Bandung: the cool colonial city above the Java plain

Bandung sits in a bowl of volcanoes at 768 metres, which is the whole explanation for the city's character. The Dutch built it as a hill station for coffee and tea planters, filled it with art deco offices and villas, and gave it the nickname Paris van Java. A century later the colonial core is still there, the air is still ten degrees cooler than Jakarta, and the surrounding highlands still supply most of Java's vegetables and milk.

It is also a working Indonesian city of two and a half million people, not a museum. Braga Street has been restored, but the traffic on Jalan Asia Afrika is real, the weekends bring Jakarta's cars up the toll road, and the best food is in shophouses rather than in the colonial buildings. Treat Bandung as a base for the highlands and a place to eat, and it rewards you.

Why Bandung is cool, literally

The city lies on a former lake bed, surrounded by the Tangkuban Perahu, Burangrang and Malabar volcanoes. That elevation is why the Dutch moved their planters' headquarters here in the nineteenth century and why the city still fills with domestic tourists escaping the coastal heat. Mornings are fresh, afternoons bring rain in the wet season, and nights can be cold enough for a jacket.

The other reason to know the city is its role in modern Indonesian history. The 1955 Asia-Africa Conference met at Gedung Merdeka on Jalan Asia Afrika, bringing Sukarno, Nehru, Nasser and Zhou Enlai to a city that had been a colonial resort. The conference is the founding moment of the non-aligned movement, and the museum inside the building is one of the most interesting in Java.

Braga and the old colonial core

Braga Street is the postcard: a narrow lane of two-storey art deco shopfronts, now full of cafes, galleries and boutiques. It was the shopping street of colonial Bandung, and the façades have survived better than the interiors. Walk it in the morning before the tour buses arrive, then cut through to Jalan Asia Afrika for Gedung Merdeka and the wide, plane-tree-lined boulevard the Dutch laid out.

The grid around Braga rewards wandering. Look for the Bank BJB headquarters, the old Savoy Homann hotel where the conference guests stayed, and the small alleys behind Jalan Cikapundung that still hold Chinese shophouses and food stalls. This is not a large old town, and two hours covers it, but it is the most coherent colonial streetscape in Indonesia outside Jakarta.

Gedung Sate and the government quarter

Gedung Sate is the building on every Bandung postcard: a long white 1920s block with a central tower topped by a six-pronged ornament that looks like a satay skewer, hence the name. It was built as the headquarters of the Dutch colonial government's public works department and is now the governor's office. The building itself is not open to casual visitors, but the grounds and the small museum are.

Come on a Sunday morning, when the road in front closes to cars and the whole of Bandung seems to be jogging, cycling or eating. The nearby Gasibu square has food stalls, and the leafy streets behind the governor's office hold some of the best-preserved villas in the city. It is a pleasant half-day that pairs well with Braga.

North: Tangkuban Perahu and Lembang

Thirty kilometres north of the city, Tangkuban Perahu is a volcano you can drive into. The road climbs through Lembang's vegetable fields and strawberry farms to a rim car park, where you look down into the Kawah Ratu crater, a vast grey bowl with steam rising from the far wall. The name means upturned boat, from the Sundanese legend of Sangkuriang, and the crater has the raw, sulphurous feel the story promises.

Lembang, halfway up, has become a weekend playground of farms, cafes and family attractions, some better than others. The worthwhile stops are the tea plantations around Gunung Mas, the hot springs at Ciater, and the quieter back roads towards Subang. Skip the theme parks unless you are travelling with children, and go early: the road north is a single lane in places and jams solidly after nine.

South: Kawah Putih and Ciwidey

South of Bandung, the road to Ciwidey climbs through tea and then enters cloud forest. Kawah Putih is a crater lake of pale turquoise water on white volcanic rock, often wrapped in mist, with a smell of sulphur and a small forest of dead trees at the shoreline. It is genuinely strange and beautiful, and it is also extremely popular, so arrive at opening time.

The same road continues to Situ Patenggang, a calm lake surrounded by tea gardens, and to the strawberry farms and glamping sites that have grown up around them. This is a full day from the city. Bring a jacket, expect rain, and do not count on phone signal in the crater.

What to eat, and where to sleep

Bandung eats well and cheaply. Batagor, fried dumplings with peanut sauce, and siomay, steamed fish dumplings, are the city's signature snacks; mie kocok, a beef noodle soup with offal, is the local breakfast; kupat tahu mixes rice cakes, tofu and peanut sauce. For something sweet, try surabi, a rice-flour pancake cooked in a clay pot, or the layer cakes that Bandung's bakeries have turned into a tourist industry.

Sleep around Braga or Dago if you want to walk to the old town and the cafes. Lembang has cooler, quieter guesthouses if you are heading north, and the Ciwidey road has farm stays. Mid-range hotels run from IDR 400,000 to 900,000; boutique conversions of colonial villas cost more. Book ahead on long weekends, when Jakarta empties into the hills.

Getting there and a plan that works

The Whoosh high-speed train from Jakarta to Padalarang takes about 30 minutes, with a feeder train into Bandung's central station; conventional trains take three hours. Husein Sastranegara airport sits inside the city. Once there, use ride-hailing apps for short trips and hire a car with a driver for the highlands, because the mountain roads are slow and the attractions are spread out.

Two days is the minimum. Three is better if you want both the north and south highlands without spending the whole time in the car.

• Day 1: Braga, Gedung Merdeka and Gedung Sate in the morning; batagor and surabi for lunch; Dago and the northern cafes in the afternoon.
• Day 2: Tangkuban Perahu and Lembang, or Kawah Putih and Ciwidey if you prefer the south.
• Add a day for Gunung Mas tea plantations, Ciater hot springs and the quiet road to Subang.
• Avoid Saturday and Sunday afternoons on the toll road and the Lembang road; both turn into car parks.

Questions people actually ask

Is Bandung worth visiting for more than a weekend?

Yes, if you use it as a base. The colonial core takes half a day, but the northern and southern highlands each deserve a full day, and the food alone justifies two nights. Most Jakarta visitors come for a weekend and see only Braga and Lembang.

How do I get from Jakarta to Bandung?

The Whoosh high-speed train runs from Halim in Jakarta to Padalarang in about 30 minutes, with a connecting train to Bandung station. Conventional trains take around three hours, and buses and private cars use the Cipularang toll road in two to three hours depending on traffic.

Do I need a guide for Tangkuban Perahu or Kawah Putih?

No. Both are drive-up attractions with entrance fees. A car and driver is useful because public transport to the craters is slow and scattered, but you do not need a licensed guide unless you want the geology and legends explained.

What should I pack for Bandung?

A light jacket for the evenings and the highlands, rain protection even in the dry season, and shoes you do not mind getting muddy. The crater rims are cold and wet, and Kawah Putih is often in cloud.