Indonesia with kids

A tiny island of royal tombs and a yellow mosque, reached by wooden boat from Tanjung Pinang. The one piece of real Bintan outside the resort strip.

A short evening boat up the Sebung after dark. Bring long sleeves; the mosquitoes are the price of admission.

A small rescue park near Lagoi with feeding sessions. Check it is a feeding-only visit when you book, not rides.

An old bauxite quarry that filled with startlingly blue water, next to a stretch of white sand that photographs like a desert. There is no shade and the colour comes from minerals rather than anything anyone should swim in.

A saltwater lagoon with kayaks and inflatables, plus a small water park. The one thing on Bintan worth leaving a resort for.

Shallow and calm a long way out on the north coast. This is the whole proposition, and with a baby it is enough.

Morning for monitor lizards and kingfishers, evening for fireflies. The evening version is better if anyone will still be awake.

Buggies over a dirt circuit beside the lagoon. Booked by the half hour, and the thing older children ask to do twice.

Double kayaks through the channels at Sebung, with a guide. Quieter than the motorboat tour and you see more.

A ten-kilometre track through scrub and rubber trees, away from the resort strip and separate from the Treasure Bay circuit. Minimum ages apply and younger children ride with an adult — ask which before you book.

Chilli crab and gong gong on a stilted platform over the water. Book through the resort; getting there alone is not straightforward.

All-inclusive access for a day without staying the night: pools, the kids' club and meals included. Worth it on the third day, when your own resort has run thin.

A cable-stayed bridge strung between six islands, with coconut stalls at the foot of it. Half an hour out, and the one photograph everyone takes on Batam.

One of the largest Buddhist temples in South East Asia, ten minutes from the ferry terminal. Free, quiet and worth the stop before the boat home.

Cheap enough to do on a whim if the weather holds. Standards are below Singapore's — check the slide restrictions yourself.

Calm, shallow water on the north-east corner, facing Singapore. Resort day passes are cheap and include the pool.

Several Nongsa resorts sell a day rate covering the pool, the beach and lunch. Cheaper than a night and often all you want.

A small island off Batam with shallow water and real sand, sold as a day trip with the ferry from Singapore included. There is nothing else to do there, which for a beach day is the whole appeal.

Open-air tracks taking children from about eight, at a fraction of Singapore prices.

Air conditioning, an arcade and a supermarket for snacks before the ferry. Unglamorous and genuinely useful in the afternoon heat.

What most families actually come for. Book the spa ahead and eat at Golden Prawn afterwards.

Grilled fish, sate padang and es campur in the middle of town. Cash, small notes, and agree the price of anything sold by weight first.

A car and a guide for the day, which on Batam is the practical way to string the bridge, a temple and lunch together. Confirm the stops before booking; operators vary them.

Ferry, one night's accommodation, transport and a tour in a single booking. Blunt, but efficient for a first visit, and it is honest about the length — one night.

Leave at seven to beat the traffic and be back by mid-afternoon. Hold onto sunglasses and water bottles in the forest.

A tram through open enclosures, a water play area and elephants. The easiest full day in Bali with mixed ages.

A temple on a rock, best in the last hour of light. Crowded, and the walk out is slippery — hold hands.

Walk-through aviaries at Batubulan with a Komodo dragon and a free-flight show. Gentler than the safari park and closer to Ubud.

Smaller and greener than the Safari Park, at Gianyar, with a water play area and feeding sessions through the day. Half a day is enough.

Next door to the Bird Park and short. An hour, and worth it mainly if one of yours is the reptile child.

A cultural park at Ungasan built around one of the tallest statues in the world, with dance performances through the afternoon. Very little shade between the limestone walls, so go late.

Dance, acrobatics and stagecraft in Nusa Dua, made for visitors rather than for a temple. The cultural evening that holds a tired child.

Chanting, fire and a cliff-edge sunset. Go early for a seat, and keep bags zipped and hats off — the monkeys at that temple are practised thieves.

A pet cafe and lounge near Kuta, and a gentler animal hour than a zoo. Ask how the animals are rotated and rested before you commit to a session.

A farm park in the north with animals to feed and a great deal of built photo scenery. It is a long drive from the south — worth pairing with a night at Munduk or Lovina rather than doing it and coming back.

The cliffs and beaches everyone photographs, by fast boat from Sanur. It is a long day: a rough crossing, hours on bad roads, and steep unrailed steps at the viewpoints. An older-child trip, not a toddler one.

Consistently rated among the best water parks in the world, in Kuta, and genuinely good across a wide age spread.

Reef-protected and shallow, which the surf beaches further west are not. The right side of the island with small children.

An indoor theme park inside a Denpasar mall: rides, a cinema and air conditioning. The obvious wet-afternoon answer in the south.

A small indoor play park north of Kuta for the under-eights. Not a destination, but it buys ninety minutes.

An indoor playground in Denpasar aimed at toddlers and early primary. Cheap, and the sort of place that rescues a wet morning.

Canggu's version of the same idea, with a cafe attached for whichever adult needs to sit down.

Trampolines, foam pits and a climbing course. The fastest way to empty an older child before an evening flight.

Warm pools on the shore of Lake Batur, with a children's pool and a slide. It is cooler up there than on the coast, so pack something long for afterwards.

Market first, then satay lilit and a curry paste ground by hand. Most schools take children with an adult.

Two hours in the whitewater at Kuta or Sanur with a board and an instructor each. Schools take children from about seven.

Escape rooms in Kuta, for the age at which a child would rather solve something than look at another temple.

A coffee plantation above the Tegallalang terraces that has grown swings, a glass floor and a sky bridge. Entry is cheap and each attraction inside is priced separately, which adds up.

The rice-terrace swing, harnessed and staffed, with lower swings for a child who does not want the big one. Weight and age limits apply to the highest.

The gentle river, grade two, through the gorge below Ubud — not the Telaga Waja, which is not. Operators set a minimum age and weight, and there is a long stair climb out at the end.

Banana boats, jet skis and a glass-bottom boat off a calm bay in the south. Sold as packages — buy the two things you actually want rather than the bundle.

An easy ride through Sanur's back lanes and along the beach path, sold as a family route. Flat, partly shaded, and short enough not to become a march.

Bean to bar in an hour, and the bar comes home with you. Reliable rainy-afternoon material.

Wax, dye, and a cloth to take away. The wax is hot, so it suits primary age upwards rather than toddlers.

Nasi campur, chicken satay and fried bananas. Ask for the child portion and no sambal, and it is the cheapest good meal of the trip.

Tables on the sand, fish chosen from ice and grilled over coconut husk, with planes coming in low overhead. Sunset, and book ahead.

Crisp duck in open pavilions over the rice fields, with branches in Ubud, Kuta and Seminyak. Room for children to be children, which the smarter places do not have.

Huts built out over fishponds at Kuta, prawns and grilled fish. Children spend the wait watching the water, which is most of the point.

A garden restaurant under a row of enormous stone figures — a setting that does the work while nobody sits still.

A resort buffet bought as a voucher. Expensive next to a warung, and worth it on the day everyone has had enough of adventure.

One pass covering a choice of Bali attractions at a set price. Check it against the individual tickets first — it only pays if you use the expensive ones.

An aquarium inside a mall in west Jakarta, with otters and an underwater show. Usually sold with Pantai Indah Kapuk, the waterfront district next to it.

The whole archipelago as a park: a house for every province, a cable car over the lot and a lake shaped like Indonesia. A full day and a lot of walking, but it does what a map cannot.

A cat cafe where the cats set the terms. Quiet and short, and a good decompression hour after a day spent in traffic.

The drive-through safari in the hills at Bogor, where the animals come to the car window. Two hours out of Jakarta each way and the whole day gone — worth it, but do not try to add anything else to that day.

The Dutch colonial square, the museums around it, and the painted bicycles with wide-brimmed hats for hire. Half a day, and hot by eleven.

A large, shaded old zoo in the south of the city with a separate primate centre. Cheap, and busy at weekends in a way that is part of the experience.

The indoor play brand Singapore families already know, in a mall in the centre of town. Familiar, air conditioned, and cheaper than at home.

A proper rink in a mall at Tangerang Selatan, south-west of the city. Skates included, and cold, which in Jakarta is the selling point.

Jakarta's seafront complex north of the city, holding a theme park, a water park and an oceanarium behind one gate. Each is a day in itself, so pick one rather than buying everything and rushing.

A studio session of slime, splat painting and figures to paint. Messy in the way children want and the room is built for.

Eating across the city on the MRT rather than in a car, which is the single best decision anyone makes in Jakarta. Better for an older child who will walk.

An alpine-themed park above the city with rabbits and deer to feed, a hobbit house, and a good deal of queueing to photograph both. Unashamedly artificial and small children love it.

Food sold from boats on a lake, with gardens, paddle boats and a miniature train around it. Check how the stalls take payment on the way in — it is not always cash.

A park of built village sets — Japan, Korea, India, Africa — with costumes to hire. Entirely a stage set, and children do not mind in the least.

A deer sanctuary and camping ground in the Ciwidey hills where you can feed the herd. Well south of the city on winding roads, so give it a whole morning.

A pale turquoise crater lake in the Ciwidey hills, reached by shuttle from the car park. The sulphur is strong enough that a quarter of an hour at the water is the sensible limit, and it does not suit anyone with a chest condition.

The crater you can drive almost to the rim of, north of the city. Same sulphur caution as Kawah Putih, and access closes whenever the volcano's alert level is raised.

Pine forest above Lembang with a rope bridge strung through the canopy and a garden of orchids under it. Bring a jacket; it is high enough to be genuinely cold.

One of the largest indoor theme parks in the region, inside a mall in the south of the city. Roller coasters under a roof, which in a place that rains most afternoons is the entire argument.

A working farm north of the city set up for children: feeding animals, planting, collecting eggs. Activities are ticketed separately on top of entry, so budget past the gate price.

A car, a driver and the Lembang sights in one day out of Jakarta. Long, but it is how most families see Bandung without moving hotels.

The largest Buddhist temple in the world, climbed on a timed ticket with a guide. Book weeks ahead; numbers on the upper terraces are capped.

Hindu spires an hour from Borobudur, and less crowded. Late afternoon is cooler and the light is better.

The Sultan's palace, still lived in, and the ruined water castle behind it with underground passages children can walk through.

The Ramayana told in dance, in the city and indoors. The Prambanan open-air version is grander and much later; this is the one that ends before bedtime.

The chicken church — a huge abandoned prayer house shaped like a bird, on a hill near Borobudur. Stairs up through the body to a view from the crown, and children take to it immediately.

A large, cheap water park on the edge of the city, and the recovery day after two temple mornings. Weekdays are close to empty.

An open jeep over volcanic ash fields past a village buried in the 2010 eruption. Dusty, bumpy and the thing they remember.

Wax, a copper pen and a square of cotton to take home. Two hours, and the souvenir is the one they actually made.

Lowered by rope into a collapsed cavern where a shaft of light hits the floor at midday. Genuinely adventurous, and there is a minimum age.

Open-top Volkswagens round the villages and paddies below the temple, stopping at a tofu maker or a pottery. Slow and breezy, and the part of Borobudur a young child actually remembers.

A village compound outside the city running gamelan, batik and rice-field activities for visitors. Hands-on rather than watched, which is the difference that matters at that age.

The Elo is the gentle river of the two here — the Progo is not. Sold combined with a Borobudur visit, and the operator sets the minimum age.

Sweet jackfruit stew with rice and egg, eaten early from a street stall. Sweeter than children expect, which usually works in its favour.

On foot through the old streets with stops to eat. Good for an older child; hot and slow for a small one.