Jakarta

The 132-metre marble obelisk crowned with a flame of gilded bronze that is the symbol of independent Indonesia, rising from the vast Merdeka Square at the city's heart. Ride the lift to the top for a view over the sprawl, tour the diorama museum of Indonesian history in the base, and join the locals relaxing on the huge park lawns around it. The essential first stop.

The heart of old Batavia — a wide cobbled square ringed by grand, faded Dutch colonial buildings, now museums, with locals cycling brightly coloured rental bikes in floppy hats and street performers everywhere. The most atmospheric spot in the city; explore the Jakarta History Museum in the old city hall, and soak up the crumbling colonial grandeur over a coffee.

The largest mosque in Southeast Asia and the third-largest in the world — a vast, serene modernist hall of gleaming white marble and stainless steel, its great dome sheltering up to 200,000 worshippers. Non-Muslims are warmly welcomed on guided tours (dress modestly, robes provided); a peaceful, awe-inspiring space, and a powerful symbol of tolerance facing the cathedral across the road.

A beautiful neo-Gothic Catholic cathedral of soaring spires and stained glass, standing directly across the road from the great Istiqlal Mosque — the two houses of worship deliberately facing each other, sharing car parks on each other's holy days, as a celebrated emblem of Indonesia's religious harmony. A lovely, peaceful interior, and a moving pairing with the mosque opposite.

The best museum in the country and the ideal primer for the whole archipelago — vast, well-laid-out collections of prehistoric finds, Hindu-Buddhist statuary, ethnographic treasures from a thousand islands, and a hoard of royal gold. Known as the 'Elephant Building' for the bronze elephant out front; cool, calm and genuinely world-class, it gives real depth to any Indonesia trip.

Jakarta eats brilliantly and cheaply — nasi goreng and mie goreng from the roadside warung, satay grilling over coals, spicy soto soups, martabak stuffed pancakes and gado-gado salad in peanut sauce, all for a euro or two. Follow the crowds and the smoke to a busy kaki lima cart or a food court; grazing your way through it is the real taste of the city.

One of Southeast Asia's oldest Chinatowns — a teeming, sensory maze of narrow lanes packed with wet-market stalls, herbal-medicine shops, incense-wreathed temples like the ancient Jin De Yuan, and some of the best street food in Jakarta. Gritty, fascinating and utterly authentic; go in the morning for the markets and temples, and follow your nose down the food alleys.

The old spice-trade port that gave birth to the city — a working harbour where towering, brightly painted wooden pinisi schooners, little changed in centuries, still load and unload cargo by hand. Wander the quay past the giant hulls, hire a small boat for a closer look, and step into the age of sail; a photogenic, evocative corner of maritime Jakarta near the old town.

A huge culture park that packs the whole archipelago into one day out — pavilions recreating the traditional houses of each Indonesian province, museums, gardens and a lake with a map of the islands you can view from a cable car. Sprawling and a little dated, but a genuinely useful and enjoyable overview of the country's staggering diversity; great for families and rainy-season visits.

Jakartans have turned the mall into a way of life, and the giant Grand Indonesia and neighbouring Plaza Indonesia on Thamrin are the flagship — endless shopping, cinemas, and food courts serving dishes from across the archipelago, all blissfully air-conditioned. Love it or not, it's how much of the city socialises and escapes the heat; a very Jakarta afternoon.

Jakarta's nightlife is bigger and better than its reputation — a sophisticated scene of sky-high rooftop bars, speakeasies and clubs, especially around the SCBD district, with skyline views and a stylish, moneyed crowd. Dress up, ride the lift and toast the sea of city lights; from craft-cocktail dens to big clubs, the capital knows how to stay up late.

On Fatahillah Square, the famous Café Batavia occupies a beautifully preserved 19th-century building, its walls crammed with old photographs — a wonderfully atmospheric spot for a coffee or a colonial-era cocktail overlooking the square. The old town is dotted with such characterful cafés in faded mansions; a lovely way to rest and soak up old Batavia between the museums.

A charming museum on the old-town square devoted to Indonesia's UNESCO-listed art of wayang — intricate leather shadow puppets and carved wooden rod puppets from across the islands, plus masks and gamelan instruments. Small, atmospheric and often with live shadow-play performances at weekends; a lovely, offbeat window into a storytelling tradition centuries old.

The leafy southern district of Kemang is where creative, cosmopolitan Jakarta hangs out — a walkable strip of independent coffee roasters, art spaces, boutiques, and some of the city's best restaurants and low-key bars. A relaxed, human-scaled antidote to the malls and towers; the place to spend a lazy afternoon and easy evening among locals and expats.

The lanes of Glodok hide some of Jakarta's most legendary eating — the Petak Sembilan market alley and its surrounds, where decades-old stalls serve peranakan-Chinese classics: rich bakmi noodles, gado-gado, kue (cakes) and the famous es kopi. Gritty, generations-deep and utterly delicious; a guided food crawl here is one of the city's great culinary adventures.