The Korean Bathhouse Guide for Foreigners

🚪Your first visit, step by step

The 9-step flow from shoe locker to checkout — exactly what to do and in what order.

🧖Nobody is staring

Why communal nudity here is ordinary and non-sexual — and why your anxiety disappears in a minute.

🤫Etiquette & unspoken rules

Wash first, no swimwear, towel out of the water, phones away. The handful of rules that matter.

🧴The 세신 body scrub

Korea's signature ritual: what it is, what to expect, what it costs, and how to ask for it.

🖋Tattoos: the real rules

Korea is far more relaxed than Japan — but a minority of venues still say no. How to play it safe.

💬Korean phrase cheat sheet

The exact words for the counter, the scrub and the door signs — Hangul, romanization and meaning.

₩Costs, hours & what to bring

What you'll actually pay, the night surcharge, opening hours and the one thing worth packing.

📜Why bathhouses matter here

130 years of history, ttae culture and 'skinship' — and why an up-to-date directory is worth having.