Things to Do in Medan

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Beyond the landmarks covered in our Medan travel guide, the city’s best activities are really about experiences rather than sights: eating your way through its multicultural food scene, browsing its markets, and — if you have more than a single day — using Medan as a base for a highland day trip that most travelers skip entirely.

Quick Answer: Best Things to Do in Medan

• Eat your way through the city’s food scene — Malay, Batak, Chinese and Indian dishes side by side.
• Browse the markets — Pasar Ikan Lama for spices and street food, Merdeka Walk for evening dining.
• Day trip to Berastagi — a cool hill town with Mount Sibayak and a well-known fruit and vegetable market.
• Sipiso-piso Waterfall — one of Sumatra’s tallest waterfalls, often combined with the Berastagi trip.
• Taman Simalem Resort — highland viewpoints over Lake Toba, another popular day-trip combination.

Eat Through Medan’s Food Scene

This is genuinely the city’s best activity. Medan’s mix of Malay, Batak, Chinese and Indian communities means a wider range of authentic cuisines in one place than anywhere else in Sumatra. Head to Merdeka Walk in the evening for a concentrated strip of food stalls and restaurants, and don’t skip Medan’s famous durian if you’re visiting during the fruit’s season — the city is considered one of Indonesia’s best places to try it.

Browse the Markets

Medan’s older markets, particularly around Pasar Ikan Lama, are worth an hour of wandering for spices, produce and street food rather than souvenirs. It’s a working market rather than a tourist attraction, which is exactly the appeal.

Day Trip to Berastagi

Berastagi is a cool hill town about two hours from Medan, sitting at the base of Mount Sibayak, an active volcano with a moderate day hike to its crater. The town’s fruit and vegetable market is well known regionally, and the cooler highland air is a welcome break from Medan’s heat. Most visitors combine Berastagi with Sipiso-piso Waterfall in a single day tour.

Sipiso-piso Waterfall

One of Sumatra’s tallest waterfalls at around 120 meters, Sipiso-piso drops dramatically into the Lake Toba caldera and is usually visited as part of a Berastagi day trip rather than a standalone excursion. There’s a viewpoint a short walk from the parking area, and a longer, steeper trail down to the base for those who want a closer look.

Taman Simalem Resort

A newer addition to the Medan day-trip circuit, Taman Simalem Resort sits on the rim of the Lake Toba caldera with sweeping viewpoints over the lake — a good option if you want the highland scenery without committing to the full Lake Toba visit, or as a scenic stop on your way there.

Should You Do a Day Trip from Medan or Skip Straight to Lake Toba?

If you have an extra day in Medan and haven’t yet visited Lake Toba, a Berastagi/Sipiso-piso day trip is a reasonable way to see North Sumatra’s highland scenery in miniature. If you’re already heading to Lake Toba next, these day trips are somewhat redundant — Samosir Island and the wider lake area offer more of the same scenery with more time to enjoy it. See our Lake Toba travel guide for what’s ahead.

Great Mosque of Medan

The Great Mosque of Medan (Masjid Raya Al Mashun), completed in 1909, remains one of the city’s most striking pieces of architecture, blending Moorish, Indian, and Spanish influences into a distinctive black-domed structure. Visitors are welcome outside prayer times with modest dress, and it remains an active place of worship rather than purely a tourist site.

Maimun Palace

Maimun Palace, the former residence of the Sultanate of Deli, offers a glimpse into Medan’s pre-colonial royal history, with ornate interiors open to visitors for a small entrance fee. It sits close enough to the Great Mosque to easily combine both into a single half-day of sightseeing.

Tjong A Fie Mansion

This beautifully preserved early-1900s mansion, once home to a prominent Chinese-Indonesian businessman, offers guided tours through its ornate rooms and gardens, giving insight into Medan’s Chinese merchant history alongside its Malay and colonial architecture. It’s a genuinely interesting stop for visitors curious about the city’s diverse cultural layers.

Food exploration

Medan’s food scene is arguably its strongest draw, blending Malay, Chinese, Indian, and Batak influences into a genuinely distinctive regional cuisine. Local specialties worth seeking out include Soto Medan, a rich coconut-based soup, and the city’s famous durian, considered among the best in Indonesia by many locals. A food-focused evening walking through Medan’s street food stalls is one of the most rewarding low-cost activities in the city.

Merdeka Walk

Merdeka Walk, a pedestrian plaza in the city center, comes alive in the evenings with food stalls, live music, and a relaxed social atmosphere, offering a good introduction to everyday Medan life outside the historic landmarks. It’s a convenient, low-key way to spend an evening if you’re only in the city for a short stopover.

Day trips from Medan

Medan’s proximity to both Lake Toba and Bukit Lawang means many visitors treat the city purely as a base for one or two of these excursions rather than an extended stay, using its transport links rather than lingering for its own attractions. Even a single extra day in the city, though, is enough to see its main historic sites and sample its food scene properly.

Medan Zoo

Medan Zoo offers a lower-key half-day option for travelers with kids or a general interest in Sumatran wildlife, though it’s worth noting as a fairly standard municipal zoo rather than a major attraction in its own right. It’s a reasonable filler activity if you have extra time in the city rather than a primary reason to extend a stay.

Shopping and markets

Medan’s traditional markets and modern shopping malls both offer a window into everyday city life, with Pasar Ikan Lama’s historic market area giving a more authentic, less polished shopping experience than the city’s larger malls. Souvenir hunting here tends to focus on Batak textiles and local snacks rather than the crafts more commonly associated with Bali.

For more on planning this part of your trip, see our Sumatra Travel Guide: Medan, Lake Toba, Bukit Lawang, Padang and Bukittinggi.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best activity in Medan according to this guide?

Eating through the city’s food scene — Medan’s mix of Malay, Batak, Chinese and Indian communities gives it a wider range of authentic cuisines than anywhere else in Sumatra, with Merdeka Walk a concentrated evening food-stall strip.

What is Berastagi?

A cool hill town about two hours from Medan, sitting at the base of Mount Sibayak, an active volcano with a moderate day hike to its crater, and known for its fruit and vegetable market.

What is Sipiso-piso Waterfall?

One of Sumatra’s tallest waterfalls at around 120 meters, dropping dramatically into the Lake Toba caldera, usually visited as part of a Berastagi day trip.

What is Taman Simalem Resort as a day-trip destination?

A newer addition to the Medan day-trip circuit, sitting on the rim of the Lake Toba caldera with sweeping viewpoints over the lake.

Should you do a highland day trip from Medan if you’re already heading to Lake Toba?

It’s somewhat redundant — if you’re already heading to Lake Toba next, these day trips overlap significantly with what Samosir Island and the wider lake area already offer.