Jakarta Travel Guide

Jakarta is Indonesia's capital and largest city, with about 10 million inhabitants, and a total 41.9 million in Greater Jakarta on the Java island, making it the largest city in Southeast Asia. Dubbed The Big Durian, an equivalent to New York's Big Apple, its concrete jungle, traffic frenzy, and hot polluted air may tempt you to skip the city as fast as possible, but what awaits inside will change your perspective! One of the most bustling and cosmopolitan cities in Asia, the J-Town has cheerful nightlife, vibrant shopping malls, a variety of foods, refreshing greenery, cultural diversity and a rich history, that caters to all levels of budget and how much fun you want to have.

Jakarta (JKTIATA) has two airports with scheduled flights:

Getting around Jakarta can be a challenge: traffic slows to a crawl for most of the day, the heat and chaotic streets make walking long distances impractical, and the public transport system has not kept up with the city's explosive growth.

A number of high-profile terror attacks in 2003, 2004, and 2009 have led to the city beefing up its security presence. An attack in 2016 specifically targeted foreigners, killing four. However, given the scale and population of the city, terror attacks are exceedingly rare and wayward traffic is a much more realistic threat. Security continues to be highly visible in the city, although checks are generally light and act more as a first layer of defense (that actively helped save lives in the 201

The travel agencies at Jakarta's airport can have surprisingly good rates for mid-range and above hotels. Star ratings are reserved for midrange and better hotels, while budget places have "Melati" rankings from 1-3 (best). Tax and service charges of 21% are usually added to the bill.