Things to Do in Banda Aceh

A small, shady city park centered on a white, three-tiered pleasure garden structure built by a 17th-century sultan. Popular with families for picnics and jogging.

🕐 07:00-18:00

💡 Visit late afternoon when locals come to fly kites and street food vendors set up near the gates. Try the kue pukis cakes.

A sobering and educational museum documenting the 2004 tsunami. The building itself is designed to evoke a wave, with a narrow, dark corridor leading to a light-filled prayer hall.

🕐 09:00-16:00, closed Friday

💡 Go early in the morning to avoid school groups. The rooftop gives a good view of the city.

The city's iconic white multi-domed mosque, strikingly rebuilt after the tsunami. The grounds are peaceful, with dark stone courtyards and reflective pools.

🕐 Open 24 hours; prayer hall open 08:00-12:00, 14:00-17:00, 19:00-21:00

💡 Non-Muslims can enter the main prayer hall outside prayer times. Borrow a robe and headscarf for free from the entrance booth.

A 2,600-tonne power-generating barge that was swept 3 km inland by the tsunami and left as a memorial. You can walk around and under the rusting hulk.

🕐 08:00-18:00

💡 Combine this with a walk to the nearby mass grave site at Ulee Lheue beach. Bring water and sun protection.

A well-maintained colonial-era cemetery with over 2,000 graves of Dutch soldiers and officials from the Aceh War. Marked by neat rows of white crosses and some elaborate tombs.

🕐 08:00-17:00

💡 The caretaker has a small book with a map. Ask him to point out the grave of the first Dutch general killed here.