The bus station is in the southern part of town on Jalan Teuku Umar. Labi-labi (Rp350) - the local name for a bemo - leave from outside the station to the Central Market, south of the river by the Mesjid Raya Baiturrahman. The tourist office is at Jl Chik Kuta Karang 3 (Mon-Thurs 7.30am-2pm, Fri 7.30am-noon, Sat 8am-2pm; tel 0651/23692). The Garuda airline office is in the Sultan Hotel (tel 0651/31811) and the Pelangi agent is Indomatha Wisata Tours and Travel, Jl Panglima Polem 3 (tel 0651/23706). There are flights to Kuala Lumpur and Medan from Kreung Raya , 16km to the east of town (Rp25,000 by taxi).

The post office on Jalan Nyak Arief (Mon-Thurs & Sat 8am-7pm, Fri 8-11am & 2-7pm) also has email and poste restante counters. Bank BCA , Jalan Panglima Polem (10am-noon only), has rates comparable to the BCA in Medan, though it accepts Malaysian and US dollar travellers' cheques only.

The city has little in the way of budget accommodation , with many of the cheapest places refusing to take foreigners. A small knot of hotels lies to the north of the river along Jalan Khairil Anwar, where most visitors stay. The prettiest budget losmen here is Aceh Barat, at no. 16 (tel 0651/23250; $10-15), comprising basic rooms with shared bathrooms. At no. 51, Palembang (tel 0651/22044; $10-15) is one of the more bizarre of budget places, its walls plastered with Disney characters and a monkey chained up in the back yard. The small, cramped Ujong Kalak, Jl St Johan 7 (tel 0651/31146; $5-10), has the cheapest rooms in town, tucked down an alley to the west of Jalan TP Aceh; some come with bath and fan. Sri Budaya, Jl Prof A Majid Ibrahim-III 25e (tel 0651/21751; $10-15), is a welcoming losmen housing twenty simple fan-cooled rooms. At the western end of Jalan Khairil Anwar is Banda's excellent night market .