Experience the best of Aceh

Aceh occupies the northern end of Sumatra, facing the Indian Ocean and the Andaman Sea. It was an independent sultanate and an early gateway for Islam into Southeast Asia, earning the nickname Veranda of Mecca. Its capital, Banda Aceh, is dominated by the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque, with its black domes and white walls, and a museum and memorials in the city recall the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, including a power-generating ship carried more than two kilometres inland.

Off the northern tip, Weh Island has dive sites, quiet beaches and the Kilometre Zero marker of Indonesia's western end. Near Banda Aceh, Lampuuk beach has white sand and surf. Inland, the Gayo highlands around Lake Laut Tawar grow arabica coffee, and Gunung Leuser National Park, part of a World Heritage rainforest that continues south into North Sumatra, shelters orangutans, tigers and elephants.

Acehnese cooking is spicy: mie Aceh, thick noodles in a curry sauce with seafood or beef, and kuah pliek u, a vegetable soup flavoured with fermented coconut. Coffee houses are the social centre, and Gayo coffee is served strong. The climate is tropical and warm all year, with the heaviest rain towards the end of the year.