Indonesia Visa, Passport & Money Advice
If you’re planning a trip to Indonesia, it’s important to get clued up on the essential Indonesia tourist information before your journey begins. From passports and visas to useful money tips, we’ve compiled a page of information to give you a helping hand.
Visa & Passports
If you’re travelling to Indonesia on a British passport, make sure you’ve got at least 6 months validity left beyond your intended departure date. You’ll also need to keep your arrival card to present to immigration when you leave.
If you are a UK passport holder, you will need to buy a visa on arrival at a cost of IDR 500,000 – this can be paid in cash or by card.
This visa is valid for 30 days, and can be extended once (for a maximum of 30 days) by making an application to an immigration office within Indonesia.
If you are travelling to Bali, you’ll also be required to pay a retribution fee of IDR 150,000 (approx. £10 per person). This fee can be done through the official Love Bali website and will go towards the island’s sustainability efforts. Keep the receipt handy if you’re planning on returning to Bali after some Indonesian island hopping, the fee is payable once for the whole duration of your visit to Indonesia.
If you’d like to find out more information on visas, take a look at the Indonesian embassy website.
Local currency
The currency in Indonesia is the Indonesian rupiah (IDR). The exchange rate to GBP can be quite volatile and usually sits between IDR 15,000 and 20,000 to £1. To cover those first few expenses that may crop up, we recommend arriving with approximately £200 and exchanging this at the airport.
Credit and Debit Cards
There are plenty of cash points in Indonesia, though mostly in the larger cities. On Bali, it’s not a problem withdrawing or exchanging money. But it might be trickier on the smaller or less touristy islands like Flores where the only cash machines on the island are in Maumere and Labuhan Bajo. As these are sometimes broken or empty, make sure you have enough cash when you’re travelling to remote areas. It’s useful to keep some loose change handy too, so you don’t need to pull out your wallet every time you tip someone or buy a bottle of water. Note that credit and debit cards are not commonly accepted outside shops and restaurants in the major cities.
