KoreaClear.
๐ŸŒ English โ–พ
โ€น Find travel answers

KoreaClear ยท Travel answer

How do I find a private guide or a car with a driver in Korea?

Short answer

Guides for foreign tourists must wear a 'tourist interpretation guide' licence card. A car-rental company may provide a driver for foreign renters. Official foreign-language taxis include Seoul's International Taxi and Jeju's Global Taxi, and Seoul offers free guided walking tours.

What to do
  1. Decide what you need: a guide, a car with a driver, or a taxi for the day.
  2. For a guide, check they wear a tourist interpretation guide licence card; for a tour, use a travel agency registered for foreign tourists.
  3. For a car with a driver, book through a car-rental company, or use an official foreign-language taxi.
  4. For a free option, book a Seoul guided walking tour at least 3 days ahead.

If that doesn't work

  • Problem with a guide or tour? Call 1330 or file a report at touristcomplaint.or.kr.
Check before relying on this
  • Arranging a driver for a rental car is only allowed by the rental company itself; private cars carrying paying passengers are illegal.
  • There is no public online tool to check a guide's licence; check the card they wear.
  • We don't recommend specific companies.
More details and examples Expand

At a glance

๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿซ Checking a guide โ†’ Tourist interpretation guide licence (national licence, issued by the Korea Tourism Organization) โ†’ Guides must wear the licence card while guiding โ†’ Agencies serving foreign tourists are registered as general travel agencies ๐Ÿš Car with a driver โ†’ A car-rental company may provide a driver directly to foreign renters (allowed by law) โ†’ Anyone else arranging a driver, or private cars carrying paying passengers: illegal ๐Ÿš• Official foreign-language taxis โ†’ Seoul International Taxi: foreign-language drivers; book at the airport information desk or on the official website โ†’ Hourly hire (mid-size): 3 h KRW 70,000 / 8 h KRW 160,000 / 1 day KRW 240,000 (tolls extra) โ†’ Jeju Global Taxi: Jeju-designated tourist interpretation taxi (English 1899-4314-1, Chinese -2, Japanese -3) ๐Ÿšถ Free official guided tours โ†’ Seoul Guided Walking Tours: free; Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese; book at least 3 days ahead โ†’ Namsangol Hanok Village free tours: 10:30 ยท 12:00 ยท 14:00 ยท 15:30 (closed Tuesdays) ๐Ÿ“ž If something goes wrong โ†’ 1330 Korea Travel Hotline (from abroad +82-2-1330) โ†’ Tourist Complaint Center touristcomplaint.or.kr (8 languages)

Sources and provider examples

External sources may use another language.

Sources last checked: . Rules, hours and services can change.