Naver Map for Visitors: Walking and Transit in English

A stream walkway between high-rise buildings in central Seoul at sunset

By YUNA, my pen name. I read the official pages, then tell you what I’d do.

Topic:

Last checked: November 2, 2026

Put Naver Map on your phone before you fly and plan every subway and bus ride with it. Korea’s culture ministry and the Korea Tourism Organization surveyed 1,232 foreign visitors from late October to early December 2023. For getting around during their trip, 56.2% used Naver Map and 33.9% used Google Maps.

Quick answer

  • 📱 App: NAVER Maps, Navigation, free, with English
  • 🚇 Best for: subway and bus routes with live arrival times
  • 📍 Search tip: paste the Korean name if English finds nothing

Setting it up in English

A street in Hongdae, Seoul, lined with low buildings and shop signs
A street of shops and signs in Hongdae, Seoul. Photo: Cecelia Chang on Unsplash

Search your app store for Naver Map. On Apple’s US store it’s listed as NAVER Maps, Navigation, by NAVER Corp., and it’s free. The listing names four languages: English, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese. On iPhone it’s a 498.6 MB download, so I’d get it on Wi-Fi before you leave home.

The app follows your phone’s language, Naver says, but you can also switch it yourself. Naver’s help page gives the path: tap your MY profile, then the Settings gear, then Language. On iPhone, that opens the phone’s own settings page for NAVER Map, where you pick English under Preferred Language. If Preferred Language doesn’t show up, the same help page covers that case.

A Naver official told the Korea Times in April 2025 that English data still has gaps in many places, so you’ll still see some Korean. Since October 2024, though, the app has translated reviews and search filters into English, which helps when you’re choosing where to eat.

Subway and bus directions: the reason to download it

A green neighborhood bus stop sign on a pole beside the Jongno Sports and Culture Center building in Seoul
A neighborhood bus stop sign by the Jongno Sports and Culture Center in Seoul. Photo: MonasteryInwang, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Transit directions combine subway and bus and show live departure and arrival times. Asia Business Daily reported in May 2025 that directions and transit information are shown in English.

To get alerts, enter where you’re starting and where you’re going, open the transit route you want, and start guidance from the route details. Naver’s help page says guidance then tells you when to get on and off, on city routes that use buses or the subway. On a long bus ride, I’d always turn on that get-off notification.

An update at the end of October 2026 merged the Transit and Navigation tabs into one and added real-time vehicle locations, so you can see where your bus is before you reach the stop. If you’re following an older guide with screenshots, that’s why the tabs look different.

Direction signs above the Line 2 platform at Jamsil Station on the Seoul subway
Platform direction signs at Jamsil Station on Line 2. Photo: 阿貴, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The same search bar finds places, bus numbers, and subway stations, so you can look up a bus by its number and check when your next one arrives before you leave your hotel. Naver’s English guide for visitors, Smart Shortcut to Explore Korea, published in December 2024, also lists subway maps and alternative routes among the transit tools.

The app plans the trip, and you still tap a transit card at the gate or on the bus. My Climate Card guide covers which card to buy for a week of rides.

Can you walk with it?

People walking along Insadong-gil in Jongno, Seoul, past low-rise shops and bare winter trees
Insadong-gil in Jongno, central Seoul, in March 2025. Photo: Epicgenius, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Yes. Search for the place, choose the walking route, and tap the start button on it for step-by-step guidance. Naver’s help page lists walking guidance for app version 6.7 and up on Android and 6.9 and up on iPhone, so a fresh download covers it.

Don’t plan around AR directions, which use your camera to point the way. Naver’s help page lists only a few places where they work: Naver’s own buildings, 1784 and Green Factory, and COEX, in its shared indoor areas and parts of the outside. On iPhone, AR also needs Motion & Fitness access.

That Naver official named building and place names among the gaps, so on foot, I’d match the Korean name on the shop sign with the one in the app.

I couldn’t find anything official on offline maps, so I’d plan on having mobile data the whole trip. My eSIM and SIM guide compares the ways to get it.

Why not just use Google Maps?

I found no report that Google Maps had launched walking and driving directions in Korea as of November 2.

On February 27, 2026, Korea approved Google’s request to take detailed 1:5,000-scale map data out of the country. The conditions were strict: security sites blurred, no coordinates shown, data handled through a partner’s server in Korea, and a local manager responsible for the map. The government said the data would leave the country only after it had checked that Google met those conditions.

On October 21, Bizwatch reported that Google still hadn’t submitted proof that it had met them, and that the service would wait for the government’s check.

Open Google Maps when you land to see whether walking directions have appeared. Either way, I’d keep Naver Map for subway and bus rides, for the live arrival times and the get-off notification.

What if English search finds nothing?

A narrow alley in Ikseon-dong, Jongno, with small low buildings on both sides
An alley in Ikseon-dong, Jongno, photographed in October 2020. Photo: S h y numis, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Paste the Korean name instead of typing an English one. In that 2025 Korea Times report, a foreign user said searching worked when a store’s Korean name was pasted in, but struggled when the English name was typed.

💡 Yuna’s tip

Copy the Korean name from the place’s own website or listing, and paste that into the search bar instead of guessing an English spelling.

Booking and paying: open to visitors, with limits

Naver’s booking service has taken reservations and orders from foreign users since June 19, 2025, at places that allow global bookings. Where a place asks you to pay up front, you can pay with a card issued abroad. Each business can turn global bookings off, and services that need adult verification, such as alcohol, stay closed to visitors, Naver’s help page for businesses says.

Since June 4, 2026, you can also verify your identity with a passport, so you can book, order, and pay without a Korean phone number. I couldn’t confirm which card brands work, so I’d keep a second way to pay.

Yuna’s pick

Crossing town by subway or bus: Naver Map, with the get-off notification on.

Walking around one neighborhood: Naver Map’s walking directions, or Google if its walking routes have arrived.

Booking a table: Naver, at places that accept visitor bookings, with a plan B.

Naver Pay and the Korea Tourism Organization also said in December 2025 that Naver Map would show which shops take NFC payments, such as Apple Pay and contactless cards.

Honest take

For a visitor, Naver Map is a transit app first. Booking and paying have improved since June, but I’d treat them as a bonus, not the plan for your dinner.

FAQ

Is Kakao Map better?

I’d start with Naver. In March 2025, Naver Map had about 27 million monthly users in Korea and Kakao Map about 12 million, by Mobile Index figures in the Korea Times. A Kakao official told the paper that its English place names may not always be standardized.

Do I need a Naver account for directions?

I couldn’t find an official rule. Passport sign-up is there for bookings and payments, so set it up at home only if you plan to book through Naver.

Does Naver Map cost anything?

No. The app is free on the App Store.

Download it at home, check that it opens in English, and search your hotel before you fly. If something here has changed, tell me on the Contact page and I’ll check it. Have a great first ride!

Hwaiting!

Yuna

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Sources and last check

How I put this guide together: from Naver’s own press releases and help pages, the Naver Map App Store listing, the Korea Tourism Organization’s survey, the Korean government’s notice on Google’s map data, and news reports, checked on November 1 and 2, 2026. Which app to use for what is my own read. Nothing here is sponsored, and Naver didn’t pay for or review it. More on how I research every guide is on the About page.

Last checked: November 2, 2026. Apps change often, so screens and features may differ from what’s described here. This is an independent guide, not affiliated with Naver, Kakao, or Google.

Sources:

Cover image: A stream walkway in central Seoul. Photo: Zequn Gui on Unsplash

Hi, I'm Yuna. I read the Korean-only fine print so your trip doesn't have to start with a puzzle, and then I tell you what I'd pick.

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