Asia is known to be a very inexpensive continent to travel to, but with the right shrewdness, you can further optimise your spending. Here's how to visitIndonesia while spending little and making the wisest choices on accommodation, transport, flights, food and everything else.
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For a trip to Indonesia, you can choose between a simple lifestyle and the luxury of 5-star hotels © fernanda photos / Shutterstock
As soon as you land in Indonesia, you will instantly turn into a millionaire. In fact, one million Indonesian rupiah corresponds to about 63 euros and, if you don't get carried away, will be enough for a whole week. You can opt for a simple style of travel, spending time lazing on the beautiful beaches, or book a room in one of the most luxurious five-star hotels on the planet during the off-season and pay significantly less than any other destination. Here are our tips for visiting Indonesia on a budget.
Choose well from over 13 thousand islands
Bali is much more expensive than neighbouring Java, which in turn is slightly more expensive than Sumatra, but the downward competition triggered by the massive influx of tourists means that there are many low-cost alternatives on each island. Even in Bali, two people can potentially have a dream experience for around EUR 20 a day, enough to cover the costs of a private room, meals and scooter rental.
Usually, one only has to get off the beaten track and head to the other islands to see the cost of living drop even further. Keep in mind, however, that if you go to the extremes of Indonesia (to the Alor archipelago, for example, or to the far-flung Maluku Islands), you will find much higher figures: transporting goods, vehicles and fuel to these remote regions necessarily means higher prices.
Choose the cheapest time to travel
From October to April, Bali and central Indonesia are hit by the rainy season, an inexpensive and pleasant time to visit, if you are not planning extreme activities such as jungle treks or climbing a volcano. Usually the rains come in the form of quick thunderstorms that quickly give way to a beautiful sunny day. (Avoid Christmas and New Year).
Find a flight at a good price
Activate notifications and monitor airline sites to find a cheap flight to Jakarta or Bali. For domestic travel, the national airlines Garuda Indonesia, Air Asia or Lion Air connect the smaller islands to the main ones. To give you a rough idea of prices, know that you can find one-way flights from Jakarta to Bali from €40 and from Bali to Labuan Bajo (access to Komodo) from €30.
Book the cheapest accommodation
Booking in advance ensures savings, but the best deals are often made on the spot by talking to people, so consider booking just the first two nights and then looking around. Private rooms are also available for 2€ per night, so hostels with dormitories are rare.
It is often cheaper to rent a bungalow or house for several days on Airbnb than a single night in a hotel. A good air-conditioned double room in Bali costs €7 per night (including breakfast), but a bungalow in the central area of Ubud with a kitchen and private garden might cost you less than €5 per night if you book for a whole month.
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Indonesian public transport is cheap but unreliable, better to hire a vehicle © Pav-Pro Photography Ltd / Shutterstock
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Travelling on a budget
Public transport is cheap but not very reliable, so most travellers choose to hire a vehicle. For maximum savings, consider long-term rental. Scooters are cheap (often around 2€ per day if you rent for a week or more), but for your safety, consider renting a car, which although more expensive (around 9€ per day) can remain affordable if you are travelling in a group... Also consider the price of petrol: less than €0.50 per litre.
Driving in Indonesia (especially in Bali with its swarms of mopeds) requires steady nerves and a zen soul, so if you prefer not to get behind the wheel, hire a car with a driver for around €20 or €30.
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Before you start your day, download the ride-sharing apps Grab and Gojek © lechatnoir / Getty Images
Call a taxi to save money
Bluebird Taxi has 23,000 vehicles across Indonesia, and while affordable, they can cost about twice as much as the vehicles offered by Grab, the Singapore-based company that acquired Uber in Asia.
Before you start your day, download the apps of Grab and Gojek, who boast of their 2 million motorbike taxis spread across Southeast Asia. With these delightfully democratic solutions, you pay local transport fares, without having to communicate with the taxi driver in improbable multilingual conversations to haggle over the price or to make him understand the destination of the ride.
Ferries, buses and trains are perfect places to connect with locals
Ferries connect some of the islands and are inexpensive, although irregular and time-consuming. To give an example: the Labuan Bajo - Bali route is covered by a weekly ferry that costs less than €20, but if by sea it takes as much as 33 hours, by air one is enough.
On the larger islands, long-distance buses connect all the major cities, but only on Java and some areas of Sumatra are there railways. Generally, the train ticket goes up about €1.50 per hour of travel and can be purchased through Kareta Api Indonesia. The bus is usually slightly cheaper and almost always faster than the Indonesian trains.
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In Indonesia, you can count on hearty and nutritious local food at incredibly affordable prices © Elena Ermakova / Shutterstock
Eat like a local to eat cheaply
Indonesia has much less culinary variety than its smaller neighbours Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, but still offers delicious and hearty local dishes at incredible prices. Unless you are in a purely tourist centre, you will spend about 1€ for a single dish (usually nasi goreng, or fried rice, or mie goreng, or fried noodles). Since they are freshly cooked, the ingredients are generally fresh and often delicious.
Padang, a city in the province of West Sumatra, has exported its fine gastronomic traditions, in fact Masakan Padang cuisine can be found in practically every corner of the country: in these 'restaurants' you will be given a plate of rice and you can indicate any extras you wish to season it with. Often 2€ is enough to enjoy a real feast; choose the little places where the turnout seems to be continuous.
Stay away from alcohol
The best way to keep costs low in Indonesia is to avoid alcohol. A bottle of Bintang, the standard local beer, costs around €2, a bottle of 'cheap' wine starts at around €10 and a bottle of imported gin or whisky is likely to set you back €30 or more. These are supermarket prices, but the figures tend to triple in trendy bars. If you want to make a toast without emptying your pockets, look for the ubiquitous bars that offer a two-for-one deal at sunset time.
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Embrace the culture of bargaining
Haggling is a way of life in Indonesia and you will be asked to respect it at all times, unless you are in a shopping mall or supermarket. If you are not part of the large group of travellers who feel uncomfortable haggling, you will soon discover that a smile, a joke and a couple of well-rehearsed phrases can turn a purchase into an opportunity to bond with the locals. Haggling can turn a simple business transaction into a much more human exchange.
'Bukan harga bule' (don't price me out for foreigners) works to crack a smile.
'Saya sudah bankrupt' (I am already bankrupt) guarantees hearty laughter.
Remember, however, to haggle for a fair price for both parties. Some travellers take pride in their bargaining skills and become convinced that a street vendor will make a profit from the sale no matter what. This is not always true: most shopkeepers prefer to make a loss if it is the only way to feed the family that night.
Daily costs
Coffee in a secluded warung: 0.30€
Cappuccino in a nicer café: 2€
A large plate of fried rice or noodles in a local restaurant: 1€
The same meal in a tourist club: 3.50€
Cocktail in a beach bar at happy hour: 4,50€
Beer in a hotel bar: 2,50€
Glass of house wine in a resort: 5€ (but can go up to 25€)
1.5 litre bottle of water: 0.20€
Surfboard rental: 3€/session
90-minute yoga lesson: 10€ (price drops by purchasing a package)
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