Bengkulu
Bengkulu, historically known as Bencoolen, is a province of Indonesia.
It is located on the southwest coast of Sumatra. It was formed on 18 November 1968 by separating out the area of the historic Bencoolen Residency from the province of South Sumatra under Law No. 9 of 1967 and was finalized by Government Regulation No. 20 of 1968. Spread over 20,122.21 km2, its land area is comparable to the European country of Slovenia or the U.S. state of Massachusetts or Ivanovo Oblast and it is bordered by the provinces of West Sumatra to the north, Jambi to the northeast, Lampung to the southeast, and South Sumatra to the east, and by the Indian Ocean to the northwest, south, southwest, and west.
Getting to Bengkulu
- 01Fatmawati Soekarno Airport
Serves Bengkulu, the city and the province.
Where to eat
- 01Bakso Arema Rizki
Serves meatballs soup with noodle and shaved ice desserts.
- 02Warkop Palembang
They serve various Chinese-influenced foods such as stir-fried noodle, noodle soup, chicken porridge, and vegetable stew; as well as pempek dishes Rp12,000-25,000 per dish.
- 03Sembam Ikan Marola
Serves seafood dishes, both traditional and modern.
Getting around Bengkulu the local way
- Get aroundMinivan (angkot) acts as the city's sole public transport system.
- Get aroundRiding the minivan will also give you insight into the daily life in the city, since its service covers most of Bengkulu, including traditional markets, business districts, and residential areas.
- Get aroundThe minivan is colour- and alphabet-coded, based on which line it's operated in.
- Get aroundEach alphabet actually has suffix to indicate certain route it takes, but in practice only Green and Red minivan follow the convention.
From Wikivoyage: Bengkulu, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-05.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Crisco 1492 (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons.