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Capital city of West Java, Indonesia
Photo: Prayudi Setiadharma, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Bandung is the capital city of West Java province, and the third largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta and Surabaya. Nicknamed Parijs van Java (Paris of Java) by the Dutch for its resemblance to Paris and European atmosphere back in colonial times, it is locally called Kota Kembang, literally meaning the Flowery City because Bandung had a lot of flowers in the colonial era and republic era up to the early 1960s.
Bandung's city centre, with at its heart the Alun-alun lawn square. The district includes part of the historic Great Post Road (Jalan Asia Afrika), along which Bandung was established, and the main railway station.
Colonial era villas, government buildings, and the ITB university complex along Jalan Dago that runs from the city centre up to the hills. This is the centre for factory outlets, restaurants, and cafés with city view.
Ample opportunities for shopping, from the Jalan Cihampelas 'jeans street' to the extensive Paris Van Java shopping mall. Northwest Bandung also includes the main road into the mountains of Lembang, and the airport.
Vast residential areas on Bandung's southern plain. A highlight for travellers is Trans Studio Mall, housing one of the biggest indoor theme parks in the world.
More residential areas. Saung Angklung Udjo, a cultural centre with traditional Sundanese music performances, is in this district. Many hotels and restaurants are located here along the street of Jalan Riau and Jalan Supratman.
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Villages around Bandung host ram fights on alternate Sundays. It's a big event for locals who turn out in their hundreds to watch 5-minute bouts between prize fighter male sheep. Tournaments are held in purpose-built rings in outlying villages. Best to hire a motorbike/guide in Bandung who knows when and where the next tournament is on. Ram fighting is not a blood sport but animal lovers may be upset at the sight of the fights, which are organized and refereed rather like boxing matches.
Begins at Puncrut, Jl. Kiputih, North Bandung. For beginners or who save the stamina, it is better to go to Ledeng first and continue to Lembang by angkot and ask people to go down to Puncrut.
By plane
In 2023, all jet flights from Bandung were transferred to Kertajati International Airport (KJT), inconveniently located almost 90 km by road from Bandung in the town of Majalengka.
By bus
Bus services connect Bandung and smaller surrounding cities. Several long-route buses are also available from major big cities.
By car
Despite their location being at higher altitudes than most big cities in Indonesia, Bandung experiences more and more flood every year due to lack of proper drainage system, combined with frequent…
By train
Indonesia's first high-speed railway (kereta cepat), Whoosh, links Jakarta-Halim to the outskirts of Bandung in as little as 30 minutes, with feeder train service to Bandung city center in 18 minutes.
By angkot
This option has only origin and destination names on top, sometimes with a description of which street they pass if there is more than one angkot route for a certain origin-destination route.
By taxi
Bandung is known for heavy traffic congestion, especially on weekends.
By online ride hailing apps
Online taxis, such as GrabCar and GoCar (from Gojek), are abundant, with pickups generally within 10 minutes from booking.
By bus
There are a number of bus companies but they don't cover the whole city due to many narrow streets in Bandung.
By car
Using a car is probably the easiest and the most convenient way to travel around Bandung and surrounds, but daily severe traffic jams should be considered.
By motorcycle
Motorcycle rental is relatively new in Bandung, so the rental price is higher than in Bali and these services are still limited due to relatively high motorcycle thefts in Bandung, so the rentals…
By ojek
There are two types of motorcycle taxis (or ojek) in Bandung, conventional ojek, where ojek drivers flock/stay at certain place, wait for passengers and sometimes the tariff isn't fixed.
On foot
Bandung has nice pavements, newly-renovated as of 2018, with tactile paving or truncated domes for the visually impaired, from Dago/Jalan Ir. H.E. Martadinata.
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Bandung · Regional · BDO
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