A country · 23 places · 6 regions

Timor-Leste, all of it.

23 curated places across 6 regions — photographed, mapped, and noted with the season each is best in.

Atauro Island · via Wikimedia Commons

The 4 biggest regions — Dili Municipality, Baucau Municipality, Lautém Municipality and Ainaro Municipality — read below as chapters, with 2 more waiting past them.

Chapter I · Dili Municipality · 6 places

Dili Municipality

A towering statue of Christ on a headland east of Dili, reached by a long stairway lined with Stations of the Cross. The summit offers sweeping views over two beaches and the capital's coastline.

Cristo Rei of Dili

Dili Municipality, Timor-Leste

✦ May to November · $

Timorese Resistance Archive and Museum

Dili Municipality, Timor-Leste

Motael Church

Dili Municipality, Timor-Leste

All 6 places in Dili Municipality →

via Wikimedia Commons

Chapter II · Baucau Municipality · 2 places

Baucau Municipality

The second-largest town in Timor-Leste, split between a Portuguese-era old town and a newer district, with a restored colonial market building. A winding road descends to nearby beaches on the north coast.

✦ May to November · $

Meet Baucau All 2 places in Baucau Municipality →

Chapter III · Lautém Municipality · 2 places

Lautém Municipality

An uninhabited island off the eastern tip of Timor-Leste, considered sacred by locals and reached by a short outrigger crossing. Its untouched white beaches and clear water sit within Nino Konis Santana National Park.

Jaco Island

Lautém Municipality, Timor-Leste

✦ May to November · $

Tutuala

Lautém Municipality, Timor-Leste

✦ May to November

All 2 places in Lautém Municipality →

via Wikimedia Commons

Chapter IV · Ainaro Municipality · 1 place

Ainaro Municipality

A cool mountain town set among coffee plantations in the central highlands of Timor. A colonial-era pousada on the hilltop looks out over terraced slopes and distant ridges.

✦ May to November

Meet Maubisse All 1 place in Ainaro Municipality →