When you’re visiting Seoul or another city in South Korea, you’ll often be out exploring for many hours at a time.
Being away from your accommodation for many hours at a time, if not the whole day, means that you need to use a public restroom at some point.
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You can find public restrooms in Seoul in all subway stations, malls, and near many popular public sites like entrances to hiking trails, parks, and cultural sites. These restrooms are free to use and usually pretty clean.
Almost all restaurants and cafés also have a toilet for their customers to use, but you’re required to order something before you can use them or get the code for them. If there are no free public toilets nearby, you can order a small drink, etc., at a café and use their bathroom.
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Where to find public restrooms in South Korea
At some point, when you’re out exploring the cities of South Korea, you’re going to need to use the restroom.
If you’re not yet familiar with the country, you might have a hard time finding a public restroom to use, just like it can be hard to find places to throw away trash in public.
Here is a list of the most common places where you’ll find free public toilets in the cities of South Korea:
- Subway stations
- Malls
- Entrances to popular hiking trails
- Entrances to popular cultural sites
- Around large public parks
The public restrooms at these locations are free to use and vary in quality. Some are clean and of great quality, while some are a bit dirty and of poor quality. It’s just a bit random.
While not free to use, you can also find toilets at the following locations when you’re out and about:
- Restaurants
- Cafés
- Museums
To access the restroom at these locations, you are usually required to order something or purchase an entrance ticket. Sometimes, you also need to have a code for the toilet to enter it, which is given on the receipt when you order something.
The quality of the toilets you’ll find at the paid locations is usually higher, but it also depends on how nice a café, restaurant, or museum you visit.
In most cases, the most convenient option when you’re out and need to use the restroom is to go to the nearest subway station and use their restroom. They are usually pretty clean. If there are no subway stations or other public toilets nearby, I recommend going to a café, buying a small drink, etc., and using their toilet.
Most toilets in the larger cities of South Korea, like Seoul, Busan, and Daegu, have western-style toilets, but some older establishments have the, for most, unfamiliar squatty toilet/urinal.
If you cannot find any free public restrooms nearby from the list above and don’t want to pay, you can try to search either Kakao Maps or Naver Maps for “toilet” or in Korean “화장실”. This will show nearby public toilets.
That’s where you can find a public restroom in Seoul, South Korea!
Have any input or suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.