Jakarta Private City Tour: Explore Historical Sites, Visit Local Market, Puppet Maker, Obama School

Embark on a private city tour of Jakarta and discover its rich history and culture. Visit historical sites, explore local markets, meet a puppet maker, and even visit the Obama School!

Duration: 6 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Sunda Kelapa Harbour - Sunda Kelapa Harbour is Jakarta’s oldest port, dating back to the Hindu era. It served as the main gateway to Jakarta and continues to handle domestic cargo today. Here, you can enjoy views of traditional Indonesian boats known as phinisi.
  • Jakarta Old Town - Explore Jakarta’s Old Town, known as Kota Tua, which features…
What's Included
  • Private transportation
  • Bottled water
  • Tour guide service
  • In-vehicle air conditioning
  • Parking fees
What's Not Included
  • Lunch
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

This tour is excellent for first-time visitors. Travelers can explore the highlights of Jakarta, learning about the city’s history and culture. Additionally, this tour offers a local experience by exploring the market in Chinatown, observing activities at the traditional harbor in North Jakarta, visiting a puppet maker, and understanding Indonesia’s…

Location
Sunda Kelapa Harbour
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(12 Ratings)
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Zoe_g
Apr 21, 2025
Great trip around Jakarta with very knowledgable guide. 😀 - Really comprehensive tour around Jakarta. Ms Sharia was very knowledgeable and loved her city. We saw all the main sites and had all our questions answered with lots of extra information offered. Any photos we wanted were taken so some great memories to take home. Thank you for a great trip! 😀
Review provided by Viator
Bigmal60_10
Mar 17, 2025
INTERESTING & ENTERTAINING EXCURSION - My wife & I had a great a great excursion with Erni. Not only very knowledgeable, but good fun & easy to get on with. Our first stop was the Obama School, where Barrack Obama had gone to school for 2 years when he was 8 yrs old. A very colonial building. We were entertained by the school band who were practising for an Inter-school competition. Afterwards we interacted with some of the pupils who wanted to practice their English on us. Great fun. Afterwards we had the obligatory photo. Next we were taken for a photo stop at the Memorial Park to see the National monument, which is quite impressive. Then to the old China Town where we visited the beautiful Temple, then strolled through the narrow alleyways, again interacting via Erni with some of the shop holders. Again good fun. Then had a lovely lunch at one of the oldest establishments in Jakarta called the Cafe Batavia where the waiters are dressed in old colonial outfits. Afterwards a visit to the old dockyard where goods were being loaded & unloaded in the old fashioned way from old wooden merchant ships. Overall a great day. Thanks Erni.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Bigmal60_10
Mar 14, 2025
A day off the beaten track in Jakarta - My wife & I had a wonderful day with our guide Erni. The visit to the Obama school was very interesting & the bonus seeing & hearing the school band practise for a forthcoming inter-school competition. Afterwards we had a lot of interaction with the kids who wanted to practise their English on us. Then a brief photo stop at the National monument (which is very impressive) in the memorial gardens, before a stroll through China town. Visited the very interesting local Chinese temple & more interaction (through our guide) with some of locals, was good fun. Then a lovely lunch (at our cost) at the famous colonial restaurant Batavia Cafe. After which we were taken to the old harbour to see old wooden merchant ships which still ply their trade, being loaded & unloaded in the old fashioned way. A far cry from the enormous container port of Jakarta. A great day with a great guide. Thank you Erni.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Linda_k
Mar 9, 2025
Fabulous tour with Netti - Netti was an excellent tour guide. We loved her vibrant energy and her ability to make the tour both very informative and fun! She took us to all the highlights of Jakarta in 6 hours and shared the history of Jakarta beginning in the 1500’s until now. We learned a lot! We really enjoyed going to the biggest mosque in Asia during Ramadan and seeing all the people praying and looking forward to the boxed dinners they were providing. I highly recommend Netti for the tour of Jakarta! You will love her!!
Review provided by Viator
Daniel_n
Oct 30, 2024
Hanging with Nettie - We feel so blessed to have had the incredible Nettie for this tour. As we moved through our day, it became obvious that everybody seems to know Nettie. She ensured the day had many highlights for us, from helping local school students converse in English (optional, but we loved the interaction with locals) to meeting arguably Indonesia’s greatest living puppet master to having our photo taken with a local military helicopter crew. Nettie just excelled all day long and we are so grateful to have had the opportunity to travel under her guidance.
Review provided by Viator
Yvonne_o
Aug 14, 2024
Wonderful introduction to Jakarta - Our tour guide and driver were excellent. Our guide spoke English well and provided interesting and informative commentary on history, religion and culture. We were picked up on time and delivered back to our hotel to meet the very tight schedule we had set so some members could catch afternoon flights.
Review provided by Viator
Diane_l
Feb 18, 2024
Ratif is an excellent... - Ratif is an excellent tour guide. She is so knowledgeable about the history of Indonesia. You will learn about the Dutch colonization and freedom for Indonesia. At each site she has beneficial information and answers your questions. We would highly recommend this tour to learn about Jakarta and its diverse history.
Review provided by Viator
Dianemlv56
Feb 16, 2024
Jakarta Private Tour with visit to Obama's school - We would rate this tour higher than 5 if we could. Our tour guide, Ratih was absolutely the best for this tour. She provided us with incredible knowledge about Jakarta's history from the Dutch colonization to current day Jakarta. At every site we went to she provided indepth knowledge and answered our questions. A highlight for us was to go to the school Obama went to as a child. She made sure we had time there and got to spend time with the teacher and children. The entire tour was culturally enriching and if you are in Jakarta, we would recommend this tour. Our driver was able to navigate the traffic in Jakarta which can be daunting. A fantastic tour with a very knowledgeable tour guide, Ratih, which made our trip to Jakarta even more memorable.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tia_g
Feb 3, 2024
Obama's Indonesian connection. - Interesting to see President Obama's connection to Indonesia, very friendly at school happy to let us look around & photograph.
Review provided by Viator
Tiamot777
Feb 1, 2024
Exceptional Jakarta Tour Foose who are more than superficially curious, who want to know why the culture is the way it i - Ratih was a fine guide with a great grasp of English for which I was grateful & with a formidable grasp of her counries history, political philosophy, religions, which was exactly what I was interested in. She adapted to my nèeds, I have some mobility issues, consulted me about all choices, found me the best meal I have had in Jakarta, (i went back today) & answered my questions about how behave with Indonesian people & how to show respect. I suspect her business is her love & she is very good at it I would recommend her to anyone. & ask her to get you some Mangosteen.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $60
up to 10 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).