Give the capital two days. Spend the first on the water: a water taxi across to Kampong Ayer, the Cultural and Tourism Gallery, then the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque in the hour before sunset. Spend the second inland at the Royal Regalia Museum and the Jame’ Asr mosque, and eat at Gadong Night Market. Add a third day for the Ulu Temburong canopy walkway.
Bandar Seri Begawan is small, rich and quiet, and it rewards a traveller who slows down. Two great mosques anchor the skyline, some 30,000 people live on stilts over the river, and Borneo rainforest starts an hour upstream. There is no alcohol and no nightlife, which is rather the point.
Brunei’s signature building, finished in 1958: a gold dome over Italian marble, mirrored in a lagoon with a replica 16th-century royal barge moored in it. Non-Muslims are admitted outside prayer hours only. Cover shoulders and knees; robes are lent at the door.
The largest water village in the world: around 30,000 people in stilt houses, with schools, mosques and shops laid over the river. Speedboats leave the waterfront jetty all day and cost about BND 1 a crossing. Agree the fare before you step in.
The larger of the two mosques, built for the Sultan’s 25th year on the throne. Twenty-nine gold domes count the sultans of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah being the 29th. It stands in Kiarong, a short drive out of the centre, and closes to visitors at prayer times.
The state’s ceremonial hoard under one roof: the gold chariot that carried the Sultan at his coronation, the crowns and weapons of the regalia, and gifts from half the world’s heads of state. Free for residents, BND 5 for adult visitors. Closed on Fridays.
Fifty thousand acres of protected Borneo rainforest, and the reason most people stay a third day. The climb ends on a canopy walkway 43 metres up, level with the tree crowns. Full-day packages from the capital run about BND 155 a head and include the longboat.
Brunei eats here. Grilled skewers, nasi katok in brown paper, barbecued fish and kuih by the tray, from about 4pm every night of the year. It is the cheapest good meal in the country and the one place the capital feels crowded.
Mangrove channels minutes from the centre hold proboscis monkeys, and they come down to the water at first light and at dusk. Two to three hours in a small boat, usually with a stop in Kampong Ayer on the way back.
A rainforest hill inside the city. The lake and waterfall are an old dam built in 1926 to water Brunei Town, and the trails climb to Bukit Sarang Helang and Bukit Markuching for a view back over the mosque. Around 80 bird species have been recorded here.
Built around the Brunei shipwreck, found in 1997 at 62 metres, 32 nautical miles offshore. Its 13,000 salvaged pieces, mostly Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese ceramics, date the wreck to the late 15th century and show what Kota Batu traded. BND 3 for visitors.
Twelve hectares of riverfront promenade, opened in October 2017 for the Sultan’s golden jubilee and facing Kampong Ayer across the water. It is where the capital walks at dusk, and the best free view of the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque once it is lit.
Ridge trails and mountain-bike tracks in hill forest near the coast.
A public holiday, marked with fireworks and parties across the capital.
Lion dances and reunion dinners in the capital’s Chinese community.
Marks full independence in 1984, with a mass parade and a national address.
Eating in public by day is an offence, for visitors too. The night markets are the year’s best.
Open houses across the country, including the palace, where visitors meet the Sultan.
Marks the founding of the armed forces in 1961, with a parade and displays.
The Islamic new year, a public holiday kept with prayers and processions.
The biggest date of the year. Processions and illuminations; 2026 is the 80th.
The country’s only international airport, about 10 km north of the centre. Purple buses and Dart both run in from the terminal.
The flag carrier, based at BWN, flying to around 20 cities across Southeast Asia, Australia, the Middle East and Europe.
Purple-and-yellow buses link the centre with the airport and the coast roughly every 20 to 30 minutes until early evening, for about BND 1.
Dart is the only ride-hailing app here, and Uber and Grab do not operate. Water taxis cross to Kampong Ayer all day for about BND 1.
Sago paste wound onto a bamboo fork and dipped in sour tamarind gravy. Swallowed, not chewed.
Rice, fried chicken and sambal in brown paper. The cheapest full meal in the country.
Spiced broth over rice cakes or vermicelli with beef or chicken. The standard kedai kopi breakfast.
Coconut rice with sambal, anchovies, peanuts and egg. Eaten here from morning onwards.
Glutinous rice and coconut steamed in nyirik leaf, eaten with a peanut or curry dip.
Glutinous rice parcels filled with spiced coconut or shrimp, grilled in banana leaf.
Point-and-pick rice: a plate of whatever is in the trays, priced by what you take.
Beef simmered in coconut milk and spice until the liquid has gone. A little, against a lot of rice.
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