Things to Do

Bengkulu's best sights cluster around its strange history as British Bencoolen and its role in Sukarno's exile. The beaches are local hangouts rather than resort strips, but they give the city its relaxed coastal rhythm.

Guide

Things to Do

01

Fort Marlborough

Fort Marlborough is the strongest reason to stop in Bengkulu. Built by the British East India Company in the early eighteenth century, the fort …

Sight
02

Bung Karno Seclusion House

Sukarno lived in this house while exiled by the Dutch from 1934 to 1942, before he became Indonesia's first president. It now works as …

Museum
03

Panjang Beach

Panjang Beach runs for kilometres along the city's coast, backed by casuarina trees rather than the coconut palms many visitors expect in Indonesia. It …

Sight
04

Fatmawati House

Fatmawati House commemorates Sukarno's wife, who was born in Bengkulu and is remembered for sewing the first Indonesian flag raised at independence in 1945. …

Museum
05

Sungai Suci Beach

Sungai Suci Beach is north of Bengkulu, beyond the easy city beaches and best reached with your own transport. Its appeal is the shape …

Sight
06

Thomas Parr Monument

The Thomas Parr Monument is a small mausoleum south of Fort Marlborough. It commemorates Thomas Parr, a British governor killed during a local rebellion …
07

Jakat Beach

Jakat Beach sits near Fort Marlborough on Segara Bay and has calmer water than much of Bengkulu's open coast. Local visitors come for cheap …

Sight
08

British Cemetery

This small 18th-century cemetery preserves the graves of Europeans who died in British Bencoolen. Only a limited number of headstones remain, but they say …

Sight
09

Teluk Sepang Beach

Teluk Sepang Beach is a quiet coastal stop south of central Bengkulu, with tide pools where small fish and other shore life can be …