Taman Mini Indonesia Indah

Taman Mini Indonesia Park Attractions

The 100-hectare Taman Mini Indah Indonesia theme park offers a dizzying selection of things to do and see, all on the theme of Indonesian culture and diversity. Many foreign visitors to Jakarta say a trip to Taman Mini is a great way to experience many aspects of this huge and varied country in a single day. This is truly Indonesia in miniature!

The constantly growing array of attractions you can enjoy include:

• 26 provincial pavilions located around the central lake, to reflect the pre-2000s provincial division of the country. The former East Timor pavilion is now a museum, and new pavilions are under construction for the seven new provinces, plus one that celebrates Chinese Indonesian culture. Each pavilion features buildings in that province’s style, with landscaping, artifacts and handicrafts, exhibits and cultural performances to match.

• The lake with its islands shaped like the Indonesian archipelago. Take the cable car over the lake and surrounding areas and get a fascinating geography lesson at no extra charge!

• Ten gardens and parks that include a bird park, a freshwater aquarium, a medicinal herb garden and a reptile park where you can see a komodo dragon up close. A Chinese Indonesian culture park is also being built.

• 14 museums such as the popular Purna Bhakti Pertiwi Museum that displays official gifts received by former president Suharto, the heirloom museum, the oil and gas museum, and the Asmat museum that showcases the Asmat people in Papua and their culture.

• Six houses of worship that include two churches, a mosque, a Buddhist temple and a Hindu temple, to represent all the religions of Indonesia. A Confucian temple is due to open soon.

• Three theatres including an IMAX theatre.

• Several different recreational facilities for the whole family including a kiddy rides park and children’s activities complex (Istana Anak-Anak Indonesia), the SnowBay Waterpark, swan boats on the Indonesian Archipelago lake, a fishing pond and a handicrafts market.

• Numerous exhibits, monuments and buildings. These include a scale model of Borobudur, a monument to Pancasila (the national philosophy of Indonesia), the Flower Clock, and a display of Balinese wood sculptures.

Restaurants

You will never go hungry or thirsty at Taman Mini, thanks to the dozens of inexpensive food stalls scattered around the grounds. One place where you will find several food stalls is the Tiban Market in front of the Management Building. Here you can try dishes from around Indonesia, such as spicy Padang rice, gudeg (young jackfruit cooked with coconut milk), rib soup or gado-gado. Fans of East Javanese cuisine can head to the popular Pondok Pecel Madiun restaurant next to the Jasmine Garden to sample their pecel (vegetables and meat with peanut sauce) and other specialities of the region.

For a more formal meal, the Puri Caping Gunung restaurant serves both Indonesian and international dishes including fresh seafood. The imposing building in the shape of a farmer’s conical hat is located on a hill overlooking the Miniature Indonesian Archipelago, and incorporates a meeting room that makes it a sought-after venue for wedding receptions, seminars and family gatherings.

Good to know

• Entrance fees to the park are quite reasonable . However, be aware that you also have to pay for many of the attractions and activities. 

• For those looking to stay overnight at Taman Mini, there are three options: the Desa Wisata hostel, the Graha Wisata Remaja youth hostel and the Warna Alam outbound camp. All are inexpensive, and the hostels both offer a choice of dormitory-style accommodation or rooms of various sizes and standards.

• Taman Mini Indonesia Indah is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country, and the park gets packed with local families at the weekends, on public holidays and during school holidays. It is therefore better to visit during the week, if possible.

• To do justice to all the provincial pavilions, gardens, museums, exhibits and rides, set aside at least half a day for your visit.

• Given the sheer size of the grounds, you will want to use the available transportation options to travel between some of the attractions. A miniature train and a wind-powered monorail run around the park, while the cable car operates between three points and allows a birds-eye view of the entire area. You can also pedal around on a rented bicycle, join a bus tour or hire a car or an entire bus by the hour.

• Make sure you wear comfortable walking shoes even if you do take the train or bus at times. Jakarta is hot and humid, so you will need to stay hydrated at all times. Bring bottled water or buy drinks along the way.

• Taman Mini, which opened in 1975, was the brainchild of the former first lady, Tien Suharto. She wanted to create a theme park to showcase the many cultures and architectural styles of Indonesia.

• New attractions are added to the park every year or two. A Discovery World theme park on the Taman Mini grounds is set to open at the end of 2012, with around 100 venues and rides.

Location: Taman Mini is situated around 18 kilometres southeast of central Jakarta, at the junction of the Jagorawi toll road and the Jakarta Outer Ring Road near Kampung Rambutan. To get there you can take a Koridor 7 bus, number 64 or 65, from Kota train station to the Kampung Rambutan terminal, and then a T15 MetroMini bus to the entrance gate of Taman Mini. The journey should take around an hour, depending on the traffic. Alternatively, you can take a taxi from the city centre, or hire a car and driver for the day.