How to Read the Noonchi Score: What Great, Good, Fair and Avoid Mean

Every attraction on Noonchi gets a Noonchi Score from 0 to 100. The higher the score, the less hassle you can expect if you go now: less traffic, smaller crowds and easier parking.

Ratings

If crowds, parking or traffic look likely to be close to full capacity, a place is capped at "Fair" (54 points) no matter how good everything else is. If any of them is moderately busy or worse, it is capped at "Good" (74 points). (This applies when that item is set to "Moderately" or higher under "What bothers you more?".)

What goes into the score?

Traffic, crowds, parking and weather are each assessed separately, then combined using the weights you choose under "What bothers you more?" (crowds count double). Because a simple average can hide one really bad factor, the score blends the average and the worst factor half and half.

1. Traffic

Using the Korea Expressway Corporation's traffic forecasts and historical congestion patterns by day of the week, public holiday and time of day, we predict how much longer the trip will take than usual (with no congestion) if you leave at the time you selected.

2. Crowds

The key input is the 30-day concentration rate forecast for each attraction, which the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) produces from mobile network data. We look at both how busy that day is compared with the place's own normal levels, and how many people tend to arrive around the time you'll get there.

3. Parking

We use the number of parking spaces listed in KTO's parking information, along with the size of nearby public and private car parks (from Korea's national car park database and Seoul's public car park data). We estimate how many cars will already be parked when you arrive and show it as "Parking should be fine", "Parking may be tight" or "About ○ min wait for parking". Wait times and the time a car park fills up are shown only where the number of spaces is confirmed. Where there is no parking information, we show "No parking info" and estimate from crowd levels instead.

4. Distance, weather and sunset

Closer places score higher. There's no deduction for trips of up to 20 minutes; beyond that, points are taken off progressively, up to 20 points for a 2.5-hour trip (with "Long distance" set to "Moderately"). If the Korea Meteorological Administration's short-term forecast calls for rain or snow, sub-zero temperatures or heat above 31°C, outdoor places get a weather deduction (though they also tend to be less crowded). Indoor places get no weather deduction, but on rainy days we assess their crowds and parking more strictly, since that's where everyone goes. For outdoor places where you'd arrive after sunset, we show a caution instead of a score. Places beyond your travel-time limit are left out of the list.

5. Popularity

Places that drivers often search for together with other attractions in Tmap, Korea's most widely used car navigation app (KTO's related-attractions data), are considered more "worth a visit". Noonchi's goal is to get you to well-known places while they're quiet, so popularity multiplies the score. The most-visited place in an area keeps its full quietness score, an average place gets about 70% of it, and a place only locals know about gets about 50%. That means a place almost nobody visits will never reach "Great" (75 points), however empty it is. The "Popularity" bar in the list shows how well known a place is, and setting "Lesser-known places" to "Don't mind" removes the popularity multiplier. Rankings are always sorted by score.

6. Opening hours and time to enjoy

If a place is closed for the day or already shut when you arrive, it drops out of the rankings. If there isn't enough time left before closing, its score goes down.

Limitations

The Noonchi Score is a reference value based on public data and forecasts. Sudden events, accidents and changes in the weather may be reflected late. We recommend checking once more just before you set off.