Shopping and tax refunds

The country's speciality: skincare, sheet masks, light sunscreens. Olive Young drugstores let you compare every brand; prices are well below those charged in Europe or North America.

Notebooks, pens, stickers, messenger-app characters: the big bookshops and stationery stores are Aladdin's caves.

Clothes by Korean designers in Hongdae and Seongsu, cheap ready-to-wear in the underground arcades. Sizes are small, and often one-size.

Patterned, at one or two thousand won a pair, at every market. The lightest and most appreciated souvenir.

Opticians make a pair to your prescription in thirty minutes to an hour, for a fraction of Western prices. Bring your prescription, or have your eyes tested on the spot.

Albums, photocards, official light sticks: in the specialist shops of Myeongdong and Hongdae, and in the agencies' own stores.

Hanji paper, celadon ceramics, mother-of-pearl inlay, fans, seals carved with your name. In Insadong, and in the excellent shops of the national museums.

Roasted seaweed sheets, teas, red ginseng, honey-butter almonds, instant noodles, flavoured soju. Supermarkets are the place.

Foreign visitors can reclaim part of the 10 per cent VAT on their purchases in shops displaying "Tax Free" or "Tax Refund". After the operator's fees, you generally get back 5 to 8 per cent of the price.

₩15,000 per purchase in a single shop.

In many chains the tax is deducted at the till on presentation of your passport, for purchases under ₩1 million each, up to ₩5 million in total over your stay. Nothing more to do.

Otherwise the shop gives you a slip. At the airport, scan your passport and slips at a kiosk before check-in, keep the items accessible in case of inspection, then collect the money after security, in cash or to your card.

Refund counters exist in department stores and some tourist districts. They take a card imprint as a guarantee.

Purchases must leave the country within three months. Keep your passport on you when shopping: a photo is not enough.