How to Ride the Seoul Subway: The Complete Guide
Last verified: 2026-10-01. Rules and prices change — always confirm on the official site before you travel.
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The Seoul subway is one of the easiest systems in the world to ride once you know four or five things nobody explains on the platform. None of them are hard. All of them are the kind of thing a local learned once, years ago, and forgot they ever had to learn.
What the colors mean
Every line has a color and a number, and both appear everywhere — on maps, on platform signs, on the trains themselves. You do not need to memorize this; you need to know it exists, so a colored line on a map means something specific rather than just decoration.
Fares and how to pay
A single ride starts at ₩1,550 with a T-money card, covering the first 10 km — every 5 km after that adds about ₩100. Paying with a disposable single-journey ticket costs slightly more and adds a step: buy it from a vending machine, pay the fare plus a ₩500 deposit, tap in and out with it like a card, then feed it into a deposit refund machine near the exit gates to get your ₩500 back. Skip that step and the deposit is simply gone. The instructions printed on the back of the card also say it works on trains only — not on buses or the GTX express line — so it is no help once you leave the station.
For anyone staying more than a day or two, a T-money card is the better default — ₩4,000 to buy (unrefunded), sold at convenience stores and station machines, and it works on every subway line, every city bus, and most taxis nationwide, not just in Seoul.
Topping up a T-money card
Recharging is cash-only at a convenience store: hand your card to the cashier at any GS25, CU or 7-Eleven and say “chungjeon haejuseyo” (충전해주세요) — “please recharge this.” Minimum ₩1,000, maximum ₩90,000 per transaction, in ₩1,000 steps, and there is no fee — every won you hand over lands on the card. Station machines do the same job with an English menu, if you would rather avoid the Korean — but bring cash. On the Seoul Metro machines we photographed in September 2026, a sticker says card payment is accepted only for topping up a Climate Card, not an ordinary T-money card.
An unlimited-ride option: the Climate Card
Seoul’s Climate Card (기후동행카드) is a flat-price pass: pay once, then ride Seoul’s subway and Seoul city buses as often as you like for the days you paid for. The version built for visitors is the short-term pass, and it is still on sale:
- 1 day
- ₩5,000
- 2 days
- ₩8,000
- 3 days
- ₩10,000
- 5 days
- ₩15,000
- 7 days
- ₩20,000
Where it works: every subway line inside Seoul, and Seoul-licensed city, village and late-night buses. It does not cover the Shinbundang Line, the GTX, subway stations outside Seoul, express red buses or airport buses. One trap is worth knowing: if you board inside Seoul and get off at a station outside it, the pass doesn’t apply and staff collect that trip’s full fare at the exit gate. Incheon Airport is the one exception — you can ride the airport line out and get off at Terminal 1 or 2, but you can’t board there on the pass. Ttareungyi bikes and the Han River Bus aren’t included in the short-term passes.
How the days count: the pass starts on the day you load it (you can’t load it in advance) and runs from the first train that morning to the last train of the final day.
Getting one: Android phones can carry it in the Mobile T-money or Samsung Wallet app. iPhone users need the physical card, ₩3,000, from the newer ticket machines at Seoul Metro Line 1–8 stations, then load it at the station top-up machines with cash or a card. Register the physical card on the T-money Card & Pay website — without registration there are no refunds.
Is it worth it? At ₩1,550 a ride, the 1-day pass pays for itself on your fourth separate trip of the day, and the 3-day pass around your seventh trip over three days. Count trips rather than vehicles: a transfer within the window below is already priced as part of one trip on an ordinary T-money card. If you’re mostly walking a single neighborhood, a T-money card is still the cheaper default.
If you saw the 30-day version recommended elsewhere: Seoul ended the 30-day Climate Card on 1 October 2026. Its replacement, the Climate Companion Pass (기후동행패스), is for Seoul residents only — the short-term passes above are the ones open to visitors. Refunds are possible only within the pass’s own validity period, minus what you’ve actually ridden and a ₩500 fee, and visitors without a Korean bank account have to collect theirs in cash at T-money’s head office. In practice, pick the length you will actually use rather than counting on a refund.
Finding your way inside the station
Exits are numbered, usually starting from 1 near the station’s main entrance and running roughly clockwise. Every sign, every map app direction and every address near a subway stop refers to these numbers (“Exit 3,” “Exit 6”) rather than compass directions — worth noting the number before you go looking for a landmark on the surface.
Platforms mark where the doors will open. Painted numbers and lines on the platform floor show where each car will stop and where its doors will be, so the queue lines you see people standing in are not random — they are lining up for a specific door on a specific car.
Restrooms are not always past the gate. Whether a station’s toilet sits before or after the ticket gates varies station to station, and even differs between lines at the same transfer station. If yours is on the wrong side, Seoul Metro’s own rule (in effect since July 2023) lets you tap out, use it, and tap back in within 10 minutes at the same station and same line with no extra fare charged.
Hours, rush hour, and the last train
Most lines start around 5:30 AM and the last trains reach their final stop around midnight — but this varies by line, station and direction, so check the exact time for your specific trip rather than assuming a fixed cutoff. Missing makcha (막차), the last train, is a common and entirely avoidable way to end a night early; both Naver Map and Kakao Map show it on the same screen as the next arrival.
Morning rush runs roughly 7:30–9:00 AM and evening rush 5:30–8:00 PM on weekdays, worst on Line 2 through Gangnam and Sadang, Line 9’s express trains, and Line 1 through Seoul Station. Monday mornings and Friday evenings are the two times to actively plan around if you can.
Transfers
Switching between subway lines inside the paid zone, without exiting through a gate, doesn’t start a new fare — however many lines you use, you’re charged once, by total distance. Switching between subway and bus, or bus and bus, works almost the same way through the Seoul area’s integrated fare system: board the next vehicle within 30 minutes of tapping off the last one (60 minutes if you board between 9 PM and 7 AM) and you don’t pay a second base fare. The whole journey is priced as one trip — the base fare covers the first 10 km, then about ₩100 per extra 5 km. It isn’t free, but it’s close. The discount stretches to four transfers — five rides — in one trip, and doesn’t apply if you get back on the same bus route.
The catch is that you must tap your card on the way out, not just the way in — skip that and you lose the transfer discount and the system treats your next ride as a fresh trip. Since March 2026 this rule got sharper on the Seoul subway specifically; our piece on the tap-out change covers exactly what changed and what it costs you if you miss it.
Etiquette
Seats near the ends of each car are priority seating (노약자석) for elderly, pregnant, and disabled passengers — sitting there as an able-bodied rider under sixty draws real disapproval, even in an empty car. Phones stay on silent or on vibrate. Eating and drinking inside the train is frowned on outside a sealed bottle of water. And despite years of “stand on both sides” campaigns on escalators, the habit of standing right and walking left has not gone away — follow it unless the platform’s own signage says otherwise.
If you lose something
Seoul Metro runs five lost-and-found centers, split by line pair, open weekdays 9 AM to 6 PM only — closed weekends and public holidays:
- Lines 1–2
- Seoul City Hall Station · 02-6110-1122
- Lines 3–4
- Chungmuro Station · 02-6110-3344
- Lines 5–8
- Wangsimni Station · 02-6311-6765 / 6768
- Lines 6–7
- Taereung Station · 02-6311-6766 / 6767
- Line 9
- Sports Complex Station · 02-2656-0930
You can also report a loss by phone through 182, or through Seoul Metro’s general line, 1577-1234. The centers hold items by the date and approximate time you lost them, not by station alone, so having both ready speeds things up considerably.
Luggage
Standard coin lockers run roughly ₩2,000–5,000 depending on size, in ₩1,000 steps for shorter windows at some stations, and only operate during subway hours — you cannot retrieve a bag after about midnight. Large suitcases, 27 inches and up, often will not fit the standard compartments. Seoul Metro’s newer T-Locker network covers over 270 stations with more than 5,500 lockers system-wide, letting you check availability and in many stations reserve a locker in advance through the Seoul Metro app rather than hoping one is free when you arrive.
The short version
- Base fare
- ₩1,550 with T-money for the first 10 km, about ₩100 per 5 km after
- T-money card
- ₩4,000, unrefunded, works on bus and most taxis too
- Top up
- Cash — GS25 / CU / 7-Eleven, ₩1,000–90,000 per transaction, or station machines
- Unlimited rides
- Climate Card short-term pass, ₩5,000 (1 day) to ₩20,000 (7 days), Seoul only
- Operating hours
- Roughly 5:30 AM to midnight — varies by line and station
- Rush hour
- 7:30–9:00 AM and 5:30–8:00 PM weekdays; Line 2, Line 9 express, Line 1 worst
- Transfers
- Within 30 min (60 min, 9 PM–7 AM), up to 4 transfers — no second base fare, must tap out
- Lost something
- 182, or the line-pair center above — weekdays only, 9 AM–6 PM
Getting there
A Korean eSIM makes every part of this easier — Naver and Kakao Map both show live train position, which car to stand at for your transfer, and the last-train cutoff on the same screen. Arriving from the airport, our Incheon arrival guide covers where a T-money card fits into that first hour. The same card carries straight over to buses and Ttareungyi for the parts of a trip the subway doesn’t reach, and to intercity buses once you’re heading out of Seoul entirely — a taxi is the one mode that doesn’t share the same fare system.
Quick answers
How much is a Seoul subway ticket?
What time does the Seoul subway stop running?
Do I need to tap out when I leave the subway?
Where do I recharge a T-money card?
Is the Seoul Climate Card still available?
How many free transfers do you get in Seoul?
Checked 5 September 2026; transfers, top-up and Climate Card sections rechecked 1 October 2026. Transfer window, the four-transfer limit, the same-route exception and distance pricing from the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s integrated transfer discount page (an earlier version of this guide said five transfers; that was wrong). Climate Card short-term prices, coverage, exclusions, card purchase and refund rules from Seoul’s Climate Card page (updated 28 September 2026), and the end of the 30-day pass and the residents-only Climate Companion Pass from its 30-day pass closure FAQ. The card-payment sticker and the single-journey card’s trains-only rule are from our own photos, taken on the Seoul subway in late September 2026. Base fare, T-money card price and the distance-based add-on from Seoul Metro’s own fare page and current 2026 fare-comparison guides, reflecting the June 2025 fare increase from ₩1,400 to ₩1,550. Convenience-store recharge limits and the cash-only rule are consistent across current T-money guides. Line colors from Seoul Metro’s own signage and route maps. The July 2023 free re-entry rule for out-of-gate restrooms, and the March 2026 tap-out change, are covered in more detail in our tap-out piece. Lost-and-found center locations and phone numbers from Seoul Metro’s own lost-and-found information page. Rush-hour times and the most crowded lines from current Seoul Metro congestion reporting. Coin locker pricing and the T-Locker station count from current Seoul Metro locker guides. Fares, hours and locker availability change — confirm on Seoul Metro’s own site before you travel.