After many years of near-civil war, which only ended in 2005, Banda Aceh is very new on the international travel scene. There still isn't much infrastructure, but there is enough to make the city and surrounding areas easily accessible. The city itself will appeal to those looking for some place a little “off the map” where they can relax and enjoy a slower pace without necessarily having to do a lot of sight-seeing.
The Rumoh Aceh traditional style house in the grounds of the Aceh Museum
There isn't a lot to see in Banda Aceh. It can seem like the main sights are the fading memorials to the 2004 tsunami, and the rest are not what I would call spectacular or impressive. However, that said, I found the city to be quite an enjoyable place to simply pass the time, sitting in one of the many coffee shops, sipping the strong black local brew, and maybe taking in a little conversation with one of the friendly Acehnese, who despite a very limited amount of English were among the most outgoing Indonesians I've ever met.
Fishing Boat on a House
There isn't a particularly good time of year to visit Banda Aceh, although you might wish to avoid the wetter months of October to December. Given the conservative Muslim nature of the entire province, you might also want to avoid the fasting month of Ramadan, since many restaurants might be closed for the entire day. The sights of the city (see map) can be seen in a full day of sightseeing.
Unfortunately, there aren't any hotels I can recommend in the city center, close to the sights, so you'll need to either engage a car and driver, which you can do through your hotel, or use becaks to get around. Banda Aceh isn't much of a destination for foodies, but you definitely don't want to miss one of the city's distinctive local coffee shops.
When planning your day, it's worth noting that many museums and businesses close for noon-time prayers, which can last from around noon to around 2:00 pm. Note especially that on Friday, everything closes for noon prayers. The streets will be almost deserted during prayer times.
Lastly, you should remember that Aceh is perhaps Indonesia's most conservatively Muslim province. You won't find much alcohol on sale, especially outside of hotels, and women especially are encouraged to dress appropriately.
Banda Aceh has an international airport, so the easiest way to get there from almost anywhere is to fly. Within Indonesia, there are several flights a day from Medan as well as a few from Jakarta. You can also reach Banda Aceh from Kuala Lumpur via low cost carrier Air Asia, for from Penang using Firefly. Note that these international flights are not necessarily daily. See the Asia Airports guide to Banda Aceh for more information on the airport.
There are just a few hotels in and around Banda Aceh, all of which are listed below. Unfortunately, the hotels near the center of town seem to all be universally run-dwon and shabby. To get something nice, you need to look at the edge of the city. The Oasis Atjeh Hotel seems to be one of the better value-for-money places if you're looking for a nice place to spend one or two nights.
The lack of tourism infrastructure is really evident in the scarcity of restaurants, outside of hotels, that a tourist would feel comfortable in. It's not that there aren't any restaurants. This is Indonesia, after all, where most people eat outside the home, but few places will have an English language menu, or staff that can cope with the language. Still, there are enough place where you can probably cope that you won't go hungry, or end up eating in your hotel every night.
Sitting at the far northwestern end of the Straits of Malacca, Aceh has long been at the crossroads of trade between east and west. Ships from Arabia, Persia and India came to buy nutmeg, mace and pepper from Sumatra, as well as cloves, camphor and other spices from further east in the spice islands. With the traders came Islam, and by the end of the thirteenth century, the Pasai kingdom emerged as a center of both commerce and Islamic scholarship.
Lying just six degrees north of the equator, Banda Aceh has a typical, relatively constant year-round climate. While September to January are the wettest months, there's a good chance of rain at any time of year.
Historical Weather Patterns for Banda Aceh Average Monthly Highs & Lows (°C) Average Monthly Rainfall (cm)
The main mosque of Banda Aceh was first built in 1612. That structure was destroyed by fire from a Dutch siege in 1873. After taking Aceh, to ease the ire of the local population, the Dutch built a new mosque, evoking a Moghul design, since the architect was based in India. The original structure had just a single dome. Later governors expanded it to three domes, then five, and finally the current seven.
The Aceh provincial museum is a rather tired old place, but it can still be worth a visit if you have the time. The museum is within a short walk of most of the other main sights.
The Rumoh Aceh traditional style house in the grounds of the Aceh Museum. The first thing you'll likely notice on entering the museum compound is the Rumoh Aceh, a traditionally styled house that was originally constructed for the Colonial Exhibition held in Semaran in 1914.
It's likely that many people around the world hadn't ever heard of Banda Aceh until the tsunami struck on 26 December 2004. The seaside port town was the closest large population center to the epicenter of the earthquake and bore the brunt of the resulting tsunami. Between 130,000 and 150,000 people of Aceh province were killed by the earthquake and wave. There are still some signs left over from the catastrophe on display around the city, as reminders of what happened.
There may not be much that you'll want to buy in Banda Aceh, but the town's two main markets can still make interesting places to wander around.
The entrance to the Aceh Bazaar The main market, Pasar Atjeh (Aceh Bazaar), is right behind the Baturrahman Mosque. It runs for several square blocks and includes a few newer covered spaces as well as the open air stalls lining the streets. At first glance, most of what is on offer is ladies clothing, but if you get deeper into the market you'll find other things for sale and even a block lined mostly with fresh produce.
Perhaps no sight conveys the power of nature that was unleashed on 26 December 2004 better than the Apung 1. The 2,600 ton electrical generating barge was moored off Banda Aceh when the earthquake hit. The tsunami carried it two to three kilometers inland, where it came to rest on two houses, killing all the inhabitants.
The beached power generating ship Apung 1, flung 2 to 3 kilometers inland by the tsunami.
The Bank Indonesia building stands on the banks of the river a few blocks from the Mosque. The building dates from the Dutch colonial era and was only taken over by the bank after independence. The building survived the tsunami largely intact.
The Bank of Indonesia headquarters, occupying an old Dutch colonial building in Banda Aceh
The Gunongan is a rather curious structure that occupies a busy corner of Banda Aceh. It used to be part of the sultan's palace complex, but now the heavy traffic has cut it off from the rest of the parks and playgrounds of the old palace.
The 'mountain' and bathing place for a princess. There's a rather fanciful tale recounted on the information sign about how these structures came to be built.
In a large open park near the Tsunami Museum is a well preserved DC3 mounted on a high pedestal. This was newly independent Indonesia's first airliner. After WW II, the Dutch were still intent on reclaiming their colony, and had managed to capture enough parts of Sumatra to isolate Aceh. Using funds donated by the Acehnese people, the government purchased the airliner to get around the blockade.
Indonesia's first airliner, a DC3.
Next to the Tsunami Museum is the entrance to the old Dutch war cemetery. The burial ground seems to date back to the 1870s, when the Dutch first fought to occupy Aceh. The elaborate gateway was built in 1893. It is lined with plaques naming the dead who were buried there each year. In all, there are around 2,200 names given.
The whitewashed graves of the Dutch Cemetery Most of the markers are simple crosses or plaques, whitewashed and largely unadorned.
December 2012
The Oasis Atjeh Hotel seems to be one of the few nice and relatively modern hotels in Banda Aceh. At the time of my stay, it appeared to offer the best value for money. The hotel seems to cater to a lot of domestic visitors, with very few international travelers in evidence. It is located some distance from the sights of the city, but so are all the other options.
Across a busy street from the Gunongan is another part of the pleasure park created by Sultan Iskander Muda for the Princess Phang. This area is in the form of a large park which features a lake created by damming a canal and crossed by a few (modern) suspension bridges.
Putroe Phang Park in Banda Aceh Like the Gunongan, the park was created by the sultan in the early seventeenth century.
Among the more curious sights preserved from the 2004 tsunami is the fishing boat which came to rest on an occupied house, about a kilometer or more from where it was moored on the river in the Lampulo district. What makes the sight even more miraculous is that 56 people were actually sheltering on the boat and survived the shift to the new location.
The remains of the fishing boat which landed on a house The boat and what was left of the house were preserved as a sort of memorial to the many fantastic events of the day.
The dramatic Aceh Tsunami Museum was opened in 2009 to commemorate the 2004 tsunami in which more than 150,000 Acehnese lost their lives. Even as late as the end of 2012, the museum still seemed to be a work-in-progress but it is nonetheless still a moving and interesting place to visit.
The Tsunami Museum in Banda Aceh, as seen from the old Dutch cemetery. Visitors enter through a dark corridor under a spray of water to emerge in a room filled with video displays showing pictures of many different scenes of the disaster, both as it unfolded as well as the aftermath.
