Makassar

A Gowa stronghold handed to the Dutch in 1667 and rebuilt by them, shaped like a turtle when seen from above. The La Galigo Museum fills buildings inside, and the ramparts can be walked for views across the harbour.

No sand here: a concrete plaza and promenade run along the sea, so nobody goes in the water. Crowds gather for the sun dropping into the strait, and where the walk ends a mosque raised over the water is silhouetted against the evening sky.

An old harbour crammed with pinisi schooners and timber cargo boats, where porters shoulder loads across plank gangways. Fish from the market beside it can be handed to nearby eateries for grilling, and most boats are tied up by early morning.

A small boat works upriver between the limestone towers of Maros to the paddy fields of Berua village. Those fields are walked with peaks standing round like walls, and as the boat has no shade at midday, trips leave in the morning.

The gateway to a national park of waterfalls and caves, where the 19th-century naturalist Wallace stayed collecting butterflies, hence its title as a butterfly kingdom. A splash area under the falls fills with city families at weekends.

Limestone caves where red hand stencils and a painted wild pig survive from prehistory, and caves around Maros hold some of the oldest rock art dated in the world. Iron stairs climb to the cave mouth, and a guide picks out the paintings by torchlight.

A small island 20 to 30 minutes out from the city pier, walked round in no time at all. People go for the reef snorkelling, and since a whole boat is chartered, gathering a group brings each share down.

Broken red-brick ramparts from the Gowa kingdom, with a park inside where traditional houses of South Sulawesi's peoples have been rebuilt. Few people come, so it is peaceful, but shade is scarce, so go late in the afternoon.

On the Bulukumba coast pinisi schooners are still hand-built with wooden pegs instead of iron nails, from no drawings but the shipwrights' memory. It is four or five hours' drive from Makassar, so people pair it with Bira beach and stay a night.

Highlands a little over 1,000m up, about two hours' drive east of Makassar, with pine woods and tea gardens. The Malino Conference met here in 1946, and at weekends city people pour in to escape the heat.

A mosque on reclaimed land off Losari, layered with 99 orange and red domes. The count follows the 99 names of God, and the design is by architect-turned-politician Ridwan Kamil. Seen from the Losari promenade at sunset, the domes glow red.

Said to date from 1603, just after Gowa's king embraced Islam, it is the oldest mosque in South Sulawesi. Thick walls and four pillars hold up a low roof. Graves of Gowa royals cluster around the yard, so pilgrims keep coming.

The Gowa king who battled the Dutch trading company and signed the Treaty of Bongaya in 1667 lies in a hilltop royal cemetery. The Dutch dubbed him the Rooster of the East; a national hero now, he lends Makassar's airport its name. Stepped tombs stand in rows.

The Gowa kingdom's palace, rebuilt in timber on stilts and now a museum, in Sungguminasa south of the city. Royal treasures include the Salokoa crown, gold ornaments and blades. Leave your shoes where the stairs end before stepping inside.

A beach at the southern tip in Bulukumba, its sand fine and white as flour. Makassar is four to five hours away by car, so many combine it with the pinisi yards at Tana Beru and stay over a day or two. Boats leave the beach to snorkel off the islands nearby.

A shopping street running behind Losari beach, lined with gold shops and souvenir stores. Bugis silk sarongs, Kendari silver filigree and Toraja carvings can all be found on one street. Gold is priced at the day's rate, so compare a few shops.