Often touted as the ‘next Bali’, Lombok offers its own unique version of Indonesian culture and society at a much slower pace than its more popular neighbour to the west. In Lombok, there are certainly similarities to Indonesia’s other islands, such as volcanoes, beautiful beaches, clear warm waters, jungle terrain and plenty of traditional villages which have yet to be grossly modernised. However, the low-key character of Lombok’s tourism means that visitors need to do more of the legwork to find the really special sights on this island.

The only airport on Lombok is Selaparang Airport, located just outside Mataram. Most of the flights into this small airport originate in Indonesia, although there are a couple of weekly direct flights from Singapore and Malaysia. There are frequent flights to Denpasar on Bali, as well as to Surabaya and Jakarta with Garuda Indonesia, Merpati, Wings Air and GT Air handling all of the business. Merpati flies to Kuala Lumpur daily, while Silk Air offers direct service to Singapore three times a week.

Banks: 08:30 to 15:30, Monday to Friday; 09:30 to 12:30, Saturdays
Post Offices: 09:00 to 15:00; Monday to Friday; 08:00 to 13:00, Saturdays
Department Stores and Shops: 08:00 to 17:00, daily
Museums: 09:00 to 15:30, Tuesday to Sunday, closed Mondays
Business Offices: 09:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday