The capital of West Java, Bandung is fast becoming one of Indonesia’s more popular tourist destinations for visitors to the archipelago. The city resides amongst rugged volcano’s and lush rural lands with tea plantations. The influence of the Dutch is heavily felt in Bandung through it’s colonial art-deco architecture. The climate is cool and tropical and perfect for getting out and about to see the best of this city. If you are heading to Indonesia any time then do what I did last year and head to Bandung, there is much to do and see and honestly I was surprised with how much I loved it, here are the best things for you to do in this cool Indonesian city.
Pattenggang Lake
This beautiful still lake is in the south of Bandung in what is considered to be an area of outstanding natural tourism. The lake is surrounded by and exotic landscape of bright green pastures and rocky hillside, the lake sits at an altitude of over 1,700 metres above sea level so be careful when visiting as you may have difficulty adapting to the altitude.
Tangkuban Perahu
This epic volcano resides around 30 km north of Bandung and is absolutely worth a visit during your stay in the city. The name translates as the ‘upturning of a boat’ due to the monstrous crater that exists at the peak, you can scale the volcano with your tour guide and see it for yourself. At the top of the volcano you get some outstanding views of Bandung and some fantastic photo opportunities. There are plenty of tour operators offering trips to the volcano and many pick you up from the hotel like mine did. I was staying in the Bukit Dago Hotel during my stay and it was fantastic, if you want to follow in my footsteps then go to the site and check it out.
Check out the Architecture
The architecture in Bandung is great to visit, art-deco and neo-classical buildings heavily influenced by the colonial influences that the city has seen. Notable buildings worth visiting are the Gedung Statepublic building which was designed by a Dutch architect who was trying to replicate the Indonesian style. The result of which led to a neoclassical building that features grand rooms and halls and intricate carving around the building. Also worth visiting is the Villa Isola building, a Jetson’s style building that was original the house of a property tycoon, after serving as a hotel for a while the building is now used by the university. Despite the fact that it is still in use, you can still walk all the way around the curved building and even enter into some of it’s hallways and rooms. If you are a lover of architecture then Bandung is a great city for you to explore, there is far more than the aforementioned buildings to visit as well.