Guide to Makassar

the capital of South Sulawesi, a big city that we unexpectedly found homey and really enjoyed

We arrived to Makassar planning to only be there for 1-2 nights, but we ended up actually enjoying the city a lot more than we had anticipated and ended up staying 4 nights. We had heard that Makassar is a big city that we would want to get out of it relatively quickly, but after a day of walking around and exploring, we were surprised by how much we actually enjoyed it!

While Makassar is a big city, it’s actually made up of many different neighborhoods, all of which are relatively walkable, and it made a big city feel actually quite homey and pleasant. Each neightborhood also has their own distinct yet similar feel, and it makes walking around different parts of town a nice way to explore. We were pleasantly surprised about how nice it was to simply walk around and absorb the neighborhoods, since most other places in Indonesia are not very pedestrian friendly. I’d definitely recommend giving Makassar a shot and spending a couple days just absorbing and exploring.

Watch our full video exploring Makassar here!

Contents

Where to stay in Makassar

What to do in Makassar

How to get around Makassar

What to eat in Makassar

Where to stay in Makassar

The most common neighborhood to stay in is the Losari Beach area. It’s a relatively “upscale” neighborhood by Indonesia standards, and it’s by the waterfront with pedestrian friendly streets which makes it easy to explore the area. We thought this was a good place to stay our first couple nights while we got our bearings around Makassar, as it’s an approachable and easy place to start. After a couple nights, we then enjoyed moving to a different part of the city to experience something more local. We moved nearby to the Swiss Belcourt Makassar Hotel, and really liked this hotel and the surrounding area. I would highly recommend staying here.

What to do in Makassar

Explore the Losari neighborhood and visit 99 Domes Mosque

Makassar is a surprisingly nice city just to walk around in and absorb! I would recommend at least 2 days in the city to be able to really get a feel for it. On the first day, you can walk around the Losari neighborhood, a nice neighborhood along the coast. There, you can also visit the famous 99 Domes Mosque. The mosque is a beautiful and grand building, and interesting to see from the inside and out. If you plan to visit inside, wear long pants and a top that covers your shoulders. Women will also be given a full head covering to wear there, so you don’t need to bring anything yourself.

Explore other neighborhoods of Makassar

On the second day, we wanted to explore a different part of town, so we found a dessert place with good reviews online and took a Grab there. We went to Rumah Makan Muda Mudi and shared an es pisang ijo, a local Makassar dessert that was shaved ice, coconut, and banana. We didn’t really know what to expect, but it was actually quite good! After dessert we strolled around for another hour or so, and we found this part of town quite nice just to walk around! It was different from the Losari area that we were staying in. Perhaps a bit more local and peaceful, and we enjoyed just watching kids kick around a soccer ball on the street and locals working along the sidewalk.

Visit Makassar Central Market

Another thing to do in Makassar is to explore the markets. We went to Makassar Central Market, a huge local market with tons of clothes, accessories, knick knacks, you-name-it for sale. If you’ve been to other Indonesian markets, this is quite similar, but just much bigger. It’s nice to check out for a little bit just to get a taste of the local culture in Makassar! Right outside the Central Market, there is also the Central Mall. We also peaked in here just to see, but it was quite similar to the market.

How to get around Makassar

Transportation around Makassar is easy. Many places are actually quite walkable and if you’re going a further distance, you can either take a Grab or Gojek (the two Uber apps of Indonesia) which are quite cheap and readily available in the area, or you can take a motorcycle tuktuk on the street. There are both scooters and cars available by Grab/Gojek. I would recommend trying the motorcycle tuktuk at least once, as it’s a pretty fun way to experience the city! You’ll need to do some negotiating, but you can get it down to a similar price as a Grab.

What to eat in Makassar

Makassar is known for its seafood – there’s fresh seafood on the menu everywhere, and you should definitely try it while you’re here! We went to RM Ujung Pandang, a local’s recommendation, and it was some of the best food we had in Sulawesi. It’s a bit of a nicer restaurant, but worth it to treat yourself to restaurant quality, local food once. Our favorite was the cumi-cumi goreng mentega (brown butter fried squid), which I would 100% recommend.

We were also recommended RM Apong, but didn’t have a chance to make it there. It’s similar to the other restaurant, as a nicer local seafood restaurant.

We also went to this food court, which has many local options and has nice indoor and outdoor seating. The outdoor seating is on a deck overlooking the boat harbor, and is a very idyllic place to enjoy a local meal.

In terms of the bar scene in Makassar, we honestly didn’t explore it at all. In general, alcohol is quite hard to find in Indonesia, especially on Sulawesi since it’s such a local island in comparison to more touristy islands like Bali and Lombok. We had heard there are some bars in Makassar, and definitely some places where you can find a Bintang (local beer), but we didn’t look for any during our time here.