A leafy, upmarket district in the south, long the expat and creative quarter — tree-lined streets of independent cafés, galleries, boutiques and some of the city's best restaurants and bars. Relaxed, green and more human-scaled than the towers, though a fair way from the sights; the base for travellers who want neighbourhood life, good food and a slower pace.
A look around
What you’ll be living next to. Swipe through.
€55–130
typical per night in Indonesia
The sensible middle
Typical prices for Jakarta — neither steal nor splurge.
Where it sits
The circle is Kemang and roughly a 10-minute walk around it.
How far is everything?
From the middle of this area to the city's headline sights — pick your own on the city page and these become your list.
- Grand Indonesia & mall culture22 min taxi7.3 km
- National Museum of Indonesia28 min taxi9.4 km
- National Monument (Monas)29 min taxi9.6 km
- Istiqlal Mosque31 min taxi10.3 km
- Jakarta Cathedral31 min taxi10.4 km
- Glodok (Chinatown)38 min taxi12.7 km
- Kota Tua & Fatahillah Square42 min taxi13.9 km
- Sunda Kelapa harbour45 min taxi15.0 km
On your doorstep
What you’re living next to if you stay here.
- 6.Indonesian street food — Jakarta eats brilliantly and cheaply — nasi goreng and mie goreng from the roadside warung, satay grilling over coals, spicy soto soups, martabak stuffed pancakes and gado-gado salad in peanut sauce, all for a euro or two. Follow the crowds and the smoke to a busy kaki lima cart or a food court; grazing your way through it is the real taste of the city.
- 9.Taman Mini Indonesia Indah — A huge culture park that packs the whole archipelago into one day out — pavilions recreating the traditional houses of each Indonesian province, museums, gardens and a lake with a map of the islands you can view from a cable car. Sprawling and a little dated, but a genuinely useful and enjoyable overview of the country's staggering diversity; great for families and rainy-season visits.
- 14.Kemang café & bar scene — The leafy southern district of Kemang is where creative, cosmopolitan Jakarta hangs out — a walkable strip of independent coffee roasters, art spaces, boutiques, and some of the city's best restaurants and low-key bars. A relaxed, human-scaled antidote to the malls and towers; the place to spend a lazy afternoon and easy evening among locals and expats.
When are you staying?
Booking.com & Airbnb open searched to Kemang; flights via Google Flights.