OUR DESTINATIONS
Let us help you find your perfect holiday by phoning us on
We offer holidays to the four corners of the globe. If you want specialist advise please phone our travel team and we will be happy to help.
Alternatively, check out some of our holiday offers below.
- Destinations
- Asia
- Indonesia
- Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is not a city for everyone but many find it an
inevitable stop on the way to more tranquil Indonesian
destinations. What has amassed is a decentralized sprawl of low
slung buildings amidst occasional high rise towers. With no central
Jakarta area it is difficult to experience the city's highlights
which are scattered about the enormous districts. Jakarta has a
reputation as a rich person's playground. Grungy streets contrast
to modern shopping complexes and examples of ostentatious wealth.
Visitors can enjoy a bit of this in garish nightclubs and elegant
restaurants. Travelling far in the city is laborious and adding to
the difficulty is heavy traffic and haywire street grids throughout
dense and stretching sprawl. Yet despite, or possibly because of,
Jakarta's reputation as a difficult city, little visited areas and
unique attractions feel like personal discoveries. Jakarta is a
boiled down representation of everything Indonesian giving visitors
a quick introduction or synopsis of the country's various and
incredibly diverse cultures, architecture, food, languages,
religions, and combined histories.
Information & Facts
Climate
Jakarta is regularly hot and humid despite the season with
fairly level temperatures between 82°F (28°C) and 95°F(35°C).
Humidity averages around 70 percent in the afternoon. Between
monsoon season months, late October to early May, there are usually
daily spurts of heavy rainfall often causing flooding in the city.
It seldom rains for the rest of the year.
Getting Around
Travel across Jakarta is often a combination of many forms of
transport. Commonly used is the Transjakarta, a modern bus system
that are allocated special street lanes to circumnavigate traffic
in the city centre. These are cheap and plentiful although going
long distances can become confusing when transferring. Other bus
lines are more crowded and less safe and do not run on a fixed
schedule. Taxis are abundant but can be expensive for longer rides.
Blue Bird taxis are the most trusted although there are many
impostors with questionable reputations. Many narrow street lanes
are better suited for ojeks, also known as motorbike taxis. Also
popular for shorter trips are three wheeled vehicles known as
bajaj. Be sure to bargain with both ojek and bajaj drivers before
accepting rides.
Language
Bahasa Indonesia is the official language, but many
dialects are spoken. English is widely understood in Jakarta and
tourist resorts.
Money
Rupiah (IDR) is the official currency and is divided into 100
sen. Foreign currency can easily be exchanged at banks, hotels and
money changers in major tourist destinations; US dollars is the
most accepted currency. Cash often yields a better exchange rate
than travellers cheques, which are not always accepted. It is
recommended that travellers cheques also be in US dollars. Most
major credit cards are accepted at hotels, restaurants and stores
catering to the tourist trade. ATMs are available in main centres.
Small change is often unavailable so keep small denomination notes
and coins for items like bus fares, temple donations and cool
drinks.
Time
Indonesia spans three time zones. GMT +7 (West, including
Java and Sumatra), GMT +8 (Central, including Bali, Sulawesi and
Lombok), GMT +9 (East, including Irian Jaya).