Jakarta travel guides & articles
All 7 in-depth pieces we’ve published on Jakarta — newest first.
What Jakarta's Commuter Line Shows You Between Beos and Bogor
One Red Line ticket, four centuries of Jakarta: from a Dutch trading company's terminus to a botanical garden 60km south, for less than the price of a coffee.
Where Jakarta's Fish Comes Ashore Before Sunrise
Before the rest of Jakarta wakes up, its north coast harbors are already running on fish, ice and cash. Here's where to see it, who it suits, and what it actually costs in 2026.
Jakarta's Food Hall Crawl: Mall to Mall in 48 Hours
A two-day route through ten of Jakarta's upscale mall food halls, from the grocerant format's birthplace at Plaza Indonesia to the residential quiet of Pondok Indah Mall — with honest notes on prices, crowds, and which stops actually suit a group.
The Thousand Islands: Jakarta's Weekend Archipelago Where the Megacity Dissolves into Coral and Clear Water
An hour off the coast of one of the world's most crowded megacities, the Thousand Islands trade traffic and haze for coral reefs, turtle nurseries, and overwater bungalows — with a cash-only ferry queue worth planning around.
Setu Babakan: The Betawi Village Inside the Megacity That Jakarta Forgot to Demolish
On the southern edge of Jakarta, a 289-hectare lakeside village still performs Betawi weddings, cooks kerak telor over coconut coals, and teaches the martial art hidden inside the ritual — proof the capital's indigenous culture never actually left.
The Best Contemporary Art Scene in Jakarta
From the state museum that curated Documenta 15's home collective to a gallery inside a bank tower, Jakarta's contemporary art scene rewards a slow, cluster-by-cluster visit rather than a single afternoon.
How Jakarta Eats on the Street
A morning-to-2am map of the warungs, carts and Chinatown alleys where Jakarta does its real cooking — what to order, what it costs, and which places suit a crowd.