Indonesien

South Sulawesi is huge. The sprawling capital and bustling port city of Makassar in the far south is tumultuous yet friendly, and likely where your journey will start or end. While you're there, feast on some of the best seafood on the island and explore the stunning karst landscapes just outside of town. If you have a little longer, the southeast corner of the peninsula is home to sleepy Pantai Bira with its world-class diving and fine sandy beaches.

Combining natural beauty, a warm local heart, and a palpable and fascinating history, this remote cluster of 10 picturesque islands isn't just Maluku’s choice travel destination, it's one of the best in Indonesia. Particularly impressive undersea drop-offs are vibrantly plastered with multicoloured coral gardens offering superlative snorkelling and diving. The central islands – Pulau Neira and Pulau Banda Besar (the great nutmeg island) – curl in picturesque crescents around a pocket-sized tropical Mt Fuji (Gunung Api, 656m).

Kupang is the capital of Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT). Despite the city’s scruffy waterfront, sprawling gnarl of traffic and a lack of eye-catching architectural elements, this is a place you can get used to. Besides, there are atmospheric markets in the centre, spots to relax beside locals and a smattering of nearby natural wonders. The energy can be contagious – it's a university town, after all – even if you're just popping in and out.

Together with Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Bagan in Myanmar, Borobudur ranks as one of the great cultural icons of Southeast Asia. Looming above a patchwork of bottle-green paddy fields and slivers of tropical forest, this colossal Buddhist monument has survived volcanic eruptions, terrorist attack and the 2006 earthquake. The last caused considerable damage, but thankfully this most enigmatic of temples has remained undiminished in scale and beauty.

Continuing seamlessly north from Seminyak, Kerobokan combines some of Bali's best restaurants and shopping, lavish lifestyles and still more beach. Glossy new resorts mix with villa developments. One notable landmark is the notorious Kerobokan Prison.

Steamy Semarang, with its giant port, rapidly developing city centre and affluent outskirts, is home to a large Chinese population whose influence on local life is evident in the city's culture and cuisine. The inner core of the city dates back to the Dutch colonial period and many of the old buildings from this era are being renovated. When complete, this old quarter will no doubt become the focus of a visit for most travelers.

Singaraja (which means 'lion king') is Bali's second-largest city and the capital of Buleleng Regency, which covers much of the north. With its tree-lined streets, surviving Dutch colonial buildings and charmingly sleepy waterfront area north of Jl Erlangga, it's worth exploring for a couple of hours. Most people stay in nearby Lovina.

Even a country as full of adventure as Indonesia has its final frontier. And here it is: Papua, half of the world’s second-biggest island, New Guinea. It may be the youngest part of Indonesia, but Papua's rich tribal traditions span thousands of years. This is a place where some people still hunt their food with bows and arrows. A place where roads are so scarce, that to travel between towns you often have to take to the air or the water. So unlike any other part of Indonesia, the province formerly known as Irian Jaya can feel like a different country – which is what many Papuans, who are Melanesian and ethnically distinct from other Indonesians, would prefer it to be.

Just beginning to appear on visitor itineraries, Nusa Penida still awaits proper discovery. It's an untrammeled place that answers the question: what would Bali be like if tourists never came? There are just a handful of formal activities and sights; instead, you go to Nusa Penida to explore and relax, to adapt to the slow rhythm of life here.

Loud and frenetic, Kuta and Legian are the epicentre of mass tourism in Bali. The grit and wall-to-wall cacophony have become notorious through often overhyped media reports of tourists behaving badly.