Korea Travel Blog

Part 1: Getting There

My first time out of Europe. Korean Air, direct flight, 11h to get to Seoul. And it’s going to be 13h to get back. I wondered why this was and learned about jet streams at a time I should have been focused on finding the best price.

December 1st, takeoff from Vienna.

Why not from Belgrade, Serbia - my home town?

Because all of my instincts pushed me towards a direct flight. It was either going to be from Budapest or Vienna. Budapest was more expensive for some reason. Vienna flight was ~550e which is an absolute steal for 2025 prices.

I did my research.

October is a big holiday in Korea and too crowded with travellers - expensive tickets. The closer you get to Christmas, again the more expensive the tickets get. Holiday season is also peak traffic and I had to time the return ticket to be right near the start of their school year. The best dates to travel with the cheapest tickets were end of November, beginning December. I picked a return ticket Dec 1st - Feb 22nd. 85 days total. It was The. Perfect. Choice.

I dodged the Middle East chaos starting at the beginning of 2026 (which everyone expected anyway). I avoided wasting time and potential complications with layover flights: Doha, Istambul, Dubai. These are the standard stops for Korean travellers to Europe.

I have friends in Vienna anyway and if none of them will have the time or space to take me in for a night, I'll just hang around the airport.

This wasn't my first time there. I knew from experience that Belgrade - Vienna bus transportation is exceptionally reliable. Border control might take more time or less time but it's routine for everyone.

We went there for the Christmas Market a year prior. 3 nights spent at a friend's house. Fun times, nice atmosphere, museums, mulled wine, more crowded than hell.

Vienna airport is really nice. Friends gave me a ride and I forgot my neck pillow in the car. I borrowed that one from my mom. Better not forget it on my way back home.

Korean Air is amazing. Food was great. English level was decent but there was a barrier once. They were handing out arrival cards in the plane and I had no idea what those things were for. I thought they needed me to fill out some infectious diseases statement or Covid history. They couldn't explain in English what that card is, but when I told them I filled out the electronic (K-ETA) permit, they just skipped me.

The movie choice was nice and the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner had window tinting on demand (several levels of tint, actually) to induce artificial night time while keeping the view available. Seemed like alien tech to me at the time.

After landing, most of the other passengers went into one row to pass immigrations, but I was guided (almost like they plucked me out) to another row which was almost empty. For a moment, I started to worry about why this was. Went through one checkpoint with a person and then automated checkpoints with cameras - no issues, no one person was in front of me. Zero waiting. This was amazing.

Vienna airport was nice. But Incheon is on another level. You exit the plane and move to the luggage area walking on carpets - no annoying luggage wheel sounds, actually no sound at all. It felt surreal.

I picked up my checked baggage from the conveyor belt and went straight towards the exchange office and the Telecom sales stations. There is no need to exchange more than a minimal amount of money because the airport rates are probably the most unfavorable in the country.

I bought a short-term SIM card with a 3-day package. There's only 2 options here anyway and it's the 2 biggest companies: SK and KT. If I wanted, I could pay the exorbitant prices here at the airport and not think about my phone for the next 3 months. My girlfriend (Korean) told me there's a better option in Seoul city center. Of course, Koreans always want the "optimal" choice. More on this later - there's definitely a tradeoff.

Luckily, their airport WiFi was decent.

Buying the bus ticket was straight forward - you have a choice to pay with cash or card. I bought a paper ticket with cash and went straight for the bus terminals station which were nearby.

The bus was almost empty and the chairs felt like lounge chairs - more comfortable than my work chair. Built-in USB chargers and pop-out leg rests, plus seatbelts.

Girlfriend (let's call her "Sunny" from now on) waited for me with a "Welcome Mr. {lastname}" sign at the bus stop. It really felt like I was in a movie.

She threw away the sign before we set off towards her apartment. Didn't even ask me if I wanted to keep it as a souvenir (I did). It was written in her own calligraphy - pretty impressive to everyone except her.

I have finally arrived to planet Seoul, after 8 hours travelling to Vienna by bus and 11 hours to Korea by airplane.