Travel details

Flights

  • You’ll be flying into Incheon Airport (ICN), a city right next to Seoul. It’s pretty easy (and completely safe) to travel from the airport to Seoul at any time of the day (~1 hour subway ride or ~$60 taxi ride), so we recommend that you book your flight that works best for your schedule. We just ask that you get there before the night of Saturday, 11/19.
  • After you’ve booked your flight, please email us at glencornell7@gmail.com and share your itinerary with us.

Visa

  • There is no visa required for travelers w/ American passport or other countries listed here (for up to 30 days)! You just need to fill out the Korean Eletronic Travel Authorization (K-ETA) here at least 72 hours before your flight. 

Phone Plans

  • Most major U.S. phone companies provide free international data roaming, with some charges for texting. We’ll be communicating via Whatsapp (not texting), which uses data, so this is a fine option to use. So please confirm that your service provider has this policy, and if so, there is no need to get an international sim card. 

Cash v Card

  • South Korea is mostly a card-economy (including restaurants, taxis, subway systems, shops). There will be a slight transaction fee % when you use your credit card (depending on what kind of credit card you have), but we’d still recommend this option for your convenience. And just in case, take out ~$100 USD when you arrive via the ATMs at the airport
  • Fun fact: the currency rate these days strongly favors the dollar, so your dollar should go far in Korea! :)

Lodging

We know it’s a long (and expensive!) trip to Korea, so my parents have kindly offered to provide lodging for our international guests for the night of Sat, 11/19 and Sun, 11/20 nights (Monday morning check out). You will be staying at Hotel Ryse, Autograph Collection for the wedding. You’ll have the option to extend your stay at the same hotel to earlier/later with the group discount.  Please let us know your plans by filling out this form if you haven't already!

How to get to Hotel Ryse from Incheon Airport - 

  • Take the “Airport Railroad” subway line to Hongik University
  • Take exit#9 from Hongik University
  • 0.4 mile walk to Hotel Ryse (~10 min)

  • Hotel Ryse to the Wedding Venue: We’ll ask the hotel to help get taxis for our guests from the hotel

Our recommendation is that you stay at the hotel until Wed morning, 11/23 if you plan to join us for sightseeing on Mon/Tues for convenience (since that’s where the buses will pick us up).

And if you are staying in Seoul longer, it could be fun to check out other lodging options! Here are some recommendations - 

  • ‘Hanok’ houses (most ‘unique’ experience): houses that have been remodeled to look like the traditional Korean house design from the 14th century. Depending on the house, you might have to sleep on the floor (how Koreans use to sleep) - see our recommended listings here

  • Airbnbs around Gangam: Due to its high density, Seoul offers great, affordable options of studios/1-bedrooms. Gangnam, one of the wealthiest districts in Seoul, has really nice ones that will also help you to experience how Korean yuppies live - see our recommended listings here

Schedule

  • Sat, Nov. 19: Arrive in Seoul
  • Sun, Nov. 20: Wedding!!
    • 12pm Wedding Ceremony Starts
    • ~3pm Wedding Reception ends / hang out by the river with some chimaek
    • Evening: head back to Hongdae area (where the hotel is) and go bar hopping/karaoke-ing
Museums
Hiking (‘san’ means mountain in Korean)
  • Bukhansan - With around five million visitors each year, Bukhansan National Park is listed in the Guinness Book of
  • World Records as the “Most Visited National Park per Unit Area”.
  • Inwangsan - hike the trail alongside old Seoul City Wall on its ridges, as well as visiting a cute coffee shop called Book Cafe along the way!
Non-hiking Activities
Sight-seeing
Shopping

Jeju Island - https://damecacao.com/things-to-do-in-jeju-itinerary/

 

Helpful Apps For Your Trip

  • (must) whatsapp - what we’ll be using for communicating in South Korea
  • (nice to have) navermap/kakaomap - if you download this in the U.S, it’ll be mostly in English and it’s more reliable than GoogleMaps
  • (nice to have) SeoulMetro map (in English)
  • (nice to have) some translation app

Budget

Outside of the wedding weekend, we’d suggest to budget your trip to be around $210/day/person for your trip - $120 for lodging, $50 for food, $40 for sightseeing/activities. (If you share a room with someone, lodging can be split in half). 

 

Other information to come

As we get closer to the date, we’ll provide more updates and details.

Please feel free to also reach out to us for any questions!