Ondol
온돌 · underfloor heating
The floor is the heating
Heat runs beneath the stone floor, so the warmest spot in January is where you lie. Many visitors say it is their best sleep in Korea, and it is why a hanok suits winter better than summer.
A letter on where to sleep
There are more ways to spend a night in Korea than you might think.
When I lived in Tulsa, I would sometimes drive four hours to Dallas just to shop at H-Mart. Driving back the same day was exhausting, and as a grad student I couldn’t bring myself to pay for a hotel. I was about to sleep in the car when I spotted a jjimjilbang, a Korean bathhouse. Inside, plenty of Americans were bathing and then settling down to sleep. It had quietly become a local favourite.
Looking back, a jjimjilbang is a wonderfully strange place. A hot bath, a cold glass of sikhye (식혜) afterwards, and a room full of strangers sprawled out asleep, and somehow it feels safe. (Keep your phone close, though. Ten years ago nobody would have picked up a sleeping person’s phone; I’m not so sure now.)
When you come to Korea, stay late at a jjimjilbang at least once, alongside a hanok, a pension or a night of glamping. Where you sleep can be part of the trip.
Jisup Shin
Korea’s traditional house
Sleep in a hanok, the way Koreans lived for centuries
A hanok is a traditional Korean house of wood, paper and clay tiles. Staying in one is less about the room and more about the house itself.
한옥 · Hanok
Wood, paper, stone
and an empty yard
Single-storey, timber-framed, built without nails, around a courtyard kept empty on purpose. Most are a century old with interiors rebuilt in the last twenty years: original frame, modern plumbing.
You sleep on a thick mattress on a floor warmed from below, and the morning light comes in softened by paper doors.
Per night₩120–300k
Book ahead2–6 weeks
Rooms per houseFour or fewer
Best seasonAutumn, then winter
Jungjeong
중정 · inner courtyard
The biggest room has no roof
Swept earth or pale sand, kept empty on purpose. It bounces daylight into the rooms and draws cool air through the house. Every door opens onto it.
Changho
창호 · paper doors & windows
Doors made of paper
Hanji over a wooden lattice lets light in and keeps wind out, but it carries every sound. Worth knowing before booking two rooms for a family.
Giwa
기와 · clay roof tiles
The roof is the silhouette
Clay tiles in alternating rows channel the rain and lift the eaves at the corners. The eaves block the high summer sun and let the low winter sun in.
Before you book
The bathroom is often across the courtyard, which is a different matter at 2 a.m. in January. Ask whether it is en suite; photos rarely show it.
There is no bed
A mattress on a heated stone floor is firm. Book it mid-trip rather than your first night, once you know how your back feels about it.
Doorways are low
Raised thresholds, low lintels and steep steps up to the 마루, and rarely a lift or ramp anywhere.
The other one you book from home
Templestay: a night in a temple that is still at work
A hanok is a house that has been preserved. A mountain temple never stopped working, and for one night you keep its hours.
템플스테이 · Templestay
Lights out at nine,
a drum at four
Around 140 temples run overnight programmes through the national scheme, about 30 of them in English. You get cotton work clothes, a mat on the floor, and the temple’s timetable.
A relaxed stay gives you the meals, the bell and the mountain, and leaves you alone. A structured stay puts you in the hall for the dawn service. The second is harder, and it is the one people remember.
Per person₩50–80k
Book ahead3–8 weeks
Wake-up04:00
Travel each way~2 hours
Saebyeok yebul
새벽 예불 · dawn service
The day starts in the dark
Before four, a monk walks the grounds striking a wooden moktak, and the great bell follows. Forty minutes of chanting in a cold hall, then total silence. The part nobody expects to like.
Baru gongyang
발우공양 · monastic meal
Four bowls, nothing left
Take only what you will finish, eat in silence, then rinse the bowls and drink the water. Vegetarian, with no garlic or spring onion.
Chamseon
참선 · seated meditation
Sitting still on purpose
Seated meditation, usually twice, thirty minutes each. Nobody expects you to be good at it. If you can’t sit cross-legged that long, ask for a chair.
Chadam
차담 · tea & talk
Tea, and questions
Green tea with a monk in the afternoon, the one part of the day that is a conversation. Ask anything; they will ask about you too.
The schedule is not a menu
On a structured stay, the dawn and evening services are not optional. If you want the mountain without the timetable, pick a relaxed stay.
It is far
Two hours each way from Seoul, often with a taxi from the last bus stop. Plan it as a whole day, not an overnight detour.
Shared rooms, no alcohol
Rooms are usually shared and split by gender, with mats on a heated floor. No alcohol or meat, and some temples take your phone at check-in. Bring socks.
And the other eight
Hotels, motels and more for the rest of the week
None of these needs booking before you land, and several can be booked on the day (in peak travel season, check ahead). Rates are for two people, one night, off-peak. Still choosing an area? See where to stay in Seoul by neighbourhood.
Hotel · 호텔
Business hotel
Small, spotless, two minutes from a subway exit. The safe choice if you would rather think about the city than the room.
₩90–150k
Motel · 모텔
Motel
Near every station, open all night, no booking needed. Big TV, deep bath, and usually no window.
₩50–80k
Guesthouse · 게스트하우스
Guesthouse
Dorm beds or tiny private rooms, toast for breakfast. Come for the common room; if you won’t use it, book elsewhere.
₩25–45k
Pension · 펜션
Pension
A whole house by the sea or in the hills, with a barbecue on the terrace. Priced per house, so best for four or more. You will need a car.
₩150–350k
Airbnb · 에어비앤비
Airbnb
A flat with a kitchen, often cheaper than two hotel rooms. Choose a registered listing; unregistered ones are the ones that get cancelled.
₩70–200k
Residence · 레지던스
Serviced flat
A kitchen and a washing machine in a residential building. Worth it from about five nights; ask for the weekly rate.
₩110–250k
Glamping · 글램핑
Glamping
A furnished tent or cabin in the hills or by a lake, with real bedding, heating and a barbecue set up for you. Camping without the gear. You will usually need a car, and weekends fill up weeks ahead.
₩120–250k
Jjimjilbang · 찜질방
Bathhouse floor
Not quite accommodation, but people sleep here: a shower, cotton shorts, a mat in a warm room. For a missed last train, or once, on purpose.
₩12–20k
Before you book
Questions about staying in Korea
Do I need to book a hanok stay in advance?
Yes. Most hanok have four rooms or fewer, so book two to six weeks ahead, and earlier for autumn weekends.
How much does a templestay cost?
About ₩50–80k per person for one night, meals included. Book three to eight weeks ahead; around 30 temples run programmes in English.
Can foreigners sleep in a jjimjilbang?
Yes. Entry is about ₩12–20k and includes a shower, cotton clothes and a mat in a warm room. Keep valuables in your locker.
Which places can I book after I arrive in Korea?
Business hotels, motels, guesthouses and jjimjilbangs can usually be booked the same day. In peak travel season, book everything ahead.
Journal — kinds of stay
Nights we have actually booked
Stays we booked ourselves, written up afterwards.
First stories coming soon.