Sumatra

In Sumatra Barat (West Sumatra), fertile uplands ring jungle-clad volcanoes, waterfalls cascade into deep ravines and nature takes a breath in deep, still lakes. Rainforest still clings to the steepest slopes, while rice, tapioca, cinnamon and coffee bring in the wealth.

This is the heartland of the matriarchal Minangkabau, an intelligent, culturally rich and politically savvy people who have successfully exported their culture, language, cuisine and beliefs throughout Indonesia and whose soaring architecture dominates the cities and villages.

Coastal Padang is a transport hub and popular pit stop for surfers, trekkers and indigenous-culture enthusiasts bound for the Mentawai Islands. Scenic traveller-friendly Bukittinggi is surrounded by picturesque villages where traditional artisans still ply their trades, while the gorgeous Danau Maninjau, the secluded Harau Valley and Kerinci Seblat National Park provide plenty of scope for outdoor adventure.

West Sumatra

Sumatra's northernmost province, Aceh is both a fiercely proud and prosperous region. It's blessed with rainforests that feature incredible biodiversity, as well as pristine islands popular with beachgoers, divers and surfers alike. However, over the years, this western tip of the Indonesian archipelago has grabbed headlines for all the wrong reasons. Earthquakes, tsunamis, civil war and sharia law are the main associations people have with Sumatra’s northernmost state. With the reconstruction from the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami long completed, post-tsunami Aceh is slowly healing the social wounds incurred by the natural disaster and the previous civil war. Still, while the guns have been laid down and a degree of autonomy has been granted to the province, there are occasional blips on the road to peace, and a prevailing belief in the rest of Sumatra that the people of Aceh are keen to spread their conservative Islamic ways across the whole country.

Aceh

For many visitors, the northern part of Sumatra bordering Aceh is their primary focus. With good air connections to Medan, from here you can trek in search of orang-utans in Bukit Lawang, climb volcanoes from Berastagi, laze away on the shores of Danau Toba, skim the waves off the Banyaks and Nias, and easily venture further north to Pulau Weh or south to Padang and the Mentawais. North Sumatra stretches from the Indian Ocean to the Strait of Melaka. From sea to shining sea, it is anything but homogeneous. The rolling landscape varies from sweaty plains to cool highlands, while the houses of worship switch between the metal domes of mosques to the arrow-straight steeples of Christian churches. In the highlands around Danau Toba are the delightful Batak, and then there’s the megalithic culture of Pulau Nias.

North Sumatra

The landscape and character of Riau province is distinct from northern and western Sumatra. Rather than being shaped by mountains and volcanoes, Riau’s character was carved by rivers and narrow ocean passages. Trading towns sprang up along the important navigation route of the Strait of Melaka, across which Riau claims cultural cousins.

For the port towns, such as Pekanbaru, and the Riau Islands, proximity to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur has ensured greater access to the outside world than the towns of the interior Sumatran jungle. The discovery of oil and gas reserves has also built an educated and middle-class population in Pekanbaru.

The interior of the province more closely resembles Sumatra as a whole: sparse population, dense jungle, Buddhist temple ruins, surviving pockets of nomadic peoples (including the Sakai, Kubu and Jambisal) and endangered species, such as the Sumatran rhinoceros and tiger.

Riau

Just across the water from Singapore, Pulau Bintan has some of the nicest white-sand beaches in Sumatra. While it markets itself as a high-end playground for well-heeled visitors from Singapore and beyond, there is some affordable accommodation too.

Top-end resorts huddle around the Lagoi area on the island’s north coast, in close proximity to Singapore. However, less exclusive options along the east coast around Pantai Trikora are equally nice.

Skip the pricey, all-inclusive Lagoi resorts and instead explore Bintan's cultural heart in the area around the island's largest town, Tanjung Pinang. A world away from ultra-clean Singapore, the noisy, dusty streets and mishmash of building styles exude a rustic charm.

Small boats run locals and visitors to Senggarang, where you'll find a Chinese village on stilts, and Penyenget, a small island with royal tombs, palaces, a mosque and a wonderfully rural atmosphere.

Pulau Bintan

Danau Toba has been part of traveller folklore for decades. This grand ocean-blue lake, found up among Sumatra’s volcanic peaks, is where the amiable Christian Batak people reside. The secret of this almost mythical place was opened up by intrepid travellers years ago. While these days Tuk Tuk – the knobby village on the lake’s inner island – is on the beaten Sumatran overland path, it's still one of the undisputed highlights of central Sumatra. Danau Toba is the largest lake in Southeast Asia, covering a massive 1707 sq km. In the middle of this huge expanse is Pulau Samosir, a wedge-shaped island almost as big as Singapore that was created by an eruption between 30,000 and 75,000 years ago. In fact, Samosir isn’t actually an island at all. It’s linked to the mainland by a narrow isthmus at the town of Pangururan – and then cut again by a canal.

Danau Toba

Padang is an urban-Indonesian sprawl sandwiched between the Indian Ocean and the Minangkabau hills. It is to West Sumatra what Medan is to North Sumatra (but with better scenery) – a handy transport hub with air, boat and road connections to major regional attractions, including the Mentawai Islands, Bukittinggi, Danau Maninjau and the Kerinci Highlands. Due to the sheer volume of backpacker and surfer traffic passing through, it also has an above-average amount of good budget accommodation and an excellent dining scene, with its regional food the most globally famous of Indonesian culinary offerings.

Padang sits astride one of the planet’s most powerful seismic zones, centrally located on the tectonic hot spot where the Indo-Australian plate plunges under the Eurasian plate. Significant tremors occur on an almost annual basis.

Padang

While surfers have long flocked to the Mentawai Islands for its legendary waves, it's a destination that will also have a far-flung appeal to independent travellers, in particular for those wanting to meet the island's tattooed hunter-gatherer tribes. The islands' pristine beaches are also magnificent and as idyllic as any you'll find anywhere in Sumatra. Though only 150km from the mainland, the Mentawai Islands and its people were kept isolated until the 19th century by strong winds, unpredictable currents and razor-sharp reefs. It’s thought that the archipelago separated from Sumatra some 500,000 years ago, resulting in unique flora and fauna that sees Mentawai ranked alongside Madagascar in terms of endemic primate population. Of particular interest is siamang kerdil, a rare species of black-and-yellow monkey, named simpai Mentawai by the locals.

Mentawai Islands

Banda Aceh is a relaxed and charming provincial capital that more than deserves a day or two en route to Pulau Weh.

Given that Banda Aceh bore the brunt of the 2004 tsunami, with 61,000 killed here, and that much of the city had to be rebuilt, it’s little wonder that it looks well maintained and affluent, with broad streets, pavements and parks. The magnificent central mosque – Indonesia's best – still stands as the city's crowning glory, along with the poignant Tsunami Museum.

Banda Aceh is still a fiercely religious city and its ornate mosques are at the centre of daily life. Respectfully dressed visitors (shoulders and knees covered) will find find the Acehnese to be friendly and extremely hospitable.

Banda Aceh

Bukit Lawang, 60 miles (96km) northwest of Medan, is a sprawling tourist village laced along the fast-flowing Sungai Bohorok and bordered by the dense vertical-rising jungle of Gunung Leuser National Park. Its legend is built around the orangutan rehabilitation centre set up here in 1973 and, although the feeding platform has closed, this is still the best place in Sumatra to spot habituated orangutans on a trek.

Trekking aside, it’s a very traveler-friendly place, where you can while away the days lounging in hammocks, splashing or tubing in the river and enjoying some of the best-value jungle resorts in Sumatra.

Bukit Lawang

The Aceh section of Gunung Leuser National Park has slipped under the tourist radar for years, seeing only a trickle of visitors while the masses head to the more hyped Bukit Lawang. Its jungle is basically the same, minus the well-worn paths and tourists clambering about trying to spot semi-wild orang-utans. This is the place for a real jungle experience. Unesco-listed Gunung Leuser National Park is one of the world’s most important and biologically diverse conservation areas. It is often described as a complete ecosystem laboratory because of the range of forest and species types. Within the park’s boundaries live some of the planet’s most endangered and exotic species: tigers, rhinoceroses, elephants and orang-utans. Although the likelihood of seeing most of these celebrity animals is remote, you have a good chance of seeing orang-utans, and you can be sure of encountering plenty of other primates.

Gunung Leuser National Park

Sumatra’s major metropolis, and Indonesia’s third-largest city, Medan is the first (or final) port of call for many visitors to the island. Given it's not on the coast, and there's no mountain backdrop or even a grand river, Medan is much maligned among many travelers as a soulless industrialised city, a necessary evil to reach more exciting destinations. While it does have issues with traffic and pollution, it's a city with real Indonesian urban character. If you can get over the culture shock and give Medan a bit of time, you'll discover there's more than a hint of crumbling Dutch-colonial-era architecture, plus some worthwhile sightseeing and shopping, contemporary nightlife and restaurants, and old-school backstreet food stalls.