Things to do in Jakarta

Neighborhood · West Jakarta

The Dutch colonial old town around Fatahillah Square, with Indonesia's largest Chinatown immediately south of it.

Local tip: The square itself is a photo stop. Glodok is the reason to come — Petak Sembilan market, the Jin De Yuan temple and some of the best and cheapest food in the city. Go on a weekday morning; MRT Phase 2A will eventually put a station at Glodok, but not before the end of the decade.

Culture · East Jakarta

A 150-hectare park with a pavilion for every province — the entire archipelago's architecture in one afternoon.

Local tip: Openly a 1970s state project, and worth an afternoon anyway: it is the fastest way to understand how many Indonesias there are. Renovated for the 2023 ASEAN summit. Go early; it is enormous and there is no shade between pavilions.

Neighborhood · Central Jakarta

The 1910s garden suburb built for Dutch officials — wide streets, old trees, embassies and the city's best-preserved low-rise housing.

Local tip: Taman Suropati on a Sunday morning has free open-air chamber music practice, and Jalan Surabaya nearby is the antiques street. It is also the one part of central Jakarta where walking is genuinely pleasant, which is why it costs what it does.

Food · Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta

An ordinary wet market whose upper floor became the incubator for half of Jakarta's independent coffee and food scene.

Local tip: The ground floor still functions as a market — go there for produce and to see what things actually cost. The upstairs traders turn over constantly, which is the point; nothing there is more than a few years old.

Nature · Kepulauan Seribu, north of the bay

A scatter of small coral islands a two-hour boat ride from the city, with clear water once you get past the inner ring.

Local tip: Boats leave from Marina Ancol and, cheaper and rougher, from Muara Angke. The inner islands near the bay are not worth it — the water only turns clear from Pramuka and Macan outward. Book the return boat before you go; day-trippers get stranded.

Landmark · Central Jakarta

The Welcome Monument roundabout at the head of the boulevard that carries the MRT, the buses and most of the city's office towers.

Local tip: On Sunday mornings the whole axis closes to cars for Car Free Day until around ten — it is the one time the city's main road belongs to people, and the best free thing in Jakarta.