How to get to Bandung from Jakarta

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Bandung is a nice city, located about 180 km South of Jakarta. There is no international airport in Bandung. You have to go to Jakarta, then travel to Bandung. Now, the question is how to get to Bandung from Jakarta? There are many ways. Taxi from the airport. You can ride taxi from the airport to Bandung. Current estimate of the cost is around Rp 250.000,- (with US$1 = Rp 10.000,- so that's around US$25). Be sure to get a good taxi. Blue Bird is a reliable name in taxi. Don't use other taxi name if you can. Trains. (This is the means that I usually take.) Trains run frequently from Jakarta to Bandung and vice versa. Have a look at its schedule. Jakarta-Bandung route is very popular. If you don't get ticket, you'll going to wait a long time in a line. (More than 1 hours!) Fridays and Weekends it's almost impossible to get a ticket if you don't book ahead of time. The cost of the ticket is Rp 20.000,- to Rp 40.000,- (depending on the class). To get to the train station from the airport, you have two options: Taxi. It's around Rp 50.000,- (or Rp 80.000,- if you get a private taxi from inside the airport. It's safe.). Outside the airport you have to haggle. Again, look for Blue Bird taxi. (This is what I take.) Bus. There is a shuttle bus from the airport to train station. Look for "Gambir". It costs Rp 5.000,-/person. The bus is relatively safe and ok. You'll just have to wait a little longer (since it has a schedule). If you have plenty of time to catch the train, then bus is an ok choice. Watch your bellongings while you're on the bus. There has not been any problem with this bus. But, it's better to be concious. Shuttle. There are informal shuttles (they call it "travel") at the Gambir train station. They usually wait outside the train station and wait for people who could not get tickets. The cost is around Rp 20.000,- to Rp 30.000,-/person. This is also ok, if you can stand the way they drive. Even I fell scared with the way they drive. I don't recommend this for the faint of heart. Now ... there is an airline ("Deraya") that provides services from Jakarta to Bandung (and back to Jakarta) daily. It's Rp. 285,000 for one way trip. It takes 30 minutes from Jakarta to Bandung.