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The Bandar Seri Begawan skyline seen across the Brunei River

Things to Do in Bandar Seri Begawan

Thirteen places worth your time, from the mosque lagoon to the Temburong canopy.

Bandar Seri Begawan’s centre is small enough to cross on foot in fifteen minutes, and most of what visitors come for sits within it or just across the river. The rest of the country is close too: Brunei is only about 150 kilometres from end to end.

We group the sights three ways: the city centre and the river, which you can cover on foot and by water taxi; the places around the capital that need a short ride; and day trips across Brunei to the rainforest, the beaches and the oil towns. Each guide covers what to see, how to get there, practical tips and the tours that include it.

City centre & the river

The Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque and the ceremonial barge in its lagoon City centre & the river

Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque

The golden dome at the heart of the capital

Brunei’s best-known building: a white mosque with a gold-covered dome, set in a lagoon beside a ceremonial stone barge. Completed in 1958, it is beautiful at any hour and unforgettable at dusk.

Brightly painted stilt houses of Kampong Ayer below a forested hill City centre & the river

Kampong Ayer

A whole town on stilts in the Brunei River

A centuries-old water village of wooden houses, schools and mosques joined by boardwalks, facing the modern city across the river. Cross by water taxi for about a dollar and start at the Cultural & Tourism Gallery.

The domed entrance of the Royal Regalia Museum in Bandar Seri Begawan City centre & the river

Royal Regalia Museum

Chariots, crowns and gifts from the world’s leaders

A domed museum in the city centre devoted to the monarchy: the gilded chariot used for the Sultan’s Silver Jubilee procession, coronation regalia and rooms of gifts presented by heads of state.

The paved riverside promenade of the Bandar Seri Begawan waterfront City centre & the river

Waterfront, Eco-Corridor & Tasek Lama

A riverside promenade and a waterfall in the city

The city’s open-air side: the riverside promenade facing Kampong Ayer, the green Eco-Corridor and Taman Mahkota Jubli Emas park beside the mosque, and Tasek Lama, a forest park with a waterfall about a kilometre from the centre.

Around the capital

The golden domes of the Jame’ Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque above its gardens Around the capital

Jame’ Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque

Brunei’s largest mosque, crowned with 29 golden domes

Built to mark the 25th year of the present Sultan’s reign and opened in 1994, this vast mosque in Kiarong is surrounded by gardens and fountains. Its 29 golden domes stand for the 29th ruler of the dynasty.

The stone sign and gate of Istana Nurul Iman, the Sultan of Brunei’s palace Around the capital

Istana Nurul Iman

The Sultan’s palace — open three days a year

The official residence of the Sultan of Brunei, widely described as the largest residential palace in the world. The public may enter only during the Hari Raya open house; the rest of the year you see it from the river or the park.

The white building of the Malay Technology Museum at Kota Batu Around the capital

Kota Batu Museums

Malay Technology and Maritime museums on the old capital’s site

A few kilometres downriver, Kota Batu was the seat of the old Bruneian empire. Two museums stand here: the Malay Technology Museum, with full-size stilt houses and craft workshops, and the Maritime Museum, with the cargo of a 500-year-old shipwreck.

A proboscis monkey sitting among mangrove leaves beside the Brunei River Around the capital

Brunei River Safari

Proboscis monkeys in the mangroves, minutes from town

A boat trip upriver from the city into mangrove forest, home to the long-nosed proboscis monkey found only on Borneo. Crocodiles, monitor lizards and egrets are common too — and you pass the Sultan’s palace on the way.

The Empire Brunei resort and its beach in warm evening light Around the capital

Jerudong & The Empire Brunei

A palatial beach resort and a famous funfair

On the coast about 20 minutes’ drive from the centre: The Empire Brunei, a resort with a towering marble atrium on the South China Sea, and Jerudong Park, the amusement park that was once the talk of Southeast Asia.

Day trips across Brunei

The steel canopy walkway tower rising above the rainforest of Ulu Temburong Day trips across Brunei

Ulu Temburong National Park

Untouched rainforest, a longboat ride and a canopy walk

Brunei’s “green jewel”: a large reserve of primary rainforest in the Temburong district, reached by longboat up a shallow river. A steel canopy walkway lifts you above the treetops for one of Borneo’s great views.

The wide, empty sand of Muara Beach under a blue sky Day trips across Brunei

Muara & Serasa Beaches

Wide sand and calm water at the tip of Brunei

Around 25 km north-east of the capital, Muara Beach is a long, quiet stretch of sand with picnic shelters, while Serasa, on a spit facing Brunei Bay, has a watersports complex and the ferry terminal for Labuan.

The arch of the Billionth Barrel Monument in Seria Day trips across Brunei

Tutong & Seria

The coast road west: a river-mouth beach and the oil town

A day’s drive along the coastal highway: Tutong’s Seri Kenangan Beach, squeezed between the sea and the river, then Seria, where Brunei’s oil was struck in 1929 and “nodding donkey” pumps still work beside the road.

Planning your days

Start early: it is hot by ten, and the mosques close to visitors around midday. Keep Thursday and Friday in mind — the big mosques are generally shut to non-Muslim visitors for part or all of those days, and the whole country pauses for Friday prayers between about noon and 2 pm. Our travel guide has sample itineraries and the local rules, and the tours page lists everything you can book in advance.

Plan your Brunei days

Turn a stopover in Bandar Seri Begawan into the surprise of your Borneo trip

Stand under the golden dome of the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, cross to Kampong Ayer by water taxi, look for proboscis monkeys in the mangroves at dusk and climb above the rainforest canopy in Ulu Temburong. Compare the available experiences and book in a couple of taps.