To be honest, I only spent less than 15,000 Pesos in my recent Korea travel! I made sure to be budget-conscious since this trip was a bit biglaan, I already have a scheduled trip with my family this May! My goal, as I've always mentioned in my past posts, is just to experience spring season, and too late na if I wait till May. So if I can budget my expenses for this trip, the better!
Realistically speaking though, all-in budget will go over Php 30,000 for 5 Days, 4 Nights in Seoul. Pre-travel expenses can be steep (airfare, accommodations, etc), but bawi nalang sa pocket money as you can actually spend little when you're already in Korea. Just know where to eat or shop, a favorite Korean restaurant I always dine in has Php 66 gimbap (with unli kimchi and other sides!). Shopping in Myeongdong will give you the best deals compared to malls or the airport prices.
In this post, I will try to bullet point all my daily expenses and pre-travel gastos so in a way you can estimate how much more or less you will need on your travel to SoKor. Since I'll be sharing something personal (aka how I spend my money), my wish is that you'll find this post at least useful! 😌
POCKET MONEY + ITINERARY
DAY 1
SCHEDULE:
- Airport MNL to INC
- Train to Seoul National University of Education Station
- Leave my luggage in my friend's apartment
- Goblin's House
- Heo Joon Jae's House
- Bok Chicken
- Myeongdong for Dinner and Shopping
EXPENSES:
Airport Tax - Php 1620
Airport Breakfast (Bo's Coffee) - Php 275
Water in Plane - Php 50
Total - Php 1945
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T-Card Refill - 30,000 KRW
Fish Munggo Snack - 1000 KRW
Strawberry Mochi - 2500 KRW
Egg Bread - 2000 KRW
Myeongdong Shopping - 15,000 KRW
Convenience Store - 4250 KRW
Total - 54, 750 KRW or Php 2430
DAY 2
SCHEDULE:
- Bongeunsa Temple for early blossoms
- All That Sweets Cherry Blossoms Cafe
- Mango Six
- Yeouido Park + National Assembly Building to check early blossoms
- KBS Experience Hall (free entrance)
- Yongdap Bridge (Goblin)
- Jimjilbang Korean bath house (Legend of the Blue Sea)
- Dal.Komm
EXPENSES:
Lunch in Pomato - 1500 KRW
Cherry Blossoms Coffee - 5000 KRW
Cherry Blossom Merengue Pack - 3000 KRW
Mango Six Shake - 5900 KRW
Jimjilbang - 9000 KRW
+ Scrubs, Food etc. - 30,000 KRW
Dal.komm Coffee - 4800 KRW
Total - 60,400 KRW or Php 2720
DAY 3
SCHEDULE:
- Brunch
- Deoksugung Palace for the walking tour with Trazy
- Spotted wall from Goblin + roses monument from WFKBJ
- Han River Cruise
- Hangang Park
- Myeongdong for dinner
EXPENSES:
Brunch in Bean & Berries - 8200 KRW
TCard Refill - 10,000 KRW
Cruise Snacks - 6000 KRW
Dinner in Myeongdong Street - 11,000 KRW
Total - 35,200 KRW or Php 1585
DAY 4
SCHEDULE:
- Brunch
- Lotte Aquarium
- Lotte World Adventure
- Lotte Mall Miniso
- Lotte Cinema
- Lotteria for Dinner
EXPENSES:
Brunch - 9000 KRW
Churros - 3000 KRW
Hair Clip - 2000 KRW
TCard Refill - 3700 KRW
Movie - 9000 KRW
Popcorn and Drinks - 7200 KRW
Lotteria Dinner - 6100 KRW
Convenience Store - 2000 KRW
Total - 42,000 KRW or Php 1817
DAY 5
SCHEDULE:
- Airport Bus
- Airport for Flight Home
- Check out Cultural Center inside Airport
(free hanbok pictorial, arts and crafts)
EXPENSES:
Airport Bus - 10,000 KRW
Dunkin Donuts - 5900 KRW
Pasalubong - 19,300 KRW
Total - 35,200KRW or Php 1523
+ Plane Food - Php 200
TOTAL POCKET MONEY = Php 12,220
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PRE-TRAVEL EXPENSES
For transparency, I stayed in my friend's house for free, and my pocket internet, tours, and flights are all sponsored. To help in your budgeting, let's say:
Accommodations
A basic Airbnb room near Myeongdong will cost around Php 1672 per night
x4 nights - Php 6688
Airfare
Roundtrip MNL-INC when on seat sale - Php 8000
Korean Visa
Visa application via travel agency - Php 1000
Pocket Wifi in South Korea
Flytpack Travel Wifi - Php 300 / day x 5 days - Php 1500
Tours with Trazy.com
Seoul Walking Tour - 20 USD
Han River Cruise - 13.5 USD
Lotte World + Aquarium - 44 USD
Total - Php 3875
TOTAL PRE-TRAVEL EXPENSES = Php 21,063
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Pocket Money - Php 12,220
Pre Travel - Php 21,063
GRAND TOTAL - Php 33,283
For 5 Days, 4 Nights in Seoul!
You can check my other budget posts for Korea trips HERE. There are distinct differences on my expenses since during my first time I went to Nami, Everland Resort, DMZ tour, and other tourist places that usually require entrance fees. On my second trip naman I flew to Jeju.
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Some Final Tips!
Before I end this Korea Spring 2017 / KDrama Tour series (huhu!), sharing some pieces of advice I can randomly think of now as I am typing my closing....
1) Check out online deals from legit travel sites like Trazy for cheaper entrance fees and packages.
2) If you're planning to follow my K-Drama Tour pilgrimage, a consistent pocket internet goes a long way so you can minimize getting lost! I love my Flytpack, it never failed me when I needed to research the last minute or use my Google Maps!
3) BUT YOU WILL GET LOST. Be ready for this, and don't be too disappointed either! I take these failures as part of my whole solo traveling experience. Now that I look back on those days in Seoul, tripping, eating in the street, missing a train, or going the wrong way made this trip the ultimate adventure!
4) Use T-Card (reloadable train ticket) and maximize Seoul's subway. Download the Seoul subway app (color yellow), which will give you exact stops, transfers, and sometimes even expected time of train's arrival! Ang high-tech nila grabe!
5) If they can't understand what you're asking, use PHOTOS! It works well with me when I ask for directions or a certain item I want to buy.. I just show a photo from my phone. So again, Flytpack for instant Google searching!
6) WEAR COMFORTABLE SHOES. I know Instagram OOTD is lifeu, but my feet died and I was already wearing the comfiest rubber shoes! I can't imagine what more if I wore leather shoes or boots, huhu! But if you have a chill itinerary (aka not the Kdrama tour), then go ahead with the porma! Hehe!
7) Take lots of photos... AND VIDEOS. I am not a video person, but I made sure to IG Story memorable stops I've been to for this trip. Now I am thanking myself that I did coz I have something more "real" to look back to than steady photos. You don't even have to share it publicly!
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I think this post is lengthy enough, although it's hard as always to close a travel post series. So I will end this with a fitting THANK YOU, to new readers and Instagram "followers" who appreciated my K-Drama Tour, to old online friends who are still here even with all my new and sometimes borderline obsessive interests (hehehe), and to online publications who took notice and featured my trip! I never thought that a passion project (Instax KDrama Tour) will blaze online.. I just did it because it was fun and cute and something that I really wanted to do at that time! Hindi siya maeffort sakin because I enjoyed it from planning to process till the end! Indeed, now I can say that what they always repeat from the beginning of time is true: Just do the things that you love, and the rest will follow.
Thank you thank you thank you, and hope you reached till these last lines! Haha!
See you again soon, Korea! 💜 Saranghae, everyone!
Read more of my Korea travels: