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Most visitors enter North Sumatra via Medan, a sprawling and crowded city stuffed with architectural gems from its colonial days. Very few travellers make it to the southernmost regions of Sumatra, which is a shame, but the region is home to interesting towns, fine jungle and mountain landscapes, and excellent surf. Rugged West Sumatra is home to beautiful upland scenery, proud Minangkabau culture with its fiery cuisine, fabulous surfing and a string of fascinating offshore islands. Engrossing North Sumatra is known for its great cultures – especially the Acehnese and the Batak – and magnificent landscapes, as well as for its wildlife and rainforests. Vast, beguiling and beautiful, there is so much to see and do in Sumatra that you could easily spend a month exploring.

Make sure to see the resident apes at the Bohorok Orangutan Centre © Don Mammoser / Shutterstock Best things to do in Sumatra Keen on travelling here? Perhaps our local experts can help. The Kubu and Rimbu in the south are the last remaining forest-dwellers, while the Orang Laut (sea people) traditionally lived aboard boats and continue to ply the seas off the east coast.

Today, Sumatra is a tapestry of ethnic groups living in rural communities: in the north are the devout Muslim people of Aceh in the northern highlands, the Christian Batak and in the west, the matrilineal Minangkabau.

The early coastal kingdoms were the entry points for foreign influence that left a lasting imprint on the very fibre of Indonesia’s culture. Situated at the western rim of the archipelago along the Strait of Malacca, for centuries the region was the gateway for maritime trade through Southeast Asia, receiving merchants from China, India, the Middle East and Europe. The thorns in the island’s side are the west coast’s susceptibility to earthquakes and tsunamis but for the intrepid traveller, the rewards are worthwhile. Allowing enough time here is the challenge. There is also memorable Danau Toba, Southeast Asia’s largest lake, along with impressive architecture, and ancient megaliths.

Sumatra is a travel haven for nature-lovers, with surfing beaches and 11 national parks sheltering tigers, elephants and orangutans. The best travel tips for visiting Sumatra