There are several Club, pubs and Karaoke to visit at night in Medan. There is an entertainment complex located in the heart of the city in Medan, call Capital building located close to the Post office at Jalan Putri Hijau. Capital Building's activity

• Taipan- Silver service chinese restaurant, with excellent interior decor
• Snook Pool Bar
• Office
• Classical - exclusive KTV Karaoke room
• Retro- PUB

These are the well known clubs in Medan, such as :

• Millennium Three ( M3 ) Discotheque, located at Thamrin Plaza 8th floor
• K2 - Karaoke Keluarga (Family Karaoke), located at Multatuli
• Kristal Discotheque , located in Perisai Plaza
• Iguana Discotheque , Medan Baru Plaza
• Jet Plane KTV , Plaza Medan Fair
• Equator KTV & Pub , Hongkong Plaza
• F1 Discotheque , located at Jalan Wazir / Jalan Kolonel Sugiono
• Tropicana KTV
• Stroom Bistro , located at Jalan Listrik
• M City , located at Jalan Gatot Subroto

Many tourists choose to use Medan as a quick thru-point to travel elsewhere in Sumatra, but the city offers a glimpse of a large Indonesian city still unfrequented by western tourists, and shouldn't be quickly dismissed. However, Medan is more chaotic and has a bit more litter than Jakarta or Denpasar and open sewers abound. Furthermore, not as many people speak English in Medan as in other large Indonesian cities, but even a short list of useful expressions goes a long way, and Sumaterans are still unjaded by westerners.

• Maimoon Palace
• Vihara Borobudur (Buddhist Temple)
• Vihara Gunung Timur (Chinese Temple)
• Mesjid Raya Mosque
• Merdeka Walk (5 mins from Kesawan Square)
• Tondi Gallery (Contemporary Arts Exhibitions by local artists)
• Annai Velangkani (Catholic Shrine with Hindu-style architecture)
• Shri Mariaman (Hindu Temple)

Medan's Polonia International Airport and Belawan sea port are both visa-free and visa-on-arrival points.

For more visa information, see the Indonesia page.

By plane

Medan's international airport is known as Polonia International Airport (MES) and is located about 15 minutes from the city. Domestic departure taxes from Medan increased on 15 August 2005 from Rp15,000 to Rp25,000, while international departure taxes remained constant at Rp100,000. The domestic terminal is nicer than the international terminal because in 2006 a fire in the baggage handling system damaged the international terminal and there is no moneychanger for currency other than USD. ATM machines are located only at the domestic airport. Bags are checked by customs upon departure, unless you have friends at the airport. Domestic flights out of Medan do not check IDs (sporadically, they check passports at check-in) at security checks (only tickets).

Medan currently is in progress to finalise the new Bandara Udara Kuala Namu Internasional Airport due to open sometime in 2009.

Getting there: A Taxi into town sets you back around Rp40,000, unless you walk past the taxis in front of the terminal and proceed towards the exit. There are more taxis towards the exit, and if you bargain well, you can get a taxi for only Rp.20,000. If you know the public bus number for your destination, it is Rp.3500 per person, but those unfamiliar with the Indonesian language are encouraged to get taxis for their first transportation.

There are direct international flights to/from Penang (for only around $70 return), Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru and Ipoh in Malaysia; Singapore. Several discount airlines service Medan, though the only one with reliable Internet booking (in July and August 2005) is AirAsia, with fares sometime below US$50 return if purchased in advance. Another option, Firefly airlines will start flies to Medan daily from Penang.

• Firefly Airlines [1] to/from Penang ( Call centre:603-7845 4543)
• AirAsia [2] to/from Kuala Lumpur, Penang
• Kartika Airlines [3] (Tel: +62-61-4522433) to/from Penang and Ipoh
• Malaysia Airlines [4] to/from Penang and Kuala Lumpur
• Garuda - the most popular in domestic flights
• SilkAir (Singapore Airlines)
• Valuair - budget airlines flying to Singapore
• Lion Air [5] (Garuda Plaza Hotel, Jalan Sisingamangaraja No.18. Tel: +62-61-7351168 or 7351169) to/from Penang

For destinations within Indonesia, there are direct flights to/from Jakarta, Pekanbaru, Batam and other cities.

• AirAsia [6] to/from Jakarta
• Kartika Airlines [7] to/from Batam and Jakarta
• Merpati
• Garuda
• Lion Air [8] to Jakarta and Banda Aceh
• Linus Airways

By bus

Larger, non air-conditioned buses and large luxury buses (often Mercedes) that are air-conditioned (some have toilets on board, though they are squatting toilets that are difficult to use when the buses are moving, given driving habits and road conditions throughout Sumatra). The central station for all larger buses in Medan is Amplas Station Central (not located in the center of the city though). This is where a lot of the smaller minivans go as well, and where travellers need to go to make connecting buses to further cities. Many of the large air-conditioned buses perform overnight routes, with prices varying by location served. As an example of prices from August 2005, expect to pay around Rp.50,000-80,000 for an 8-10 hour overnight luxury bus (without toilet saves about Rp.10,000+) trip, as in to Duri, Bukit Lawang, or Lake Toba (Danau Toba). Such buses provide a small snack and sometimes have televisions on board. While seats are very comfortable by Sumatran standards, all rides are swervy/bumpy and drivers often play stereos quite loud during the entire trip (unless a movie is available). Also, many buses have smoking sections in the back, and sometimes, smoking occurs in the front of the non-smoking section by the driver if the driver is so inclined. Earplugs are good accessories. Furthermore, while the large luxury buses have ample stowage above seats, keep valuables safe while you sleep.

By boat

Medan is not located by the sea but nearby Belawan is a major port with domestic and international boat and ferry services. Belawan is listed as a visa-free and visa-on-arrival entry point (see the Get in section of the Indonesia page).

To/from other parts of Indonesia: Pelni [9] boats link Belawan with various ports in Sumatra and other Indonesian islands. The comfortable MV Kelud departs from Belawan every Tuesday. The full sailing schedule is on www.pelni.com [10].

To/from Malaysia: Ferries run to/from Penang, Malaysia. Operated by Langkawi Ferry Services [11], Tel: +62-61-4521666/4527555 in Medan; +60-4-2642088 in Penang. Check the schedule ahead of time as they are NOT daily.

Since March 2007 there is a ferry from Medan to Lumut (Perak/Malaysia). It's RM100 one way and RM180 for a return ticket. The ferry leaves on Friday and Monday at 10:00AM from Medans port Belawan and on Wednesday and Saturday at 10:30AM from Lumut. As schedules changes check the schedule before (Indonesia office: sukma@medan.wasantara.net.id +62-6261-7320421 in Medan, Malaysia office: imn_tsc@streamyx.com, +60-5-6056804000 in Lumut).

Medan city are swamped by Becak and Taxi (the preferable choice to get around)

By rail

Medan is connected by rail to other conurbations on the eastern coast of Sumatra, such as Tanjungbalai, Rantauprapat, Siantar and Binjai. Executive, business and economy class trains are available, but if your budget allows, take the better class trains, which are faster and more comfortable. Tickets cost between Rp.9,000 (economy) to Rp.70,000 (executive).

By becak

Also known as trishaws or pedicabs. You have to be good negotiator if you want to ride on becaks, with price ranging between Rp.5,000 to Rp.10,000 depending on the destination (near or far).

Very few becak drivers speak more than a few words of English, but a map and lots of pointing will get you to the right place, even if it takes twice as long as you thought.

As you can get a hotel taxi for Rp35,000 to almost anywhere in Medan, paying more than Rp15,000 for a longer ride is probably not a good idea. Local taxis are now Rp30,000 to almost anywhere. They will not bargain much with tourists or visitors (people from Java!). The only difference I could detect between the becak and the taxi was that the taxi kept you dry when it rained, not much difference apart from that.

By taxi

Cost Rp.20,000 (2005) to go anywhere around the city (close or far). Be careful of picking up a taxi. Try to pick taxi from a reliable place such in front of malls, shopping centres or airport. Better taxis can be hailed from shopping malls, but not hotels apparently. Suggest use hotel taxi rather than street taxi. Most taxi drivers won't use a meter and want to bargain. One taxi company that always uses a meter is Express. They are white and can usually be found around Sun Plaza and Tasbi residential complex. Call 4552211 if you want to order.

By bus

Public transport is not reliable and not suggested for travellers, though they have fixed price from one destination to other destinations.

Small minivans have painted numbers (1 to 267 in Medan) that signify their routes, which even locals don't have memorized. If you speak Indonesian, just ask where people are standing by the roadsides which "bus" number corresponds to your location and what the price is in advance. When a van with the appropriate number approaches, flag them down as they don't make scheduled stops (just drive along a given route and drop off passengers when told or pick up new passengers when flagged). If you are a westerner, be sure to confirm the price before getting in. This type of transportation should only be braved by those with a point-to-point knowledge of Medan and a working knowledge of Indonesian so they know where to tell the driver to stop, unless you have a local friend whom can take you around.

One easy route is Minibus #3 from the great mosque (at the side of yuki mall) to the Medan Mall, which is Rp 2,000

All sudako or angkot (minibus) are now Rp 3,000 per ride.

• Medan Mall. A must go place for tourists where you can find almost everything from fine jewelery, clothing, food, and groceries. The mall attached to Central Pasar that sells everything in bulk. This is the place where the big retailers are. There is also wet market extended located just behind the Central Pasar that operating in the morning time only, and a dry market that operates only in the evening.  edit
• Carrefour stores stock food as well as electronics and clothing. The clothing section includes many namebrands at very low prices (ex: Diesel t-shirts for Rp.15,000, or about $1.50 USD). Many western food items can be found as well, at fairly competitive prices. These supermarkets cater to the middle/upper classes and are one of the few stores in Medan that accept credit cards.

• Sun Plaza, located in central city. Big plaza and lots of happening in Saturday and Sunday. Plenty of food choices from western to eastern. Has a big supermarket, named Hypermart which offer the equal style of shopping like Carrefour.

• Medan Fair Plaza, city center. Has a big Carrefour supermarket, so if you need something you will be able to find them in Carrefour. Lots of eating options also.

• Masindo Jewellery which was established since 1927, located in the central of the city at Gwangju street No.30. This jewelry shop sells various jewelry forms (necklace, bangle, bracelet, earrings, men and women rings, pendant) in 24K gold which are structured by pearl and diversity of gemstones. These jewelries are designed by an expert jewelries designer.Masindo Jewellery is the well-known jewelry shop in the town and it has launched a branch known as D'On Jewellery which specialize in diamonds. For more information please don't be hesitated to call the hot-line: (+6261)4519101.

• hels, complete design services in graphics and fashion, complete with a clothing store with prices from Rp.10,000 - Rp.120,000 (USD1 - USD12), hels shop location: Jl. sei batang serangan 39/54 medan20154, +62614573166, hels.medan@gmail.com

• Macan Yaohan Supermarkets, there are 8 branches located around Medan for your grocery shopping. Find more information and locations at [12]

• TauKo Medan, Cutting-edge Medan merchandise: t-shirts (Rp.60,000), at Merdeka Walk, balai kota,lap.merdeka medan. taukomedan@gmail.com

• Toko Mr. Ben, sells imported western food all sorts at reasonable prices, e.g frozen New Zealand beef and lamb. It is a small, Chinese-owned shop, all expatriates know it.

• Tondi Gallery Contemporary arts by local, national and international artists. Open Monday - Saturday 10a.m - 5p.m., Sundays 12p.m. - 5p.m. Jalan Keladi Buntu No. 6. Close to Jalan Sriwijaya and Dharma Agung University.

• Bolu Meranti located Jl. Kruing, near Jl. Meranti, on Petisah area. The home-made roll cakes with variety of tastes, such as cheese, blueberry, mocca etc.

• Bika Ambon & Marquisa located at Jl. Majapahit, on Petisah area. With numbers of shops along the street there, you can do the selection.

• Dried fruits with sugar on Pasar Rame, a famous morning till afternoon market, beside Thamrin Plaza.

• Karaoke Keluarga( K2), Kompleks Multatuli, ☎ 4575-055. 11:00-02:00.  edit

• Koki Sunda, ☎ (061) 4533282, [13]. ,as the name implies, serves tasty Sundanese food and beverages such as Nasi Liwet and Es Delima. Located at the heart of the city at the corner of S.Parman and Hasanuddin makes it a place hard to miss if you travel around the city. Its reasonably priced and wide array selection of delicious food is well known to both the locals and visitors alike. Koki Sunda now opens in Tanjung Morawa and Pekan Baru.  edit

• ""Gelato Bar"" [14], Italian Gelato Dessert and many popular pasta dishes are available here. With their tagline DESSERT WITH STYLE. its good place to hang out and relaxing after hectic work. Call 061-4533166 to book a place.

• Obonk Steak Restaurant located on Pattimura Street and HM Joni Street. The cheapest and most affordable salad and steak available in town. For more information call 456-9989

• Medan Home Dairy [15]. The Best Home-made Mediterranean Cheeses and Yogurts in Indonesia!!! Located at TASBI Complex. They are producing many kinds of Goat's and Cow's milk Cheeses, and yogurts too. For the Goat's milk products they are using fresh, pasteurized (twice) ORGANIC GOAT'S MILK!!! Call 081-397-033-540 to order your healthy dairy products. To get more information you can click HERE [16].

• Apek's Coffee House Jalan Hindu, Kesawan, Medan. Historic coffee house with excellent Lintong Coffee served up by 79-year old Apek. This place was set up by Apek's father in 1922. Serves Roti Srikaya (Kaya Toast). Contains stalls with Indian Roti Cane bread with goat curry and martabaq and Malay Soto soup. Outside are Malay fried rice and Chinese kwetiau noodles. Umissable piece of Medan history!

• Merdeka Walk the hottest hangout place in town, cafe, resto, exhibition, entertainment at Lapangan Merdeka.

• Kesawan Square is located along Ahmad Yani street, before Merdeka Walk. It offers unique atmosphere for pleasure. Open only @ 6PM til' 1AM everyday. Numerous vendors provide various kinds of cuisine, the majority of which are Chinese. Each vendor has "halal" or "non halal" label on their stand. However, the toilet facilities provided in the area are abysmal.

• Mansyur Avenue, used to be a hang-out place for USU students, the avenue has developed in recent years into one of the hottest hangout place in town, lining with new cafe and restaurants which serves great food with student price.

• Tip Top Restaurant, used to be THE restaurant in Medan, this unique restaurant can trace its history back to the Dutch colonization. Located in Ahmad Yani street, the food has a nostalgic taste clinging on every bites, such as the ox-tongue sandwich and the bitter-ballen, but the best experience you could have here is watching the buzz of Kesawan Square from your rattan chairs in its verandah.

• The Traders serves great food at reasonable prices (for westerners). Classy atmosphere and tasty wine.

• Selat Panjang , Sumatera Streets and Semarang Streets is where some of the oldest Chinese eateries in Medan serves their reknown cuisines, such as mie pangsit tiong-sim (noodle served with stuffed dumplings), kwetiau goreng (wok-fried Chinese rice-fetucinne), pokpiah (Singapore-style vegetable-stuffed dumpling) and many more. If you want to eat halal, of course you should beware of the pork content in the dishes, but you could always ask for a no-pork version of the dish and a different wok to cook your food in.

• Mie Aceh Titi Bobrok, which has been dubbed by one of the Indonesian lifestyle magazines as the most popular local dish in Medan. A simple dish of noodle served with chili sauce and crab, rumour has it that the secret ingredient which make the Aceh-style noodle irresitistible is a dash of Acehnese marijuana, which is the commonest drug that could be imported illegally from the region. But that, of course, only heightened the mystery and the notoriety of the delicious Mie Aceh.

• Ondo Batak Grill, is a unique Batak restaurant where you can find the gems of Batak dishes, without all the germs! Set in cafe-like ambience and accompanied by non-stop jazz music, the new Batak restaurant in town serves a reasonably-tasting saksang (a pork dish cooked in pork blood), panggang (Batak/Karo-style chopped roast-pork) and arsik (Batak-style fish dish). Don't forget to taste the hot pora-pora (a dish of sauteed papaya and cassava leaves cooked in coconut gravy and rawit chili)!

• Garuda, never forget to visit the famous local Padang restaurant. Well known for its rendang (Padang-style beef dish cooked slowly in coconut gravy and chili) and ayam pop (Padang-style chicken dish cooked in coconut gravy), Garuda also mantain its status as one of the first local restaurant who expands itself by franchising.

• Lontong Sayur Kak Lin, serving tasty and cheap lontong sayur (rice cakes in hot vegetables curry), this humble eatery in Cik Di Tiro Street is not much to look at for the uniniatiated. But judging from the crowd that line in queue to buy their breakfast and lunch here, you can be sure that you have met the darling of Medan local dish.

• Cahaya Baru Indian Restaurant, the North-Indian restaurant is one of Medan's best kept secrets, which recently has been featured in Kompas as the only restaurant in Medan which serves a wide range of authentic North-Indian cuisine. Visit the restaurant in Cik Di Tiro Street for its endless choices of delicious vegetarian and curry dish!

• Pagaruyung Alley , located at Medan's "little india" or refered as "kampung keling" by locals. They offer ,of course, Indian and Indonesian cuisine. Begin their business when the sun sets till 2 a.m. They are well known for satay (chicken, lamb, liver, intestine, etc.) , fried rice and Martbak Telur (egg pancake topped with diced potatoes, and onions, often served with curry).

Durian is one of the most famous fruit in Medan and North Sumatra. Get the best price and taste when the season comes, which on July and December. North Sumatra has a lot of durian fields like; Sibolangit, Brastagi, Langkat, Sidikalang ,Siborong-borong, Tarutung, Sibolga, Nias, Padang Sidempuan, Lima Puluh, Perbaungan, etc.Get Medan Durian at Jalan Sumatera, Jalan Semarang and Jalan Adam Malik.Price start Rp.5000,- to Rp.15.000,- per each

• Spoutnik Cafe, Jalan Tengah No. 33 Medan (Behind of Pelangi Internet). Gado-gado Special (veg traditional salad)  edit

• Cava Lounge Latest Hang out place to drink and relax at Medan. Vote the best ambience and design in Bar design for Medan. you will be able to enjoy large choice of wine and cocktails. book at 061-4533166.

• Vintage Wine shop [17] Want to enjoy wine in medan? Located at Grand Angkasa Hotel Lobby at Shopping Arcade. Enjoy the jazzy environment with a glass of wine or accompanied by a bottle of wine chossing from the wine rack with ranging more than 200 different brands. (061)4577750.
• Shoot Pool Lounge & Sports Bar, Jl. Kapten Pattimura 423, ☎ +62-61-4531884. A pool bar with big screen playing sports channel (football games on the weekends) accompanied by regular live bands and DJ performance. It has just gone through expansion renovation (Jun 2008) and introduces a more spacious and more relaxing venue. It also has a large collection of wine from all over the world.  edit
• The Tavern. Located on the Hotel Dana Toba complex, this tavern is/was one of the most popular going out pubs for expats in the city (which admittedly isn't saying a lot). It features live music from local bands. It's fairly small, fairly popular and is crowded on the weekends with groups of friends, couples, and some rather friendly girls hanging out

• Corner Cafe Raya is on Jl. Sipisopiso, next to Mesjid Raya (The Grand Mosque), one of the few tourist attractions in Medan. Its proximity means that you will get deafened by the call to prayer several times a day should you be sat on the terrace. However this should not put you off; you can withdraw inside to the non-smoking, air-conditioned interior and continue your enjoyment of the cold and inexpensive draught beer, the good Western & Indonesian food and the friendliness of the staff. Mark, the Australian landlord and his Indonesian wife are a great source of information, as are the resident expats. Good mix of people and cultures. +6281370143120

• The Fleet A traditional English pub bizarrely situated within the grounds of a shopping mall (Deli Plaza) making it rather difficult to find. A destination for the British expats with little in the way of atmosphere. However it is professionally run and the food is supposed to be good and value for money. Rumour has it (Dec 07) that the complex in which it is situated is soon to be rased and replaced by a hotel.