The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website is a good source of health information for travelers.

You should be up to date on routine vaccinations while traveling to any destination. Sightseeing may require, at minimum, the ability to walk at a moderate pace for a mile or two and the balance and agility necessary to climb stairs, enter and exit buses and boats, and navigate uneven or cobble-stoned streets. Some sightseeing stops do not have elevators or wheelchair access. Bring medications in their original, clearly labeled containers. A signed and dated letter from your physician describing your med­ical conditions and medications, including generic names, is also a good idea. If carrying syringes or needles, have a physician’s letter documenting their medical necessity. When on vacation, it is always wise to watch what you eat and drink and avoid drinking tap water while traveling. Most hotels will provide complimentary bottled water. You can purchase additional bottled water throughout your trip.

The currency of South Korea is the won (￦), available in the following denominations: Coins come in denominations of ￦10, ￦50, ￦100, and ￦500, while banknotes come in denominations of ￦1,000 (blue), ￦5,000 (red), ￦10,000 (green) and ￦50,000 (yellow). You can exchange foreign currency at authorized agencies such as banks, exchange offices, and hotels. Major credit cards such as American Express, Master Card, Visa, and Diners Club are accepted but expect to pay in cash at most family-owned restaurants and small shops. The exchange rate constantly fluctuates. The current exchange rate is approximately 1 USD = 1,300 KRW. For the most updated exchange rate, please check http://www.xe.com.

The standard electrical voltage in  South Korea is 220 volts and 60 hertz (C & F type “German” plugs). Bringing an adaptor is a good idea if you plan to use electronics (i.e., cell phones, laptops, cameras, etc.) during your trip.

Korean cuisine is becoming increasingly popular outside Korea, especially in other parts of East Asia and the U.S. However, those unfamiliar with Korean cuisine will have to be wary of the many spicy and fermented dishes in Korean cuisine. Nevertheless, it is addictive once you get used to it. Korean food is definitely in a class of its own, mixing spicy chilies and copious amounts of garlic with delicate ingredients like raw fish. Although Korean food is relatively low in fat, a fact attested to by the observation that very few South Koreans are overweight, those with sodium-limited diets should beware, as Korean cuisine can be heavy in salt.

A Korean meal is centered around rice and soup, and likely a fish or meat dish invariably served with a vast assortment of side dishes known as banchan (반찬). The humblest meal comes in three types, while a royal banquet may feature twenty types of banchan. In addition to kimchi (see below), typical side dishes include bean sprouts (콩나물 kongnamul), spinach (시금치 shigeumchi), small dried fish, and much more.

The ubiquitous kimchi (김치 gimchi), made from fermented cabbage and chili, accompanies nearly every meal and may be a bit of an acquired taste for visitors as it can be pretty spicy. In addition to the common cabbage type, kimchi can also be made from white radish (깍두기 kkakdugi), cucumbers (오이 소박이 oi sobagi), chives (부추 김치 buchu gimchi) or pretty much any vegetable that can be pickled. Many different dishes are made using kimchi for flavoring, and kimchi is served as a side dish. It is common to find Korean tourists carrying a stash of tightly packed kimchi when traveling abroad.

Two more condiments found in almost every dish are doenjang (된장), a fermented soybean paste akin to Japanese miso, and gochujang (고추장), a spicy chili paste.

Typical Dishes: Korean Barbecues, Rice Dishes (bibimbap), Soup & Stews, Noodles & Seafood.

Dietary restrictions

Vegetarians will have a tough time in Korea. If you ask for “no gogi” (고기) they will probably cook as usual and pick out the big chunks of meat. One good phrase is to say you are chaesikjuwija (채식주의자), a person who only eats vegetables. This may prompt questions from the server, so be prepared! As in most of East Asia, meat is understood to be the flesh of land animals, so seafood is not considered meat.

Most stews will not use beef stock but fish stock, especially myeolchi (멸치, anchovy). This will be your bane, and outside of reputable vegetarian restaurants, you should ask if you are ordering any stews/hotpots or casseroles.

Spicy (red) kimchi will almost certainly have seafood, such as salted tiny shrimp, as an ingredient. Since it disappears into the brine, you will be unable to identify it visually. Another type of kimchi, called mulgimchi (물김치, “water kimchi”), is vegan, as it is salted in a clear, white broth with many different vegetables.

On the bright side, vegans and vegetarians are perfectly safe at Korean monastery cuisine restaurants, which use no dairy, egg, or animal products, except perhaps honey. There has been a recent vogue for this type of cuisine, but it can be expensive.

There is an increasing number of vegetarian restaurants in Korea – most are in larger or medium-sized places. Some of these are run by religious groups. The most prominent franchise is probably Loving Hut, which is vegan and relatively low-priced. While you probably wouldn’t make this a destination restaurant, it’s a good backup plan (if you’ve noted the locations and closing times in advance).

Koreans speak Korean, and knowing a few words of this will come in handy. Unfortunately, the language is drastically different from any Western language in its grammar, and pronunciation is difficult for the English speaker to get right (though not tonal). Most notably among the dialects, the Gyeongsang dialect spoken around Busan and Daegu is considered rather rough and aggressive compared to standard Korean. The Jeju dialect spoken on Jeju island is almost incomprehensible to speakers of traditional Korean. However, the pure Jeju dialect is becoming less common.

Written Korean uses a unique phonetic writing system called hangul (한글 hangeul), where sounds are stacked into blocks representing syllables. It was designed by a committee and looks like, at first glance, all right angles, and little circles, but it is remarkably consistent and logical and quite fast to pick up. Many Korean words can also be written with much more complex Chinese characters, known as hanja (한자, 漢字) in Korean, and these are still occasionally mixed into text but are increasingly few and far between. Nowadays, hanja are mainly used for disambiguation if the meaning is ambiguous when written in hangul. In such instances, the hanja is usually noted in parentheses next to the hangul. Hanja are also used to mark janggi (장기, 將棋) or Korean chess pieces, newspaper headlines, as well as personal names on official documents.

Most Koreans have little more than a basic grasp of English phrases in actual conversation. If you need someone who speaks English, your best bet would generally be high school or university students. Reading and writing come much easier, and often people can read and understand a considerable amount of English without any practice with real conversation. Many employees at airlines, hotels, and stores catering to international tourists are likely to speak at least basic English. Consequently, travelers can get by in major cities with English only, but learning basic Korean phrases will make your travel experience more convenient and enjoyable.