Tips for Best Islands to Visit (Not Just Bali)

At the risk of stating the obvious: Indonesia is huge.

In fact, it’s bigger than Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and The Philippines combined. And it is wider than the entire United States.

So when I see Indonesia covered as just another chapter in a region guide for Southeast Asia, it always seems funny to me. Indonesia could easily justify a whole guide on its own.

What makes it especially daunting is that the default visa for Indonesia is just 30 days. So even if you’re a backpacker traveling the region with no end date, you’ll still be limited in what you can see. Then again, Indonesia is a destination you can always come back to for more.

Some travelers only go to Bali, Indonesia’s famed resort island. Bali at its best can still be enchanting, especially if you go inland, but it has sadly been more often in the news lately for being overtouristed and polluted. More original destinations — such as Lombok, Java, or Sumatra — will let you escape the…