Jakarta/Central

Central Jakarta (Indonesian: Jakarta Pusat) acts as the commercial and business district of Jakarta. By day the many office buildings are filled with workers; by night, people stream into the shopping malls. Therefore, traffic is heavy all the time! The area encompasses Tanah Abang, Monas, Senen, Menteng, Jalan Jaksa, Senayan, and the road corridors along the Hotel Indonesia roundabout.

Understand
The core of Central Jakarta is the Jendral Sudirman Avenue and the M.H. Thamrin Avenue, where the high rises were erected at its backbone, followed by commercial centres and hotels at its branch roads. To the north, it continues to the west side of Monas, to the south it ends at Senayan Roundabout. The area was alive primarily thanks to the founding father Soekarno. The Gelora Bung Karno stadium, the Semanggi interchange, and the Selamat Datang statue was erected to welcome travellers to the 1962 Asian Games. Its success, followed by the booming Indonesian economy, leads big construction companies to pick land and build skyscrapers, even up to this day. The people watching scene here is fabulous. You can see a white collar worker get down to the bus stop and roam the sidewalks to his office on the 20th floor, while a socialite mother was dropped by her car at the mall lobby and a handful of peaceful demonstrators walk around the roundabout to voice their aspiration. In the evening (or a short time for lunch): the crowd shifts to the cosmopolitan shopping centres for a dine and (window) shopping to wrap up their day. At Sunday morning, the road closes for you to walk on the asphalt, or even better, blend in to watch, and even join the various performances from the locals.

Pockets of commercial area to look out include the Tanah Abang wholesale market, the upscale Hotel Indonesia roundabout, the historical Monas, the artsy Cikini, the busy Senen, and the posh Senayan. The Menteng area is an upscale neighborhood, while the Jalan Jaksa is a friendly area for foreigners as a backpacker and budget party area.

By train
If you are traveling by long-distance trains, you will be very likely to arrive right away here. and are the main arrival points for Jakarta, with trains to and from destinations throughout Java island. For the commuter line rail (KA Commuter Jabodetabek), key stations in Central Jakarta include on the yellow line where you can transfer to the Dukuh Atas MRT station,  on the yellow and green lines, and  on the red and blue lines. The train from the Soekarno-Hatta airport goes to Sudirman Baru/BNI City station, which can be reached from Sudirman station on foot.

If you are using Jakarta MRT, you can start from Lebak Bulus MRT station in South Jakarta and take the train up to.

By bus
The Transjakarta Line goes to Dukuh Atas from South Jakarta, where you can connect to Line 1 by moving to the platform upstairs. Line itself goes from Kota at the North, to Blok M at the south, passing through Jendral Sudirman, M.H. Thamrin Avenue, Hayam Wuruk and Gajah Mada.

is one of the hubs for many of Transjakarta's mainlines, including line 1.

By car
Central Jakarta is circled by Jakarta's inner ring toll road. To reach the centre at the National Monument, the easiest way is to take the Semanggi exit of the southern ring road, and follow the major Sudirman and Thamrin roads to the north for about 4.5 km.

Get around
The Jakarta Government provides a hop-on tour bus that will take you to attractions across the city for free. The Transjakarta bus rapid transit line traverses through the main north-south roads Jendral Sudirman, Thamrin, and along the National Monument, and also several of the other Transjakarta routes traverse Central Jakarta. See the main article on Jakarta for more information on how to get around by Transjakarta, taxi, motorcycle taxi, etc.

Landmarks
Statues and symbols that made up Jakarta can be traced roughly at the corridor between Monas and Senayan.

Museums
Most museum in this region has a theme of patriotism, mainly because most of the action took place here.

Park
A common stereotype is that Jakartans are all work and no play, mainly because of the rarity of parks. However, empty lands and former shanty homes have increasingly been redeveloped into public parks, oases beneath the concrete jungle. In the parks, some hawkers set up stalls for a cold drink on a hot day, and most of the visitors come here for a date! The Menteng area is well-known for such a spot behind the skyscrapers.

Buy
You might assume upon arriving that only upscale shopping options exist here, because what you see is nothing but skyscrapers. But in truth, Central Jakarta is a shopper's mecca, anything you can think of can be bought here! From arts and crafts to fashion, both cheap and expensive, you will never run out of choice. If there is something that you do not like, the next mall is just a short distance away!

Eat
Being at the centre of the city where the commuters work and business travellers & tourists stay, expect a cornucopia of restaurants at all price ranges! A mouthwatering Indonesian soto at a street vendor can be just 100 metres away from the most opulent table for two on the 35th floor with food courts peppered around it.

Budget
While typically any restaurant at the food court belong to this category, those that wish to explore the better taste of Jakarta's multicultural foods should venture away from the air-con buildings to standalone or street side restaurants. They are pretty easy to find at the side streets of Soedirman and Thamrin. Jalan Haji Agus Salim usually called Jalan Sabang is especially famous for street food.

Mid-range




Splurge
A typical all you can eat buffet in a hotel would cost Rp300,000; in most cases you can just jump in to any hotel to ask for it. While they are frequented by families on weekends or possibly dinner, you can usually get a better deal on weekday for lunch where occupancy is the lowest.

The list below are standalone restaurants that are worth to tantalise your taste buds:

Drink
If you are in for a drink, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, you're in for a treat! The numerous coffee shops and cafes at malls are often where work colleagues meet and small meetings are sometimes held, while the bar is where they relax after a week's hard work. All of them are quite close to each other and are aplenty.

Due to the conservative nature of Indonesians, you may not see a whole lot of them in the bar with alcohols, save for businessmen and adolescents who just entered the legal age of drinking.

Cafes and coffee houses
Coffeehouses are abundant in Jakarta, especially in the heart of the capital city, where you can almost find many newer coffee shops around besides the big-franchises such as Starbucks and The Coffee Bean. The numbers are increasing and surely you'll almost find a new one every month or two.

Sleep
Most visitors staying in Jakarta will stay at Central, especially along the Sudirman-Thamrin strip, mainly because of its easy access to all attractions the city has to offer.

Jalan Jaksa
Jalan Jaksa as well as nearby Jalan Kebon Sirih at the northern end of Jl. Jaksa and Jalan K.H. Wahid Hasyim at the southern end are Jakarta's main backpacker hangout, with numerous low-priced hostels (dormitory beds from Rp60,000, fan room Rp80,000–120,000, aircon from Rp150,000) as well as some mid-range hotels. Whilst the area itself has a laid-back feel (which may be what attracts backpackers), it's not worth hanging around at the expense of seeing greater Jakarta. The area is just south of Gambir station (where DAMRI buses from the airport also arrive/depart every 15–30 minutes) and now fairly accessible on the busway (Sarinah stop on Line 1, just walk 200–300 m to the right from the southern end of Jl. Jaksa).

Mid-range
Most visitors coming to Jakarta stay in Central Jakarta, where a plethora of mid-range to splurge hotels are located.

Splurge
The Soedirman-Thamrin strip is home to worldwide chain hotels, especially catered to businessman for easy commute for a meeting, or even to do it at the hotel.

Cope
Emergency numbers:
 * Ambulance: 118.
 * Police: 110.

Hospital with 24 hours emergency room (ER):



Go next

 * If you make your way down Gajah Mada street, you will be at the old city of both North Jakarta and West Jakarta.
 * South Jakarta is the district of many upscale shopping malls and residential areas, as well as more skyscrapers.
 * In East Jakarta, you can find the Taman Mini theme park, which is centered around the culture of Indonesia and its provinces.
 * The spacious campus of the University of Indonesia can be found just south of the city in Depok.