Asia >> Southeast Asia >> Indonesia >> Sulawesi

Sulawesi (formerly Celebes) is one of the main islands of Indonesia. With four spindly arms spinning outward, Sulawesi's spidery shape is easily recognizable.

Regions

Cities

  • Gorontalo
  • Makassar (Ujung Pandang) — capital of the South and Sulawesi's largest city
  • Manado — proudly Protestant capital of the North and the gateway to Bunaken
  • Palu

Other destinations

  • Bunaken — marine park with some of the world's best diving
  • Tana Toraja — highlands famed for their elaborate burial rites
  • Togian Islands — diving destination way off the beaten track

Culture and History

Sulawesi's tough terrain and massive size (174,600 km²) have meant that the island has a wildly divergent set of peoples and cultures, speaking eight major languages and professing Christian, Muslim, Hindu and animist beliefs (not to mention various mixes thereof).

Talk

Travel to Sulawesi - Visa Requirements

Flights and airtickets to Sulawesi

Sulawesi's main ports of entry is Makassar, which has frequent flights throughout the archipelago. Manado acts as a secondary hub, with some interesting connections eastward to Halmahera and Papua. Both cities have direct flights from Singapore on SilkAir and from Kuala Lumpur on Air Asia.

Tours and Getting around Sulawesi

By plane

The sheer size of Sulawesi and the poor state of its roads make plane the transportation method of choice. Flights radiate out from Makassar and Manado to all points on the island.

Buses to Sulawesi

The Trans-Sulawesi Highway winds for over 3900 km from Makassar to Manado. Despite the grand name, the road is narrow, twisty, spottily paved and dangerous.

Sulawesi tourist attractions and sightseeing

Itineraries

Sulawesi city tours

Sulawesi souvenirs and shopping

Ikat weaving is Sulawesi's best-known craft, with different styles all around the island.

Sulawesi Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive

Sulawesi cuisine is quite varied, but the best-known is Manadonese cuisine from the north, an interesting mix of Dutch influences, incredibly spicy chillies and unorthodox ingredients like bat and dog.

Sulawesi nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs

Stay safe

Central Sulawesi continues to be wracked by sporadic ethnic violence, with bombings and violent riots in Poso, Palu and Tentena as militant Christian and Muslim factions battle. South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi have also experienced some unrest. North Sulawesi is generally calm.

Get out

Destinations in Sulawesi:

This page was last edited by Jani Patokallio. Based on work by ato, Todd VerBeek, Gobbler and Evan Prodromou, Wikitravel user(s) Episteme, W66LinkBot and Akubra and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license

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