on the way, and a second operator, SRT, runs the same corridor from a different Seoul station. Conventional trains are slower and cheaper on the same lines, and express buses fill in everywhere the track does not go — which is most of the east coast, including Sokcho and Seoraksan. Buses in Korea are comfortable and frequent, so a bus leg is not a downgrade; it is just how the north-east is reached.

The KORAIL Pass is the decision most people get wrong. It comes in two-, three-, four- and five-day flexible versions, and it excludes SRT and every subway, so it only pays when enough eligible rail travel lands inside the active days. A first trip with three intercity legs across two weeks almost never gets there — two or three point-to-point KTX tickets usually cost less than the pass. Price your actual route on the KORAIL site first, then buy the pass only if the arithmetic works.

Book the fixed legs early. Seats sell out first on Friday evenings, Sunday afternoons and around Seollal and Chuseok, and standing on a KTX or rebuilding your route on arrival day is a poor start. Everything else can be bought the day before.

In cities, one card does everything. A standard Tmoney card is a few thousand won at any convenience store or subway machine, reloads with cash, and works on buses, subways and in shops nationwide. Use Naver Map or KakaoMap for routing rather than Google Maps, which is restricted here and will give you walking directions that do not exist.

Jeju is the exception to all of it. There is no rail, and the bus network is radial enough that crossing the island usually means returning through Jeju City. Rent a car, book it before the accommodation, and bring your home licence, your passport and a valid International Driving Permit arranged in your own country before departure. Rental desks are off-airport with a shuttle, so allow an hour on arrival that the flight time does not show.