A Taste of Timor.
Small-group tours by 4WD across Timor-Leste — built around your stay at Beachside, run on the ground by Timor Adventures, and bookable from Australia through Sun Theatre. Three lengths. One country. Maximum four guests per departure.
From the people who showed you Timor on screen.
For years Sun Theatre Yarraville has been bringing films into the smallest villages in Timor-Leste — and falling for the country in the process. The Taste of Timor packages are how they let guests experience the same thing: the people, the food, the resistance history, the reefs.
While in Dili you'll stay with us at Beachside on the sands of Areia Branca. Beyond that, you'll be in hotels, home stays and eco resorts depending on the itinerary. The hugely experienced team at Timor Adventures takes care of every transfer, guide, and meal between airport and airport.
Group size: maximum four. English-speaking driver/guide on every day. Local guide in Balibo. 4WD throughout. All inter-island flights, water taxis, and airport transfers included.
Three lengths.
Each package is a complete small-group itinerary with everything booked end-to-end — driver, vehicle, internal flights, accommodation, key meals. Pick the one that fits your time. The longer ones are progressive: 11 includes the 7, 14 includes the 11.
A Taste — 7 days
Dili · Atauro Island · Balibo. The classic short loop — capital, weavers, Taibesi market, north-west panoramas, a coffee processing plant, dolphins on the boat to Atauro, a flight to Maliana, a 4WD afternoon through rice paddies to lunch at Balibo Fort.
EnquireA Degustation — 11 days
Dili · Same · Viqueque · Atauro · Balibo. The 7-day plus a mountain run through Aileu, Maubisse, Same and Postu, then south to Dom Bo Ventura, Betano and the WW2 voyager site, on through Krekas to Viqueque deep in resistance country, then Venilale's WW2 tunnels and Baucau Vila Antigua. Cultural performance included.
Enquire
A Banquet — 14 days
Dili · Same · Viqueque · Baucau · Com · Jaco Island · Atauro · Balibo. The 11-day plus traditional villages, the sleepy fishing village of Com, a fishing boat to sacred Jaco Island for snorkel and white-sand walks, the Lou'd Women's Cooperative, and a flight from Los Palos to Atauro for the island finale.
EnquireA Taste — 7 days
Dili · Atauro Island · Balibo
Explore the capital of Dili — historical, religious and political sites. Visit the women's weaving workshop with the option to buy traditional Tais. Walk the bustling Taibesi market. Take in the panoramas of the north-west coast. Visit a coffee processing plant and sample Timor's excellent coffee.
Take a boat ride to Atauro, looking out for dolphins and whales — snorkel, beachcomb, relax. Then a flight from Atauro to Maliana, a 4WD through rice paddies to Balibo Fort, and lunch in the heart of resistance history.
Included: English-speaking driver/guide for 4 days · local guide in Balibo · 4WD for 4 days · flight Atauro → Maliana · airport transfers · one-way water taxi · 6 nights accommodation with breakfast · 5 lunches.
A Degustation — 11 days
Dili · Same · Viqueque · Atauro · Balibo
The seven-day tour, plus: a mountain excursion exploring Aileu, Maubisse, Same and the historic Portuguese Postu. Travel down the south coast to visit Dom Bo Ventura and Betano (the WW2 voyager site), then via Krekas to Viqueque deep into resistance territory.
Explore historic Venilale town, the WW2 tunnels, and Baucau Vila Antigua (the old town). A cultural performance is included — the kind that's normally arranged for visiting heads of state, run for a group of four.
Included: English-speaking driver/guide for 7 days · local guide in Balibo · 4WD for 7 days · flights Baucau → Dili and Atauro → Maliana · airport transfers · one-way water taxi · 10 nights accommodation with breakfast · 9 lunches · 10 dinners.
A Banquet — 14 days
Dili · Same · Viqueque · Baucau · Com · Jaco Island · Atauro · Balibo
The eleven-day tour, plus: traditional villages and amazing coastal views en route to the sleepy fishing village of Com. A fishing boat to sacred Jaco Island for snorkel and a walk on the white sand. Meet the master weavers of the Lou'd Women's Cooperative. And then a flight from Los Palos to Atauro for the island finale.
Included: English-speaking driver/guide for 11 days · local guide in Balibo · 4WD for 11 days · flights Los Palos → Atauro and Atauro → Maliana · airport transfers · one-way water taxi · 13 nights accommodation · 12 lunches · 13 dinners.
Travel logistics
Recommended flights: Melbourne to Dili via Darwin on a Sunday or Monday. Return on Wednesday, Friday or Saturday. These are the daytime flights — others involve overnighting in Darwin. Visa on arrival for Australian, New Zealand and European passport holders.
Currency: Timor-Leste runs on US dollars. Payment for the package is in Australian dollars and can be made by card, cash or EFT.
Currency you'll spend on the ground: USD. Card acceptance is patchy; bring some cash.
Group size · max 4 guests · English driver/guide · Australian booking
Book through Sun Theatre.
All Taste of Timor packages are booked from Australia by Shirley and Dave at Sun Theatre Yarraville. They'll match you to a length, recommend the flights, and brief you for landing.
Back to Beachside
Tour packages are run with our partners at Sun Theatre and Timor Adventures — but the Dili end of every itinerary lives at us, on the sands of Areia Branca. Back to the home page for the hotel, the café, and the cinema.