Lake Toba & Karo Highlands day trip from Medan: Private tour

See Lake Toba and the Karo Highlands without arranging the drive yourself

A full-day private tour from Medan to Brastagi in the Karo Highlands, with hotel pickup and an English-speaking guide. You'll visit the Brastagi fruit market, Lumbini Park and its pagoda, Sipisopiso waterfall where you can swim in natural pools, and a traditional Karo Batak village where families still live in shared houses. Entrance fees are included. The 10-hour itinerary leaves the morning and early afternoon free in Medan.

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Karo Highlands and Lake Toba views

• Pick up from Medan hotel at 7:00 AM
• Drive 2 hours to Brastagi village
• Visit Berastagi Fruit Market
• Explore Lumbini Nature Park and pagoda
• View and photograph Sipiso-piso waterfall
• Visit traditional Batak Karo house in Dokan

The experience

The drive from Medan to Brastagi takes about two hours through jungle and up into cooler mountain terrain. Your guide picks you up from your hotel around 7am and handles the navigation, so you can watch the landscape shift instead of watching the road. The first stop is the Brastagi fruit market, where the volcanic soil of the highlands grows passion fruit, mangosteen, Solanum betaceum, oranges and flowers that supply the region.

Lumbini Park holds a 46.8-meter pagoda modeled on the Shwedagon in Myanmar: the tallest pagoda in Indonesia and the second highest in Southeast Asia. The park spreads across three hectares of gardens. From there you reach Sipisopiso waterfall, a plunge that drops 120 meters from a cave in the caldera wall of Lake Toba down to the lake itself. You can swim in the natural pools at the base and photograph the waterfall with the lake view behind it.

The final stop is a traditional Karo Batak village where you visit a Djambur house: a single structure where eight families live together, with cattle, pigs and water buffaloes kept below. You see how daily life works in these shared spaces, a glimpse into rural Sumatran life that doesn't require you to navigate or arrange transport between stops.

What’s included

• Hotel pickup and drop-off from your Medan hotel.
• private air-conditioned vehicle for the full day.
• English-speaking guide.
• entrance fees to Lumbini Park and Sipisopiso waterfall.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery dayDeparts at 07:30

AgesAdult (10 and older) · Child (3 to 9 years) · Infant (under 3): free

GroupPrivate

Live guideEnglish

Meeting point and pickupHotel pickup included.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.It may be canceled due to bad weather or if the minimum number of travelers isn't reached. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund.

Prices and times updated today

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problemsInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Indo Trip

Is this one for you?At 10 hours total, this tour fills most of the day but leaves the morning before 7am and the evening after return free for other plans in Medan. The private vehicle and guide mean you move at one pace without waiting for other groups or managing your own navigation between stops.

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Top questions

Can children come?

Yes. Ticket types: Child (3 to 9 years); Infant (under 3): free.

What happens if it rains?

It may be canceled due to bad weather. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund. Free cancellation up to 24 h before the start.

How long is the drive from Medan to Brastagi?

The drive takes about two hours through jungle and into the Karo Highlands. You're picked up from your hotel around 7am, so the journey fills the early part of the day.

Can I swim at Sipisopiso waterfall?

Yes. Sipisopiso is a plunge waterfall that drops 120 meters into Lake Toba, and you can cool down in the natural pools at the base of the waterfall.

What is Lumbini Park?

Lumbini Park is a three-hectare garden built between 2007 and 2010 that holds a 46.8-meter pagoda modeled on the Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar. It's the tallest pagoda in Indonesia and the second highest in Southeast Asia.

What happens at the traditional Karo Batak village?

You visit a Djambur house, a traditional structure where eight families live together with their livestock kept below. Your guide explains how daily life works in these shared spaces.

What's included in the price?

Hotel pickup and drop-off in Medan, private air-conditioned transportation, an English-speaking guide, and entrance fees to all sites are included. Food and drinks are not.