Bandung

Bandung


Bandung is a major city in West Java, Indonesia. With a population of 2.7 million people and a metropolitan population of 7.4 million, it is the third largest city and second largest metropolitan in Indonesia. Unlike other Indonesian cities, Bandung is located in the highlands, some 768 meters (2,520 feet) above sea level. Hence it enjoys a relatively cooler climate than other cities in the country.

Although first mentioned in ancient chronicles in 1488, present-day Bandung was established as the centre for tea plantations by the Dutch as early as the 17th century. Due to the importance of the area, a railway line was built to link it to Jakarta - then Batavia - in 1880. It was only granted municipality status in 1906 and city status in 1926. It became the capital of West Java following the independence of Indonesia in 1945. From an area of just 19 square kilometers in 1906, Bandung has expanded to cover close to 170 sq km by 1987. It comprises 26 subdistricts and 139 villages.

Visitors to Bandung can still see a good number of Dutch-style Indonesian architecture, and adaptations of the Art Deco style to the tropical climate. One of the formest Dutch architect in colonial Indonesia, Henri Maclaine-Pont worked to realise an architectural style to is adapted to the local culture.

Travel to Bandung

Access to Bandung is via the Hussein Sastranegara Airport (BDO), which receives only a small number of flights due to the difficult mountainous location. Budget travellers can fly AirAsia from Kuala Lumpur, Bali, Medan and Singapore. If you have have an airport transfer provided by your hotel, you can get a meter taxi to take you downtown for approximately US$1.00.

Travel within Bandung

The local mode of transport is called angkot - it literally means "transport". The angkot are minibuses that ply the streets. To hail one, raise your hand. Tell the driver where you are going and ask for the fare. Once on board, to get the driver to stop, simply say "stop".

Members' dining experience in Kodak

Join Food Universe Facebook Group to show us what you eat at the restaurants, and your posts will be cataloged according to location.

Places of Interest in Bandung

Cihampelas Walk, a major shopping mall in Bandung


Gedung Sate, Bandung


Becak driver, Bandung

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

Destination Indonesia

About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.

To get to know me better, do follow me on Facebook!