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After a night glamping under the pine forest and stars at the Be Glamping campsite of Lembang, we were up early to explore the local area.

Surrounded by thick pine trees, the Orchid Forest of Cikole piqued our interest. Boasting a forested walk, a chance to see orchids of every shape and colour, and many opportunities for a selfie, it seemed like this forest park was the perfect way to spend the day!

Where Is The Orchid Forest And How To Get There?

The Orchid Forest of Cikole is located on the slopes of Mount Tangkuban Parahu (sometimes spelt Perahu). The nearest city of Bandung (West Java’s capital) is only an hour away by car, and Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta is just over three hours away.

For those who don’t drive, Bluebird, Grab and GoJek can be booked to and from the Orchid Forest to the city of Bandung. This should cost you roughly 100,000 IDR per journey.

For those travelling from Bandung, when you enter the Cikole area you will need to pay a park fee of 20,000 IDR per person and 30,000 IDR to drive your car within the park boundaries.

For those staying at Be Glamping or one of the many surrounding campsites, the Orchid Forest is only a short 30 minute walk up the hill, or an even shorter drive of 6 minutes.

What Is The Orchid Forest?

As the name suggests, the Orchid Forest is a forest full of, you guessed it, orchids! Home to over 20,000 species, the site allows visitors to walk through the forest grounds, through a large glass house and enjoy some beautiful landscape gardens. If you time it correctly there are even performances and concerts within the beautiful grounds.

Also within the park is a suspension bridge hanging in the canopy, a petting zoo full of bunnies, a crazy golf course, a children's play area and several cafes and restaurants.

White orchids bloom at the Cikole Orchid Forest in Bandung, Indonesia

How Much Are The Entrance Tickets To The Orchid Forest?

Entrance tickets cost 100,000 IDR each (£5.20 or $6.60). Within the site, there are other activities that have a cost on top of this, but they are generally very cheap.

This entrance fee is comparatively pricey for Indonesia, however the grounds are beautifully and tastefully maintained and we spent a good few hours visiting, so we did not feel this was too expensive.

What Was Our Experience Like Visiting The Orchid Forest?

After a sweaty climb up the hill from our campsite, we arrived at the forest entrance. Tickets brought, we entered and immediately made a bi-line to the nearest coffee shop. Luckily for us, there was one immediately on the left after the entrance. Two hot lattes later we were caffeinated and ready to take on some serious botany.

The start of the forest walk winds through a copse of trees, with small paths snaking about and through each other. Overhead moss balls and orchids swung attached by twine to a trellis. Every so often, there were steps up to viewing platforms and selfie spots. These selfie spots are worth remarking on for what they didn’t have. Across the world, the craze of Instagram and selfies have led to a rash of horrible plastic signage, crowding otherwise pretty views. These platforms were free of any tacky mascots or attempts to force a company logo into your pictures. Obligatory photos snapped, we continued on further.

Triangular arches lead down a path with moss balls hanging overhead at the Cikole Orchid Forest in Java, Indonesia.

The copse eventually opened out and we found ourselves standing in a large tree lined glade. In the centre of this green space, flower beds rose up in stepped terraces, each with a different species and coloured flower. Behind this, a green auditorium looked out over a wooden stage, with tiered seating rising around. Our eyes, or more accurately noses, were attracted elsewhere. We hadn’t had breakfast at our campsite this morning and were now decidedly peckish. We could smell patisserie on the wind. A very stylish cafe, is situated amongst the flowers and shrubs. The Golden Pine tea shop serves pastries, cakes, tea and coffee as well as a full range of gelato. We had already had our caffeine fix, so we picked up a four cheese croissant to go. It’s been a while since we’ve eaten good pastry, and this really hit the spot. Cripy, flaky and buttery and filled with cheese, it was the savoury fix our morning needed.

After our cheesy interlude, we headed to the glass house. Housing every conceivable type of orchid, from the rare to the common, the colourful to the camouflaged, the orchid house was beautiful. Plaques showed where each of the orchids grew in Indonesia and beyond and just how picky some of the orchids were about their growing environments. We saw one that would only grow on trees at an exact height above running water, we wouldn’t be surprised if they started dictating their mood music as well. Orchids really are the Prima Donnas of the floral world.

After the orchid house we wandered around what could only be described as the “selfie garden”. Swinging chairs, birdcages, giant arches, you name it, if you could pose photogenically in front of it, it was there. Despite how cheesy this sounds it was actually very tastefully done and every installation blended seamlessly into the aesthetic of the garden as a whole. There were several large light displays, set up throughout the gardens and we have heard that the Orchid Forest is a completely different but equally beautiful experience after dark.

Fairy lights hang above flowers and green bushes at the Cikole Orchid Forest outside of Bandung in Indonesia.

Selfies obtained and swings swung, it was time for crazy golf.

A crazy golf hole at the Orchid Forest in Cikole, Bandung Indonesia.

For a small fee of 10,000 IDR each we picked up our clubs and ball and proceeded to demonstrate an extreme lack of hand / eye coordination.

After fourteen entertaining holes, and losing extremely badly in John’s case, we handed back our clubs. It has been years and years since we have played crazy golf and we forgot how much of a laugh it is!

Talking of childhood pursuits, it was now time for the Bunny Village. Quite possibly Ellie’s highlight of the day and the best 52p Ellie has ever spent. Let us make it clear, we would not have ventured into “Bunny Village” if there had been an entrance fee, but it is free to come in and see and stroke the bunnies. 10,000 IDR however gains you access to carrots! Carrots in hand, we suddenly had 15 pairs of bunny eyes trained on us and were quickly surrounded by the big footed furballs. To say they were cute is an understatement. Big fluffy ears, friendly temperament and the most adorable way of eating imaginable, we were sold on “Bunny Village”. There appeared to be some educational plaques about rabbit behaviour but to be honest we were too busy stroking the bunnies to care about that.

A brown and white rabbit looks into the camera at the "Bunny" petting zoo in the Orchid Forest of Cikole, Bandung Indonesia.

After having fed the bunnies it was time to take care of ourselves. Near the exit is a large food court, with many different stalls selling Indonesian favourites. If you want to eat cheaply and you haven’t packed a picnic this is your best bet. We settled on Ayam Goreng Nasi Sambal (fried chicken, tempe, tofu, sambal and rice). It was hearty and delicious and the sambal certainly packed a punch.

After lunch we continued down the path passing the large children’s playground and the suspension bridge / canopy walk and zip line. We skipped the playground and didn’t feel like zip-lining so continued our walk through the pretty forest. Happy with our time in the Orchid Forest we headed towards the exit.

A green, yellow and purple orchid blooms inside the orchid house at the Cikole Orchid Forest in West Java, Indonesia.

Facilities At The Orchid Park?

Food And Drink In The Orchid Forest

There are lots of different food options available throughout the forest site. There is the upmarket coffee shop near the entrance (which also serves woodfired pizzas), as well as the Pine Kitchen restaurant and The Golden Pine Tea Shop offering more expensive, full meals. Down near the children's playground and exit there is a cheaper food court with many different dining options. You will not go hungry!

A cafe is adorned in flowers and green bushes in the Cikole Orchid Forest of Bandung, West Java.

Toilets

There are lots of toilets dotted throughout the site, so you won’t need to walk back to the entrance and exit.

Picnic Spots In The Orchid Forest

There are lots of pretty lawns and designated picnic spaces throughout the orchid forest. If we had pre-planned it, and were travelling from Bandung, it would have been lovely to take a picnic.

There is even a stall on the site where you can rent a flower hamper to make your picnics even more scenic and Instagram friendly!

An ornamental wooden pagoda stands amongst pine trees in the Orchid Forest of Cikole, Indonesia.

Parking

The car park for the Orchid Garden is just before the main front entrance. Surrounded by shops, warungs and restaurants there is plenty of space to park your car. When you exit the park, there is a free shuttle bus that will drive you back up to the main car park.

Is This A Good Place To Bring Children?

For those of you travelling with children, this would be an excellent place to bring them. Not only is there the petting zoo, raised suspension bridge and crazy golf course, but the Orchid Forest also boasted a humongous playground with swings, slides and climbing nets all set within a pretend castle. Even to us as adults, it looked extremely fun!

Can I Bring My Pet?

Yes, You most certainly can! There is a dedicated pet park and pet trail that winds throughout the Orchid Forest with special pet parking areas for when you want to go around the glass house. There are also some frankly adorable pet selfie spots. It looked as though there was an extra charge to bring your pet in, but as we’re travelling sans pooch we did not find out for sure.

A purple orchid is dotted with dew in the orchid house of the Orchid Forest of Cikole, West Java.

Conclusion

Our visit to the Orchid Forest was so much better than we anticipated. We’ve been to so many similar sites this backpacking trip, and some have been garish; full of in your face Instagram props with little regard to the beautiful environments they are sat in. The orchid forest was peaceful, pretty, immaculately well maintained and kept us entertained for a long morning and early afternoon. If you’re in the Bandung area and looking for a little green escape this is definitely worth your time.