Sumatra Highlights

Welcome to the biggest city in Sumatra Island – Medan, is the commercial and economic hub of this island. Medan is well known for its special traditional cuisine which is rich with many flavours. Take a Medan Tour which will help you gain an insightful view into the daily life and culture of this bustling city – visit the Tjong A Fie Mansion and the Grand Mosque, taste a bowl of soup at Soto Kesawan and know more about the history of the province at the Museum of North Sumatra.

Located in the Indonesian state of North Sumatra, Bukit Lawang is a small tourist town on the bank of the Bahorok River. It is around 86 km northwest of Medan and is the primary eastward entry point to Gunung Leuser National Park and home to the majority of Sumatran orangutan wildlife sanctuaries, with 5,000 or more living there. In 1973, the orangutan rehabilitation center at Bukit Lawang was established. Its primary goal was to protect the orangutan population, which was declining as a result of deforestation, poaching, and trade. The center closed in 2002 because it was becoming too touristic and unfit for the rehabilitation of animals.

The town and district of Karo Regency, Berastagi (Dutch: Brastagi, meaning 'rice store'), is located at a crossroads on the main highway that connects the coastal city of Medan with the Karo highlands of Northern Sumatra. The settlement of Berastagi is situated 1,300 meters above sea level and around 66 kilometers south of Medan. When Dutch immigrants in Sumatra established a boarding school there in the 1920s, the village gained notoriety. The colorful fruit and vegetable market and tourism are the two primary drivers of Berastagi's economy. Berastagi's passion fruit is well-known. The town's two active volcanoes, Mount Sinabung and Mount Sibayak, with its hot springs, are its main draws. You can climb each peak in a single day, but a guide is needed.

Large volcanic island Samosir, also known as Samosir Island, is situated in Lake Toba in the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Six of the nine districts that make up Samosir Regency are responsible for overseeing Samosir Island administratively. Approximately 75,000 years ago, a supervolcano erupted, creating the lake and island. The island was formerly a peninsula that was joined to the surrounding caldera wall by a narrow isthmus. To facilitate shipping, the Tano Ponggol Canal was built in 1907. Samosir is the biggest island inside an island and the sixth largest lake island in the world, covering 630 square kilometers (243 sq mi). Lake Sidihoni and Lake Aek Natonang, two of its smaller lakes, are also present. To the east, across the lake lies Uluan Peninsula. A small isthmus that connects the towns of Pangururan on Samosir and Tele on the mainland of Sumatra connects the western portion of the island to the mainland. As a result, Tele provides one of the best views of Samosir Island and Lake Toba.

Located 448 kilometers from Medan City, Padang Sidempuan (sometimes written as Padangsidimpuan) is a small city in the far south-western part of North Sumatra Province, and the former capital of South Tapanuli Regency. The majority ethnic group in the area is Angkola-Mandailing and their income is mostly from farming, including rice fields and plantations.

Bukittinggi is the third largest city in Indonesia's West Sumatra. It is located in the Minangkabau Highlands, 90 kilometers by road from Padang, the capital of West Sumatra. The entire region is close to the inactive Mount Singgalang and active Mount Marapi volcanoes, which are located next to the Agam Regency. Bukittinggi was once referred to as 'Parijs van Sumatera' and was known as Fort de Kock. The city served as a center of administration throughout the Dutch East Indies and Japanese colonial eras before becoming the seat of the Emergency administration of the Republic of Indonesia (PDRI). In West Sumatra, Bukittinggi is renowned for being a popular tourist destination. It is twinned with Seremban, Malaysia's Negeri Sembilan. In the heart of the city, the Jam Gadang clock tower is the city's symbol and a well-visited tourist spot.

Padang is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of West Sumatra. With an estimated population of 939,112 as of 2018, it is the 16th most populous city in Indonesia and the most populous city on the west coast of Sumatra. The Padang metropolitan area is the third most populous metropolitan area in Sumatra with a population of over 1.4 million. Padang is widely known for its Minangkabau culture, cuisine, and sunset beaches. The city had historically been a trading center since the pre-colonial era, trading in pepper and gold. The Dutch made contact with the city in the mid 17th century, eventually constructing a fortress and taking over control of the city from the Pagaruyung Kingdom. Save several interruptions of British rule, Padang remained part of the Dutch East Indies as one of its major cities until Indonesian independence.