Bandar Seri Begawan

Bandar Seri Begawan, also known as BSB or just Bandar, is the capital of Brunei.

Understand
Bandar Seri Begawan is a modern city with wide streets and palace buildings. For its history, it was once a Malay fishing village and has been on the Brunei River in which people lived in riverside dwellings and was subject to attacks by pirates, the Portuguese and the Spaniards.

Get in
See Brunei for Brunei's entry requirements.

By plane
is the main airport in Brunei. See Brunei for airline details.

Ground transportation
A taxi from the airport to the city centre takes 20 minutes and costs around $25. Some hotels may provide transport between airport and hotel for free or for a cheaper price. A covered walk down to the end of the car park away from the Terminal (turn left when exiting from Arrivals) leads to a bus stop for Purple buses to the city centre during the day ($2).

By car
All main roads in Brunei (save for those in isolated Temburong Districts) lead to Bandar Seri Begawan. The main road into/out of Bandar Seri Begawan connects to the coastal road to/from the Sarawak border via Tutong, Seria and Kuala Belait. Other main roads lead to Muara and Kuala Lurah where there is a border crossing into the Limbang division of Sarawak. Take this road if you are driving to Temburong but you will have to go through two sets of immigration checkpoints - at Kuala Lurah (Tedungan on the Sarawak side) and Puni (Pandaruan on the Sarawak side) - before you reach the district administrative center, Bangar.

By bus
where most local and long-distance buses leave from and arrive is at Jalan Cator in the city centre. It occupies the ground level of a multistory carpark. Map of Brunei public bus routes.
 * From Seria: Regular buses leave for Seria (where you can change buses to Kuala Belait) that leave from the main bus terminal. They usually display the departure time on the windscreen. Journey time is about one hour and the fare is $6 one way. Going the other way, there are buses from Kuala Belait to Seria ($1) where you can change to another bus for Bandar Seri Begawan ($6).
 * From Kuala Lurah: Local minibuses run from the bus terminal right up to the Kuala Lurah checkpoint throughout the day. Journey is about half hour and fare is $1 one way. At Kuala Lurah, walk across the border and either catch a bus or taxi into Limbang.
 * From Miri: There are no direct buses between Miri and BSB. Travel from Miri to BSB requires transport, taxi/Grab, from Miri to the Malaysian border crossing, walking the border crossing, then a further taxi into Kuala Belait. From here you catch a bus to Seria then change to another bus to get to BSB. The bus from Kuala Belait to Seria and then Seria to BSB are local buses, quite cheap and quite slow. It is recommended to do this trip earlier in the day. (2023).
 * From Kota Kinabalu: There is one bus per day, arriving and departing at the waterfront near the main bus terminal. The bus to KK leaves at 08:00, but get there at 07:30 to buy the ticket. It takes 6–8 hours and costs $45 (2019).



By boat
The main ferry terminal in Brunei is the at Muara. The ferry terminal has currency exchange, a small souvenir shop, and a cafe.

There are about five daily ferries to Labuan (the first one departs at 08:30, while the last at 16:30), journey lasts from 45 minutes to two hours depending on the boat. It's best to arrive an hour early to buy tickets; boarding starts half an hour before departure. The ferry costs $15 + terminal tax $2 (2019). With a change of boats in Labuan you can even make it to Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) in a day (see Kota Kinabalu to Brunei by land). The same applies to Lawas and Sundar (both in Sarawak) accessing which requires changing boats in Labuan. Serasa terminal is 25 km from Bandar Seri Begawan and also in quite a distance from Muara town.

Getting there: The ferry terminal is quite a distance from Muara town where the container port is. The terminal is about 25 km from Bandar Seri Begawan. Buses to Muara depart from the Bandar Seri Begawan bus terminal in Jalan Cator, first bus departs at 06:30. There are two possible options: the first is to catch a shuttle express bus that goes directly to the ferry terminal and costs $2, departs roughly every 2 hours. The second option is a regular bus #37, #38, or #39 to Pekan Muara (the end of the line), where you can transfer to #33 that will go to Serasa Ferry Terminal, price is $1 including transfer. Altogether, it can take as much as two hours to get from the bus terminal to the ferry terminal. Or you can just take a tour van or taxi.

From Bangar. Speedboats leave for Bangar in Temburong District from the jetty near the foodstalls at Jalan Residency just over the bridge across Sungai Kianggeh to the east of the city centre. Regular boats run between Bandar and Bangar throughout the day.

Get around
Try to pick up the official map of Brunei Darussalam, as it is easy to read and the public bus lines are easy to follow. The people of Brunei are very helpful to visitors, so don't be surprised after a few minutes of conversation they offer a ride to one of the attractions, as they know how much easier it is to drive there than get there any other way.

Downtown is quite small and can be easily navigated on foot. At several intersections there are walking maps of the Heritage Trail which includes the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, Tamu Kianggeh (Kianggeh Market), and the Royal Regalia Museum.

By bus
Public minibuses are the cheapest way to travel in the city. They start service at 06:00 but end quite early (at about 18:00). They run roughly every 20–40 minutes from 06:00 to 18:00, but there's no strict schedule. Most of the bus routes begin and end service at the bus terminal on Jalan Cator downtown. Routes are numbered and the buses are different colors depending on the route. They cost $1 regardless of distance ($0.50 for children); the fare is normally collected by a conductor but may also be collected by the driver. They have designated stops but also stop anywhere along the route to drop or pick up passengers (so if you want to stop, just indicate it to the conductor on the bus, and the same thing if you want to get on). The buses are actually more like large vans which can seat about 20 people at the most, and are generally clean and comfortable to ride. Main bus routes include bus service 01 (Circle Line) and 20 (Business Centres Line). The detailed routes of the bus services are written on a board placed on the front window of the buses and are also drawn on the information board at the Jalan Cator terminal.

By tour van
Try asking the counter tickets for a tour van to drive you around Brunei and bring you to the places. Discuss the price first before you agree to board the van.

By taxi
It's almost impossible to hail a taxi outside of airport, so it's better to arrange a one via hotel or call a taxi service. Taxi services:. Airport Taxi Service:.

By ride hailing
The main ride-hailing app in Brunei is Dart.

By water taxi
You can hail a few water taxis at almost any dock but the most popular place to find one is on the waterfront downtown. They are great fun to ride in, and they're also a useful way to get to the Water Village and to some of the city's outlying neighbourhoods. Drivers also give tours to see proboscis monkeys and the Water Village; see below for details.

By foot
Downtown BSB is small and easy to get around on foot. There are more sidewalks than in cities in neighboring Sarawak. Be careful of the pedestrian traffic lights – most of them stay red and don't change even if you press the button, so instead time your crossing by paying attention to the traffic lights for cars.

Drivers in Bandar are fairly polite to pedestrians – they usually wait when they see pedestrians in the crosswalk, especially downtown.

See
Don't expect to find much tasteful and stunning architecture like you would normally find in Southeast Asia. Here, most of the buildings are just plain and box-shaped. However, an interesting twist to the billboards around here, is that the "Jawi" (Arabicized Malay writing) are prevalent among them. Sometimes, foreign names are translated literally, e.g. "Pizza Hut" to "Pondok Pizza".


 * After visiting the Brunei Museum, walk along the road toward BSB to visit two tombs: the first is the Tomb of Sharif Ali, the third sultan of Brunei. The green sign by the road is written entirely in Arabic lettering. Further down the road is the Tomb of Sultan Bolkiah, the fifth sultan of Brunei. Both tombs are in easy walking distance from the Museum.
 * After visiting the Brunei Museum, walk along the road toward BSB to visit two tombs: the first is the Tomb of Sharif Ali, the third sultan of Brunei. The green sign by the road is written entirely in Arabic lettering. Further down the road is the Tomb of Sultan Bolkiah, the fifth sultan of Brunei. Both tombs are in easy walking distance from the Museum.
 * After visiting the Brunei Museum, walk along the road toward BSB to visit two tombs: the first is the Tomb of Sharif Ali, the third sultan of Brunei. The green sign by the road is written entirely in Arabic lettering. Further down the road is the Tomb of Sultan Bolkiah, the fifth sultan of Brunei. Both tombs are in easy walking distance from the Museum.
 * After visiting the Brunei Museum, walk along the road toward BSB to visit two tombs: the first is the Tomb of Sharif Ali, the third sultan of Brunei. The green sign by the road is written entirely in Arabic lettering. Further down the road is the Tomb of Sultan Bolkiah, the fifth sultan of Brunei. Both tombs are in easy walking distance from the Museum.
 * After visiting the Brunei Museum, walk along the road toward BSB to visit two tombs: the first is the Tomb of Sharif Ali, the third sultan of Brunei. The green sign by the road is written entirely in Arabic lettering. Further down the road is the Tomb of Sultan Bolkiah, the fifth sultan of Brunei. Both tombs are in easy walking distance from the Museum.



Jerudong
Small market town with population of 21,000, 24 km west of Bandar Seri Begawan.

Muara
Small town on the north-eastern tip of Brunei where the country's only deep-water port is located.

Serasa
Another small town with population around 10,000 people close to Muara.

Meet the sultan
Every year, for three days at the end of Ramadan, the sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, opens his palace (Istana Nurul Iman) to the public. This event is primarily intended for the citizens of Brunei to meet their sultan, but foreigners are welcome too. Prepare to queue up for hours; even the queue for security alone takes over an hour. In the palace, free meals are distributed amongst all visitors; there is a wide choice. You can then queue up again in order to meet the sultan himself. You won't have the opportunity to exchange more than a handshake and a few words with him, but it's still a unique opportunity to meet a head of state.

Unfortunately, the sultan only meets men. Fortunately though, women can meet his wife, Queen Saleha, in similar arrangements on the same three days.

Buy
Several currency exchange places can be found downtown.

Eat

 * Gerai Makan, on the waterfront in the southeastern corner of the city, just across a bridge. Here there are a number of outdoor restaurants serving cheap and tasty fare. It's a great place to relax and soak in the local atmosphere. Great views of stilt villages and water taxis speeding back and forth.
 * PGS Cafe, near the Palm Garden at Kiulap. Charges buffet dining at $6 per head in a pleasant air-conditioned restaurant.
 * Gerai Makan, on the waterfront in the southeastern corner of the city, just across a bridge. Here there are a number of outdoor restaurants serving cheap and tasty fare. It's a great place to relax and soak in the local atmosphere. Great views of stilt villages and water taxis speeding back and forth.
 * PGS Cafe, near the Palm Garden at Kiulap. Charges buffet dining at $6 per head in a pleasant air-conditioned restaurant.

There are plenty of small local Kedai Kopi (coffee shops) in town that sell simple, cheap and tasty food and are frequented by locals.

Drink
Nope.

Sleep
Most hotels in Bandar Seri Begawan are in the middle to higher price range.

Stay safe
Crime is very uncommon in this tightly controlled small country.

Embassies and High Commissions

 * 🇦🇺 Australia
 * 🇨🇦 Canada
 * 🇨🇳 China
 * 🇮🇩 Indonesia
 * 🇯🇵 Japan
 * 🇲🇾 Malaysia
 * 🇺🇸 United States

In Brunei

 * Bangar
 * Ulu Temburong National Park (see Bangar) has many day tours from BSB from $125-185:
 * http://www.freme.com/product/ulu-temburong-national-park-day-tour-2/
 * http://www.bruneitourism.com/brunei-atta-12
 * https://bruneiborneo.com/package/bwn-15-ulu-temburong-national-park-day-trip
 * Tutong
 * Seria
 * Kuala Belait &mdash; second largest city in Brunei

Sarawak

 * Miri
 * Limbang
 * Lawas

Sabah

 * Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia (see Kota Kinabalu to Brunei by Land)