Anyone ever rented a car and drove around South Korea?

[anteselena]

Hey all, I'm planning a trip to South Korea next year and am thinking about renting a car to get around instead of always taking trains and buses. For those who have been, is driving there straightforward as a foreigner? Are the roads and signage easy to navigate? Any areas I should avoid or that would be difficult? Also any cool drives or places off the beaten path that are worth checking out? Curious to hear people's experiences driving in Korea. Let me know if you have any tips or recommendations!

 

[Andjoo]

I was just in Korea last month, visited Seoul/Busan & Jeju Island. I rented a car in Jeju, as it's necessary. I didn't find any issues navigating around, and signage was straight forward. The only hiccup was renting an EV, and it was nearly impossible to find a charging station that accepted my foreign credit card. After much googling, I found that the 3 e-Mart's on the island were the only stations that would take my Foreign card. In Seoul & Busan, the transit system is so cheap and efficient, I would recommend just using transit. Driving and parking in the major cities just seems unnecessarily hectic :-D

 

[ChromaPop]

I have not, but it's on the bucket list. And I would definitely rent one of these if I did:

https://www.hyundai-n.com/en/models/n/i20-n.do

 

[anteselena]

I was just in Korea last month, visited Seoul/Busan & Jeju Island. I rented a car in Jeju, as it's necessary. I didn't find any issues navigating around, and signage was straight forward. The only hiccup was renting an EV, and it was nearly impossible to find a charging station that accepted my foreign credit card. After much googling, I found that the 3 e-Mart's on the island were the only stations that would take my Foreign card. In Seoul & Busan, the transit system is so cheap and efficient, I would recommend just using transit. Driving and parking in the major cities just seems unnecessarily hectic :-D

Thanks so much for the info on renting a car in Korea! I'm also finding some information online and found this tourism guide really helpful https://gowithguide.com/blog/south-korea-tourism-statistics-2023-all-you-need-to-know-5254 It has some great stats on popular areas to visit as well as tips on transportation. Glad to hear the driving was straightforward in Jeju - that's really good to know since I'll likely rent a car there too.

 

[anteselena]

I have not, but it's on the bucket list. And I would definitely rent one of these if I did:

https://www.hyundai-n.com/en/models/n/i20-n.do

That Hyundai i20 N looks like such a fun car to drive around Korea! The specs on it are impressive. I can totally see why you'd want to rent one if you visit.

 

[VarmintCong]

I've not driven in Korea, but I have driven in Taiwan (right hand drive), Japan (multiple places) and New Zealand. Traffic laws in Taiwan are nearly identical to the US, just things like there's never right turn on red.

Since Korea is right hand drive it shouldn't be hard, in Asia the road signs and lines are usually very well done and make it easy, in fact Japan and New Zealand are not bad despite being left hand drive, because the roads are so well laid out. It's much easier than driving in Boston.