Jakarta
Jakarta is the second-largest urban area on earth after Tokyo, and parts of it are sinking twenty-five centimetres a year. Its great mosque was built deliberately facing the Catholic cathedral across the road.
Jakarta in a nutshell
Jakarta: what to expect
688,000+ stops in Indonesia are planned on Stippl, and this is the shape they make.
Jakarta is the city everyone tells you to skip, and the argument against skipping it is the food. Three hundred regional cuisines are cooked here at street prices, on Jalan Sabang and through Glodok, one of the oldest Chinatowns in Southeast Asia. Kota Tua is what is left of Dutch Batavia, the National Museum is the clearest explanation of the archipelago you will find anywhere, and Istiqlal, the largest mosque in the region, faces the Catholic cathedral across the road by design.
Jakarta is a one-way door into Java. Nearly seven in ten of the trips that include Jakarta begin there and only three in ten end there, the highest opening share of any place in the country. Half of all Jakarta stops are a single night. A room here runs €54.00, the cheapest bed our travellers log anywhere in Indonesia.
So take the night on the way in and spend it eating. Move on the MRT and the TransJakarta busways rather than in a taxi, because crossing the inner city at rush hour can take two hours, and a JakLingko card caps a multi-leg journey at ten thousand rupiah. Skip Jakarta if you want a beach or a view, because there is neither, and avoid November to March, when the city floods.
À qui Jakarta s'adresse
Food travellers, above all
300+ regional cuisines, Glodok's street food, Jalan Sabang, and prices that make the beach islands look expensive
History travellers
Batavia's colonial core, the National Museum, and a Chinatown older than most of the region's
Budget travellers
the cheapest logged bed in the entire Indonesian layer, and the country's cheapest onward flights
Java overland travellers
this is the western end of the island's circuit, and its rail network runs from here
Maybe not for you: anyone who wants a beach or a view: there is neither; anyone on a tight schedule, because the traffic will take it; anyone travelling November to March, when the city floods; and anyone expecting the Indonesia of the brochures: Jakarta is a megacity, and every source says so before it says anything else
Quand partir pour Jakarta
Dry season
May–September
our own data names May–September and the series supports it, with July and August the driest. September has the year's hottest maxima at 31.4 °C
Wet season
November–March
224–309 mm a month across 19–20 rain days. our own data's warning is about flooding, not rain, and in a city where 40% of the land is below sea level that is the right emphasis
- One publisher notes that even in the wet season you will never be cold, and recommends a waterproof rather than avoidance. Both readings are defensible; the flooding is the part that stops a day
- Ramadan and Idul Fitri are the calendar that matters here. Jakarta is Muslim-majority and empties dramatically for the Idul Fitri exodus, the mudik, when millions leave for their home towns. Transport is impossible and much of the city closes
- Chinese New Year is visible in Glodok in a way it is nowhere else in Indonesia
- Nyepi does not apply. That is Balinese Hindu and this is Java
- Indonesian Independence Day, 17 August, fills the city with street competitions and flags
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Things to do in Jakarta
Photo by Ravigopal Kesari via Unsplash
Photo by Affan Fadhlan via UnsplashKota Tua (Old Batavia)
Fatahillah Square and the surrounding Dutch colonial buildings, best at a weekend when the square closes to traffic
The National Museum of Indonesia
the country's principal collection, and the best single explanation of the archipelago you will find anywhere
Glodok
one of Southeast Asia's oldest Chinatowns: temples, herbalists, wet markets and street food
Street food on Jalan Sabang
a street given over to it, and our own data's own named recommendation
Monas, the National Monument
a 132 m obelisk topped with a 14.5 kg gold-plated flame, in the middle of Merdeka Square
Istiqlal Mosque and Jakarta Cathedral
Southeast Asia's largest mosque, facing a Catholic cathedral across the road, deliberately and by design
Les quartiers de Jakarta
Mangga Dua
One-night stops
The wholesale and market district near the old town, well connected by bus and rail
Our sources' recommendation for a single night, over sleeping near the airport.
Kota Tua (Old Batavia)
History
The Dutch colonial core in the north: Fatahillah Square, the old city hall, canals and museums, closed to traffic at weekends
The only part of Jakarta that looks like its own past.
Menteng and Cikini
art-lovers
The planned garden suburb the Dutch built for themselves, now embassies, villas and the city's art scene
Tree-lined streets, galleries and Taman Ismail Marzuki, in a city with very little of either.
Kemang and Senopati
foodies
The expat and dining quarter in the south: restaurants, bars and coffee, and the city's best eating outside the street stalls
Jakarta's restaurant scene at its densest.
Glodok (Chinatown)
Street food
One of the oldest Chinatowns in Southeast Asia: temples, herbalists, wet markets and the food that goes with them
The oldest and best street eating in the city.
Sudirman–SCBD
Convenience
The business spine: towers, malls, hotels and the MRT running under it
On the MRT, which in this city is worth more than a view.
See every Jakarta neighbourhood on one map
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Où loger à Jakarta
Choose by transport, not by neighbourhood character. In a city where crossing the centre can take two hours, being on the MRT or a TransJakarta corridor is worth more than any view. Our own data's own whereToStay splits it three ways: Sudirman/SCBD for convenience, Kemang for dining, Kota for the old town
Mangga Dua
€10–40
The wholesale and market district near the old town, well connected by bus and rail
Kota Tua (Old Batavia)
€10–50
The Dutch colonial core in the north: Fatahillah Square, the old city hall, canals and museums, closed to traffic at weekends
Menteng and Cikini
€30–120
The planned garden suburb the Dutch built for themselves, now embassies, villas and the city's art scene
Kemang and Senopati
€40–150
The expat and dining quarter in the south: restaurants, bars and coffee, and the city's best eating outside the street stalls
Glodok (Chinatown)
€10–45
One of the oldest Chinatowns in Southeast Asia: temples, herbalists, wet markets and the food that goes with them
Sudirman–SCBD
€50–250
The business spine: towers, malls, hotels and the MRT running under it
Que manger à Jakarta
Fried rice with kecap manis, egg and krupuk: Indonesia's national dish, and a Jakarta street staple
The Jakartan soto: beef in a coconut-milk and broth base with potato and tomato
Glutinous rice and duck egg cooked over charcoal on a flat pan into a savoury crust, a Betawi street dish that exists almost nowhere else
Blanched vegetables, tofu, tempeh and egg under peanut sauce
Rice steamed in coconut milk with pandan, served with a spread of sides
The Glodok tradition: noodles, roast meats and pork dishes in a Muslim-majority city
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Jakarta customs and what not to do
Etiquette follows the district
Jakarta is Muslim-majority and cosmopolitan at once. SCBD and Kemang are as relaxed as any capital; Glodok, the markets and the outer districts are not. Cover shoulders and knees away from the malls
Ramadan changes the rhythm
eating and drinking in public during daylight is avoided, and the city transforms after sunset. Idul Fitri empties it entirely
Shoes off at the mosques
remove them, and Istiqlal provides robes for visitors
Right hand, heads untouched
use the right for giving and receiving, and do not touch anyone's head, general Indonesian etiquette
Jakarta is not Bali
assuming it is, is the commonest visitor error. No canang sari, no sarongs, no Nyepi, a different island, religion and culture
À faire
- Ride the MRT and use JakLingko: it caps the fare at IDR 10,000
- Eat on the street rather than in the malls
- Go to Kota Tua at a weekend
- Book near an MRT station
- Check whether your dates hit Idul Fitri before you book anything
À éviter
- Don't plan more than two or three fixed appointments in a day
- Don't take a taxi across the city at rush hour if the MRT goes there
- Don't assume our sources are right about transport, the MRT has existed since 2019
- Don't visit November to March if you can avoid it
- Don't expect a beach
Budget quotidien à Jakarta
Budget
€13–26
Hostel dorm, street food and warungs, TransJakarta and MRT
Mid-range
€39–80
Business hotel on the MRT, restaurant eating, Grab
High-end
€130+
SCBD tower hotel, Kemang dining, a car and driver
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Anecdotes sur Jakarta
Jabodetabek covers about 6,392 km² and holds nearly 34 million people, the second-largest urban agglomeration in the world after Tokyo
Parts of North Jakarta are sinking by up to 25 cm a year, and roughly 40% of the city is already below sea level
Monas is topped with a flame clad in 14.5 kg of gold
Istiqlal Mosque, Southeast Asia's largest, was deliberately built facing Jakarta Cathedral
Kerak telor, a Betawi street dish of glutinous rice and duck egg cooked on a charcoal-fired pan, exists almost nowhere outside this city
Under Law 2/2024 Indonesia has two capitals: Jakarta the legal and economic one, Nusantara the political one
Conseils locaux pour Jakarta
MRT and TransJakarta
Use the MRT and TransJakarta, not taxis. This is our own data's own advice and it is the single most useful sentence in the record. The MRT opened in 2019 and runs the north–south axis; TransJakarta is the bus rapid transit network and covers far more of the city
JakLingko caps the fare
JakLingko is the fare system to know: it caps a multi-leg journey across MRT, TransJakarta and other modes at IDR 10,000 (about €0.60). MRT fares alone start at IDR 3,000 and rise by about IDR 1,000 per station. Payment is cashless
Best rail in Indonesia
Jakarta's rail links are the best in Indonesia and the reason it anchors the Java circuit: eight hours to Yogyakarta, and a high-speed line to Bandung
Traffic hits pedestrians
Traffic is the primary physical risk, and it is a pedestrian risk as much as a vehicle one. Our sources warn explicitly that drivers are not always alert and that pedestrian-priority assumptions do not hold. Pavements stop and start
Wet-season flooding
Flooding is the seasonal risk and it is severe. With about 40% of the city below sea level and parts of the north sinking up to 25 cm a year, wet-season flooding closes roads and districts rather than merely inconveniencing them
Jakarta questions, answered
As the way in to Java. Jakarta opens 68.00% of the trips it appears in on Stippl, more than any other Indonesian stop, because the long-haul flights land here and the overland run east starts here. Put the train to Yogyakarta into Stippl on the second morning.
Two nights for the food and the museums, and one is what most people give it. Travellers planning Jakarta on Stippl give it 1 night. Kota Tua, the national museum and one evening of street food is a fair account of two days here.
Every guide argues against skipping it, and 51.28% of Jakarta stops planned on Stippl are a single night regardless. The case for staying is the food, which is the best in the country, and the museums. The case against is the traffic, which is as bad as its reputation.
The MRT and the TransJakarta busway, with one card that caps what you pay across the network. Not taxis, and never at rush hour: the same journey can take four times as long. Motorbike taxis booked through the ride-hailing apps are how locals cross the city when they are in a hurry.
Yes, for now. It remains the legal capital and the economic centre while Nusantara, the new city being built on Borneo, takes on the political role. The move has been legislated and not yet implemented, so anything declaring the capital has already changed is running ahead of itself.
Yes, and fast. Parts of North Jakarta are subsiding by centimetres every year, groundwater extraction is the main cause, and a large share of the city already sits below sea level. It is the reason a new capital is being built, and it is visible if you walk the northern waterfront.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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