This megapolitan city consists of 5 administrative cities and one administrative district, including West Jakarta, East Jakarta, South Jakarta, Central Jakarta, and Thousand Islands. Each region is filled with plenty of interesting tourist attractions that is reachable by private or public transportations.
One of the public transportation that has become a mainstay of the citizen is TransJakarta. Nevertheless, tourists who are traveling in a group and want to explore Jakarta usually prefer to rent a car.
In the tourism sector, Jakarta is rich in history, culture and shopping tourism. The historical sites in this city are emphasizing the role of Jakarta in the pre- and post- of Indonesian proclamation period. The most completed historical area in Jakarta is Kota Tua.
For cultural tourism, Jakarta features Betawi ethnic as its ethnic, cultural origin. The local culture is more attractive with acculturation, as the influence of the status of Jakarta as the destination of wandering. Setu Babakan in South Jakarta is the leading tourist destination for cultural attractions.
Speaking about shopping, Jakarta is incomparable. Jakarta has numerous various shopping places. From traditional markets, roadside stalls, modern markets, to luxury malls, everything is on every city/street corner. Jakarta is considered the city with the most malls in the world.
The Most Popular Destinations in Jakarta
1. Monumen Nasional (Monas)
Mentioning the name of Jakarta always remind people of Monas as the icon. Every time you hear it, the image of a nation's pride monument is almost certainly come.
Monumen Nasional is located in the downtown, precisely at Medan Merdeka Square, Central Jakarta. This 132-meter high tower stands as a symbol of a nation's pride and remembrance of the struggle for Indonesian people when gaining for the freedom.
Inside the gigantic monument, there is a National Historical Museum. A museum that is located in the ground floor of the monuments is the house of 48 dioramas of the Indonesia history, ranging from pre-historic times to the New Order period of the Soeharto government. In this museum, you also can visit the main observation deck through the elevator. From the top courtyard of Monas, you can enjoy the beautiful Jakarta scenery.
Beside the museum, there is also the Independence Room on the inside of the Monument cup. In this room, you can hear the sound of Soekarno, the first president of the Republic of Indonesia was reading the text of the Declaration of Independence.
2. Taman Impian Jaya Ancol
This place is an integrated tourism area on the coastal area of the capital city. The entertainment area officially launched in 1968 has always been a family holiday destination in Jakarta. It is also still a main weekend recreation spot for local people.
Taman Impian Jaya Ancol is located in North Jakarta, precisely at Jalan Lodan Timur 7, Pademangan. This tourist location spans an area of 552 hectares and offers complete attractions.
The are 5 beaches, Dunia Fantasi amusement park, Atlantis water park, Seaworld and Ocean Dream Samudra marine educational park, Pasar Seni (art market), the seaside resort, Marina, the culinary center and the tourist island to satisfy visitors all day long. In the Ancol complex, there are also luxury hotels and green open park (Eco Park).
Because of these charms, Ancol always thronged with tourists, either couples or families. They usually spend a full day by car rental to getting around Ancol. The car rental services in Jakarta indeed offer a tour program to this place.
3. Kota Tua
As the name implies, the area known as Oud Batavia is the side of Jakarta in the past. Tourist can find it stretch for 1,3 square kilometers covering Pinangsia, Taman Sari, and Roa Malaka in West Jakarta and North Jakarta region.
In the 16th century, Kawasan Kota Tua (Jakarta Old Town) was established as the center of settlements and trade in Asia. That role makes Kota Tua has many historical sites in one area. Some of the most popular historical sites here are Jakarta History Museum (Museum Fatahillah), Glodok Chinatown, Petak Sembilan, Jakarta Kota Railway Station, Toko Merah, and Maritime Museum.
The location of those places is close, but some of them are far enough to reach by walking. Therefore, tourist usually rent a car to explore this area. Although there are many of public transportation in Kota Tua area, car rental is more effective if tourist traveling with family and want to ride happily.
Kota Tua is now a favorite place to hang out. Tourist likes to stroll around here to learn the history of Jakarta and immortalize the classic scenery with his camera.
4. Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII)
The recreational park in East Jakarta was conceived by former Indonesia first lady, Mrs. Tien Soeharto, as a miniature of Indonesia. Stands on a 150 hectares area, you can find anything that represents Indonesia. Come here will make anyone proud of their nations.
The main highlight of TMII is Anjungan Daerah (Regional Annex) that represent the cultures of ethnic groups of all provinces in Indonesia. The Anjungan is spread over six areas of TMII, serving the big island in Indonesia. There is also a lake with a huge replica of the Indonesian archipelago.
TMII as cultural house also displays a variety of religious buildings to showcase the interfaith tolerance. In there, the recreational facilities consist of Keong Mas IMAX Theater, 16 museums, 10 parks, kid playgrounds, village tourism, water parks and food halls.
Because the complex is vast and complete, the best way of reaching TMII is by your private car. If you do not have, renting a reliable car service to visit this park is advisable.
5. Grand Indonesia Mall
Among a hundred shopping malls spread across Jakarta, Grand Indonesia was named as the number one by TripAdvisor. This modern shopping center stands right across the iconic landmark Hotel Indonesia roundabout. The mall that opened since 2008 offers the premium concept.
Grand Indonesia Mall was built in an area of 250,000 square meters. The seven-floor mall brought hundreds of tenant outlets from the world's high-end brands. One of them is Seibu Department Store from Japan and Central Department Store from Thailand.
Not only highlight the lifestyle, Grand Indonesia also has a cultural gallery. Named as “Galeri Indonesia Kaya”, this place offers a cultural exhibition with advanced technology. Inside the gallery, there is a theater that often holds cultural events for free.
Another charm of this mall is plenty of unique and luxurious restaurants and cafes. These include Marché, Social House, Benihana, and Paulaner Bräuhaus. If you are visiting the mall, go to 3A floor of West Mall to watch the dancing fountain show that is performed daily.
Traveling Around Jakarta by Car
Although Jakarta is a big city with advanced facilities and infrastructures, there are still many places in Jakarta, unfortunately, has limited public transportation access. Besides that, many interesting places are located far away from each other because the area is so vast.
So, the most convenient ways of getting around Jakarta is to take a car, especially for a family. The trip will be more enjoyable because tourist can get the freedom to sightsee scenery of Jakarta, such as highways and clusters of skyscrapers.
Car rental is advisable rather than driving your car. As a big city, Jakarta has many reliable car rental providers with a complete package. Tourists can book the best car rental services via online at Traveloka. The latest services of Traveloka offer the convenience of online car rental in easy to use, responsive, flexible, secure and even cheap.
Getting around Jakarta with car rental is particularly useful. Long driving hours makes you feel tired. The experienced driver also knows some great places. Besides that, the driver can be more safe driving because the driver knows to cut through difficult terrain and how to deal with various situations on the road.
The Best Time to Visit Jakarta
Remind this best time to feel the excitement of exploring Jakarta:
- The best time to enjoy the nearly empty Jakarta streets is during Lebaran holiday every year.
- Middle June to July is a great time for shopping enthusiast. In those months, many shopping malls in Jakarta hold a sale program. This month is also a regular time of the annual Jakarta Fair.
- For fashion and food lover, visit Jakarta in between April and May or at The Jakarta Fashion & Food Festival.
- Jakarta is prone to floods during rainy season. Therefore, visit this city during these dry months, which is from May through to October.
- If you take flight, according to the surveys, the best time to book flights to Jakarta is from April to May and October to November. During this time, plane ticket prices are the cheapest, similarly rates for the hotel.
- Visiting Jakarta on weekends is also fun. This city is usually becoming quieter because almost Jakarta people trip to Bandung and Bogor.
Traveling Tips in Jakarta by Car
Jakarta is one of the city with road conditions are quite vulnerable. Understand the following situation to stay safe and comfortable during the trip:
- Stay focused on the road. Put away your valuables while driving.
- Take advantage of car rental services with an experienced driver. An experienced driver knows local road terrains and dangerous roads so can minimize the unwanted risk.
- Car rental services with driver make tourist efficiently exploring the city without worry about getting lost. Travel time also becomes more effective so that tourists can explore more places.
- In choosing a trusted car rental provider, dig in-depth information from various sources. There are almost countless car rental providers in Jakarta and few of them are cannot sure offer excellent service and safer drivers. To get verified providers, Traveloka provides a complete and flexible car rental service through one site/app only.
- Choose a car with a good physical condition. Make sure it is still new enough because of the condition of Jakarta streets requires car performance must be resilient. The old one tends to be hot and prone to problems throughout the trip. Besides that, cars with automatic transmissions so far are best suited to the condition of Jakarta's roads because of fuel efficiency and not make driver tired.
- Always ensure electronic money card with sufficient funds in the account is available, as the trip in Jakarta often passes through highways with non-cash payment.