Have you booked a trip to Korea or are you planning your next trip to the land of the Morning Calm? To make your preparations a little easier, I’ve prepared a guide with useful apps when traveling to South Korea.
These apps will make your trip a lot smoother and you’ll be able to get around more easily.
Naver Map (네이버)
As you might know already, Google Maps isn’t really helpful when in South Korea and will not work properly when you are looking for places or directions. Instead, Naver Map is what everyone (or at least mostly everyone) is using.
I would therefore suggest that you download Naver Map prior to coming to Korea. You can download it both in the App Store as well as for Android Phones. There might be some locations that are only saved in Korean but most train stations and bigger places can also be found by using the English name.
Google Translate
Although Google Translate doesn’t always give the most accurate translations, its photo translation function can be a true lifesaver for you if your Korean skills are not that developed or non-existent.
You can easily use the app to translate restaurant menus, cosmetic ingredients, or signs you find all over the city.
Make sure you have the function enabled to also be able to use the translation app when you are offline.
Download the app for Apple here and for the Google Play store here.
Kakao Metro
Kakao Metro can be very helpful when trying to navigate the Seoul Metro System. It’s pretty easy to use and can come in very handy especially since you can click on the station you want to go to and you’re able to change the language in the app’s settings.
Download the app for Apple here and for the Google Play store here.
Kakao Taxi
If your Korean is not great but you want to be able to take a taxi and be able to get to your destination easily without struggling to explain it to the driver, then Kakao taxi is a good app to use. Keep in mind that you need a Korean phone number to register and you will only be able to pay in the taxi itself (by credit card or cash) if you do not have a Korean bank account.
Download the app for Apple here and for the Google Play store here.
Papago
Papago is a great app for everyday translations. It is much more accurate than Google Translate but I personally like the Google Translate camera function better.
Papago is an app that’s also used by locals and you can easily communicate with Koreans if they don’t speak English and you don’t speak Korean.
Download the app for Apple here and for the Google Play store here.
Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions or any other useful apps to add for tourists coming to South Korea.
And if you want to read more about Korea, click here for my other blog posts.
