Indonesia guide › Plan your trip to Indonesia

What should I pack for Indonesia?

Light, modest and versatile: loose cotton or linen clothes, a sarong, a light fleece for the volcanoes and a good insect repellent will cover most trips. Pack a travel adapter: Indonesia uses European-style round two-pin plugs (types C and F, 230 V), unlike Australia, the UK or the US.

Clothes, for the heat and for modesty:

Light tops with sleeves and long trousers or skirts: they protect you from sun and mosquitoes and work for towns, villages and places of worship (see Indonesia etiquette: what to wear and how to behave).
A sarong or a large scarf: temple wear, mosque headscarf, towel, emergency sheet.
A fleece and a windproof jacket: at sunrise on Bromo or Ijen, it can drop to around 0 °C (32 °F), and nobody thinks of that when packing for the tropics.
A light rain jacket, whatever the season.
Sandals and closed walking shoes for volcanoes and waterfalls; shoes that slip on and off easily, as you'll often take them off.

Health kit and gear:

tropical-strength repellent and sunscreen (expensive and sometimes hard to find outside tourist areas);
your personal medication in its original box, with the prescription (see What vaccinations do I need for Indonesia, and is there malaria?), plus something for upset stomachs, small cuts and bites;
a head torch (Ijen at night, power cuts), a dry bag for boat trips, a filter bottle or purification tablets to avoid plastic bottles;
a snorkelling mask that fits, if you plan to snorkel a lot.

Paperwork: passport (valid 6 months), e-VOA and All Indonesia card on your phone, paper and digital copies of your documents, your insurer's emergency number. If you're coming from the US, check that your chargers accept 230 V (most phone and laptop chargers do).

And leave some room: batik, coffee, spices and crafts are waiting for you, often for a few dollars.

Verdict: a 40 to 50-litre bag is plenty; the lighter it is, the easier it is on boats, jetty steps and buses.

Tip: take a backpack or a soft bag rather than a hard-shell suitcase on wheels: between beaches where you land with your feet in the water, lanes without footpaths and boat holds, wheels rarely get used.

Information checked in November 2026.

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What should I pack for Indonesia?

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