Credit cards, cash and travel debit cards are widely accepted in South Korea, with cash becoming less common as the country is slowly moving towards a cashless society. However, small stores and restaurants often don’t accept credit cards, so you will still need to carry a bit of cash on you. You will also need cash to top up the local transportation cards. 

Using a foreign credit card is not 100% reliable for payments. Thus I would recommend using a prepaid travel debit card instead. There are dozens of merchants offering prepaid travel debit cards in Malaysia. Among them, we chose the Wise card, which is a multi-currency travel debit card that allows you to hold and manage over 40 different currencies in one account and use in more than 175 countries.

We prefer using an e-SIM whenever we travel abroad. It is more convenient and usually much cheaper than data roaming plans. You can easily buy an e-SIM from Shopee or Lazada. 

I bought 8 days unlimited data plan with 2GB high speed per day. The e-SIM connects to SK Telecom network with 4G LTE and 5G speeds while I was in Busan. The e-SIM allowed us to enjoy fast and seamless internet connectivity while travelling in the country.

A K-ETA, or Korean Electronic Travel Authorisation, is required for all foreign visitors entering South Korea from visa waiver countries or visa-free countries. Travellers from countries that require a K-ETA must apply for a K-ETA at least 72 hours before their flight. The application can be made on either the official K-ETA website or the K-ETA mobile app. As of April 2024, the cost of K-ETA is 10,000 KRW per person. 

We received approval for our K-ETA application within 24 hours. Once it is approved, the K-ETA is  

valid for 3 years. However, even if your K-ETA has not expired, you are required to apply for a new K-ETA if there are any changes to your information, such as name, sex, date of birth, nationality, passport information, infectious diseases or criminal record. If there are any changes to your purpose of travel, address in Korea or contact information, you are also required to update such information through K-ETA website. Do note that foreigners without either a K-ETA or a valid visa will not be permitted to board the plane to South Korea. 

However, from 1st April 2023 to 31st December 2024, passport holders from 22 countries are temporarily exempted from applying K-ETA. You can check the list of 22 countries eligible for temporary exemption of the K-ETA on their website.

Although Singapore is also in the list of exemption, I still applied for K-ETA as this will exempt me from submitting the arrival card upon entry. 

NAVIGATION 

When it comes to navigation, Google Maps is known to be pretty unreliable and inaccurate in South Korea. Its functionality is partly restricted in the country due to national security regulations. The app does not provide driving and walking directions, so it is almost impossible to navigate around the city with Google Maps. 

For navigation, I would highly recommend you to download Naver Map or Kaokao Map from Apple App Store or Google Play Store before you visit the country. Both are navigation apps that provides public transportation information, walking and driving directions, as well as restaurants reviews and information 

I prefer Naver Maps to Kakao Maps because I find the app to be more tourist friendly. However, you can try downloading both and see which one you prefer more. 

Despite being developed by Korean tech giants, both Naver Maps and Kakao Maps remained largely untranslated, including locations details, restaurants reviews and information. Most of the time, I have to screenshot the restaurant details and reviews on Naver Maps and then use the Google Lens to translate the texts. 

 

The cheapest and easiest to get around Busan is by using the public transport. It is easy to get almost anywhere in the city by using the subway or bus. The public transportation system in Busan consists of five subway lines and plenty of bus lines. 

The subway system is fast, reliable and easy to navigate. All station stops are announced in Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese. As of April 2024, the basic fare for public transportation in Busan is 1,450 KRW for trips up to 10 kilometres if paid by credit or transportation cards. Additional fare will be charged depending on the distance travelled. 

As the attractions in Busan are pretty spread out,  you will need to spend a lot of time getting from place to place by public transport. Although the subway system enables you to access many areas in Busan easily, you will often still find the need to use buses to get to your destination. As of April 2024, the adult fare for regular city buses is 1,550 KRW while the adult fare for Express buses is 2,100 KRW.

In order to use the public transportation in Busan, you will need to purchase a T-money card or Cashbee card from any convenience stores. The T-money card or Cashbee card are prepaid transportation cards that you can use to pay for public transportation in cities across South Korea, including subways, buses and taxis, as well as payment at convenience stores. Although you can purchase single journey tickets fro the ticket machines at the subway stations, it can be quite a hassle to buy a ticket each and every time you use the subway during your trip. Furthermore, buses in Korea no longer accept cash payments. This means that you can only pay your bus fare with a transportation card or credit card. 

By using a transportation card, you can also transfer for free, or at a discounted price discount when you transfer from one bus to another, from one subway line to another, or bus to subway and vice versa. The transfer discount is limited to four time a day, within a transfer time limit of 30 minutes.

However, you can only top up the transportation card at the top up machine at subway stations or convenience stores with CASH, not credit card. So it is advisable that you bring some cash with you. You might also want to download the EZL Corp app from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app will allow you to check your card balance and view your transaction history anytime, anywhere you want. 

Taxi are plentiful and relatively affordable in Busan. You can pay the fare either with a credit card, prepaid transportation card, or in cash. However, many drivers don’t speak English well, so it will be good to have the address or destination in Korean to show to the driver. 

The below shows the places we have covered during the 8 days (29th March 2024 - 05th April 2024) we spent in Busan. You can use this itinerary as a guide to help you plan your trip to Busan. As usual, all the places in the itinerary below will be slowly linked to individual posts that will follow in the next few months. So be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to get the latest updates on my 8 days adventures in Busan!

As I mentioned earlier, the attractions in Busan are actually quite far apart from each other. Most travellers would usually spend 2 or 3 days in the city, but trust me, this is definitely not enough for you to explore all the top attractions in Busan. I would recommend spending at least 5 days in Busan in order to fully experience all the best things the city has to offer.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport > Gimhae International Airport >  Avani Central Busan > Jangsusam 장수삼 (Lunch) > Check In Avani Central Busan > BIFF Square > Nampo Jjukkumi 남포쭈꾸미 (Small Octopus) (Dinner)

Avani Central Busan > Paris Baguette > Samnak Ecological Park 삼락생태공원 > Nasari Sigdang Restaurant 나사리식당 광안 점 (Lunch) > Gwangalli Beach Area (Shopping)