Korea & Japan Practical Guide
Straight answers to the practical questions of a trip to South Korea and Japan: where to stay, entry rules, money, transport cards, rail passes and holidays. Each guide is checked against official sources and dated, and the tools run in your browser.
Korea: where to stay
Where to Stay in SeoulBest areas by trip type, with hotels
Where to Stay in BusanBeach, station or market: pick your baseKorea: tools
KRW Currency ConverterWon to USD, EUR, JPY and more, live ECB rate
Korean Public Holidays 2027Dates, long weekends, travel tipsAdvertisement
Korea: practical guides
K-ETA & e-Arrival CardEntry rules, exemption ending, how to apply
T-money CardBuy, recharge, refund, where it works
Paying in KoreaCards, cash, ATMs, exchange, no tipping
eSIM & SIM in KoreaData options and what you need
Naver Map in EnglishDirections when Google Maps falls short
Kakao T TaxiCalling and paying for taxis as a visitor
Tourist Tax RefundGet VAT back on shoppingJapan
Where to Stay in TokyoSix neighborhoods compared by train line
Where to Stay in KyotoStation, downtown or Gion: what each costs you in time
Where to Stay in OsakaNamba vs Umeda and the rest, with hotels
JR Pass CalculatorIs the 7, 14 or 21-day pass worth it for your route?How we check
We live in Korea and read the Korean originals: immigration, tax and transport operators' own pages. For Japan we use the rail operators', airports' and hotels' own sites. Every guide lists its official sources at the bottom with the month we last checked them. Rules change, so confirm on the official site before you travel.