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Indonesia
🇮🇩 Indonesia
Gojek for everything that moves, cash for warungs, and a sarong for every temple.
Ready-made routes
Know before you go
The practical facts for Indonesia, at a glance.
Currency
Indonesian rupiah (IDR)
roughly Rp16,500 to US$1 — drop three zeros and divide by 16.5 for a quick read
Tap to pay
Mixed. Cards and Apple Pay work in hotels, malls and chains, but much of daily life runs on cash and QRIS codes most foreign cards cannot scan.
Power
Type C / F (two round pins, as in most of Europe)
230V, 50Hz
Tap water
Do not drink tap water anywhere. Drink bottled or refill water; many hotels and cafés have refill stations. Ice in restaurants and cafés is normally factory-made.
Tipping
Not expected, but welcome. Many restaurants add tax and service to menu prices (shown as “++”), so the bill can be 15–21% higher than the menu. Round up for drivers; Rp10,000–20,000 for good service.
Emergency
Police 110 · Ambulance 118
112 · Works with no SIM, no signal
Best months
April–October, the dry season; May, June and September are quieter than the July–August peak
Entry requirements
Most visitors (US, UK, EU, Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea and others) buy a Visa on Arrival: IDR 500,000 for 30 days, extendable once for another 30. Buy it beforehand as an e-VOA at evisa.imigrasi.go.id to skip the queue. ASEAN passports enter visa-free for 30 days. Your passport needs six months’ validity and you need an onward ticket. Everyone also completes the free All Indonesia arrival card in the 3 days before landing, and Bali adds a separate IDR 150,000 tourist levy.
Paying in Indonesia
Mixed. Cards and Apple Pay work in hotels, malls and chains, but much of daily life runs on cash and QRIS codes most foreign cards cannot scan.
Tap to pay works
Hotels, malls and international chains
Larger restaurants, cafés and beach clubs in Bali
Jakarta MRT gates (contactless Visa and Mastercard)
Grab and Gojek, with your card added in the app
Carry another way to pay
Warungs, street food and small shops (cash or QRIS)
Temple donations, sarong rental and parking attendants
Markets and most taxis other than Bluebird
TransJakarta buses and KRL trains (e-money card only)
Jakarta’s MRT gates take a contactless Visa or Mastercard, but TransJakarta buses and KRL commuter trains want a JakLingko or bank e-money card. Bali has no metro: you ride Grab, Gojek or a hired driver.
Apps to download
The apps people in Indonesia actually use, in the order to set them up.
e-VOA (official visa website)
IDR 500,000 (about US$31)
Critical
The official online Visa on Arrival. Buying it before you fly skips the payment queue at the airport and lets you use the e-gates.
Before you fly
All Indonesia
Free
Critical
The free official arrival card. It replaced the separate customs and health forms, and you show its QR code at immigration and customs.
Before you fly
Love Bali
IDR 150,000 (about US$9) per person
Important
Bali’s official site and app for the IDR 150,000 tourist levy, paid once per visit. Pay before you land and skip the counters in arrivals.
Before you fly
Gojek
Free app; short rides from about Rp10,000
Critical
Motorbike and car rides, food delivery and parcels in one app, at prices shown before you book. The green-jacketed drivers are everywhere.
Grab
Free app; prices shown before you book
Critical
The other ride app, in English throughout, with an official lounge in Bali airport arrivals. Have both: when one has no driver nearby, the other often does.
WhatsApp
Free
Critical
How Indonesia talks. Villas, drivers, guides and restaurants take bookings and send directions on WhatsApp, often instead of email.
Before you fly
Google Maps
Free
Important
The best map for walking and for finding warungs, with reviews from locals. Download offline maps before you go; signal drops in the hills.
Before you fly
Access by KAI
Free app; Jakarta–Yogyakarta executive class roughly Rp400,000–650,000
Important
Indonesian Railways’ own app for intercity trains, including Jakarta to Yogyakarta, and the Yogyakarta airport train.
Google Translate
Free
Important
Away from Bali’s tourist strip, signs and menus are in Bahasa Indonesia. Point the camera at a menu to read it.
Before you fly
Airalo
About US$11 for 10GB / 30 days
Important
An eSIM installed at home, so Gojek, Grab and WhatsApp work the moment you land.
Before you fly
Step-by-step setup for each app is in the iPhone app.
First 60 minutes after landing
1
Have your e-VOA and All Indonesia QR ready
Immigration checks the visa, then customs scans the All Indonesia QR code. Screenshot both before you land; airport wifi is slow.
2
Bali: pay the tourist levy if you have not
IDR 150,000 per person, in Love Bali or at the counters in arrivals. Keep the voucher QR.
3
Get rupiah from a bank ATM inside the terminal
Rp500,000–1,000,000 covers the first days of small payments. Use a bank-branded machine and decline the currency conversion.
4
Only take an app ride or an official taxi
Ignore “transport?” offers in the hall. In Bali book from the Grab lounge; in Jakarta take the airport train or the Bluebird queue.
5
Buy a SIM only at the operator’s own counter
Or turn on the eSIM you installed at home. Tourist SIM kiosks charging IDR 300,000 or more are a common airport trap.
Where to stay in Indonesia
3 cities
Bali
Temples, rice terraces and surf. Most visitors split their stay between Ubud in the hills and the south coast: Seminyak, Canggu or Uluwatu.
Watch out for
There is no public transport to speak of. Grab and Gojek are cheap, but some villages and parts of Ubud and Canggu do not allow app pickups; walk to the main road or book a local driver.
Pay the IDR 150,000 tourist levy in Love Bali before you land, or at the counters in arrivals. Children pay too.
Renting a scooter needs an International Driving Permit that covers motorbikes. Police checkpoints in Canggu, Seminyak and Ubud fine riders without one, and travel insurance is usually void.
Jakarta
The capital: a sprawling megacity of malls, street food and the old Dutch quarter, with a new MRT line that makes the centre easy.
Watch out for
Traffic decides your day. Take the MRT, KRL commuter trains and TransJakarta buses when you can; five kilometres by car can take an hour at rush hour.
Take only Bluebird taxis or app rides. Unmarked “taxi” offers at the airport and the big stations overcharge.
Buy a JakLingko card (about Rp50,000 at stations and Indomaret) for TransJakarta and the KRL. MRT, LRT and TransJakarta together are capped at Rp10,000 within three hours.
Yogyakarta
Java’s cultural heart: the Sultan’s palace, batik and street food, with Borobudur and Prambanan each about an hour away.
Watch out for
Climbing Borobudur itself needs a separate timed ticket with a daily limit. Book it online as soon as your dates are fixed; the grounds ticket alone does not let you onto the monument.
The airport (YIA) is about 45km west of the city. The airport train to Tugu station is cheap and takes about 40 minutes; a car takes an hour or more.
Becak (cycle rickshaw) riders on Malioboro offer cheap “tours” that end in batik shops. Agree the price and say no to shop stops before you sit down.
Getting around
Bali Airport (DPS) → Seminyak or Ubud
No train or metro. Seminyak is close; Ubud is an hour or more.
Grab from the arrivals lounge
Book at the official Grab lounge in arrivals; the driver meets you at the signed pickup lane. A small airport fee is added.
Roughly Rp120,000–350,000, quoted before you book
Seminyak 30–60 min; Ubud 1–1.5 hr
Hotel or villa pickup
Book through your accommodation on WhatsApp. The driver waits with a name sign outside arrivals.
Agreed in advance
Same as above
Airport taxi counter
Pay at the official counter in arrivals and take the ticket to the car.
Fixed price, a little more than Grab
Same as above
Jakarta Airport (CGK) → city centre
About 30km, and traffic is the problem.
Airport train to BNI City (Sudirman)
Skytrain from your terminal to the airport station, then the train to BNI City, next to the MRT and KRL at Sudirman. Buy at the machines.
About Rp70,000
About 45–55 min
Bluebird taxi
Official Bluebird queue outside arrivals. Make sure the meter is on.
Metered, plus toll roads
45 min to 2 hours, depending on traffic
Grab or Gojek car
Use the signed app pickup points at each terminal.
Quoted in the app, plus tolls
45 min to 2 hours
Yogyakarta Airport (YIA) → city
The airport is about 45km west of town.
Airport train to Tugu station
The station is connected to the terminal. Buy at the machines or in Access by KAI; Tugu is next to Malioboro.
About Rp20,000
About 40 minutes
Grab or taxi
From the signed pickup area outside arrivals.
Quoted in the app
1 to 1.5 hours
Jakarta → Yogyakarta
Train or a one-hour flight.
Executive-class train
From Gambir or Pasar Senen to Yogyakarta (Tugu). Argo Dwipangga runs by day; Taksaka overnight. Book in Access by KAI or Traveloka.
Roughly Rp400,000–650,000
About 6–8 hours
Flight
Jakarta to Yogyakarta (YIA). Allow for the long trips to both airports.
Varies; often similar to the train
About 1 hour in the air
Getting around Bali
Apps for short hops, a driver for day trips.
Grab or Gojek
Car or motorbike, priced up front. Walk to a pickup point where villages ban app pickups.
Short rides from about Rp10,000
Depends on traffic
Private driver for the day
Book through your accommodation or a recommended driver on WhatsApp. Agree the hours, the route and whether fuel and parking are included.
Roughly Rp600,000–900,000 for 8–10 hours
Your schedule
Rented scooter
Only with an International Driving Permit that covers motorbikes, a helmet, and experience riding in traffic.
Roughly Rp70,000–100,000 a day
Your schedule
Getting around Jakarta
Rail where you can, apps where you cannot.
MRT
Tap a contactless Visa or Mastercard, or a JakLingko card, at the gate. One line north–south through the centre.
About Rp3,000–14,000
Fast, air-conditioned, every few minutes
TransJakarta bus
Tap a JakLingko or bank e-money card; bank cards and cash are not taken.
Rp3,500 flat
Dedicated lanes on most corridors
Grab, Gojek or Bluebird
Motorbike rides are much faster than cars at rush hour.
Quoted or metered
Traffic-dependent
Staying connected
Yes — a carrier-locked phone cannot use a local SIM or eSIM
Airalo
Indonesia
10GB · 30 days · US$11
Data only. Good in Bali, Jakarta and Yogyakarta; patchy in the mountains and on small islands.
Telkomsel
Tourist SIM at the airport counter
About 25GB · 30 days · US$10
Best coverage in the country, and a local number for restaurants and villas. Buy only at the official Telkomsel counter, which registers your passport; kiosks asking IDR 300,000 or more are overcharging. A phone bought abroad works on an Indonesian SIM for up to 90 days.
When to go
Best months
April–October, the dry season; May, June and September are quieter than the July–August peak
Hardest months
December–February for the heaviest rain and the Christmas peak in Bali. Nyepi, Bali’s Day of Silence in March or April, closes the whole island, airport included, for 24 hours.
Languages
Bahasa Indonesia (everywhere, and easy to pick up a few words of), Balinese and Javanese at home in Bali and Java, English widely in Bali’s tourist areas, much less in Jakarta and Yogyakarta
Getting it right socially
Cover shoulders and knees at temples. In Bali a sarong and sash are required, and lent or rented at the gate.
Give, take and eat with your right hand; the left is considered unclean.
Do not point with a finger or your foot. Gesture with your thumb, or your whole open hand.
Step around the small offerings (canang sari) on the pavement rather than over them.
Dress more modestly in Jakarta and Yogyakarta than at Bali’s beaches, and keep affection in public low-key.
Ready-made routes
Java and Bali in 10 days
10 days · about US$70 a day
Jakarta’s old town, the temples around Yogyakarta, then Ubud’s rice terraces and the cliffs of the south — one train and one short flight.
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