Brunei's Capital Holds the World's Largest Residential Palace, and Still Bans Public Bars

Bandar Seri Begawan does not look like a capital short on money. The Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, built in 1958 and named for the 28th Sultan of Brunei, carries a dome plated in pure gold above imported Italian marble, English crystal chandeliers and Saudi carpets, reflected in an artificial lagoon built specifically to double its height in the water. It is the kind of building oil and gas wealth pays for outright, and Brunei has paid for a great deal more like it since.

A palace built to a record

Istana Nurul Iman, the Sultan's official residence on the city's outskirts, is listed by Guinness World Records as the largest residential palace on earth, reportedly running to close to 1,800 rooms. It is not generally open to the public, and most visitors see it only from the river or the road that skirts its grounds, which does little to dent its status as the most-discussed building in the country.

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Kampong Ayer, the water village that predates the skyline

Long before any of the marble arrived, the Brunei River held Kampong Ayer, a cluster of stilt villages that local tradition holds has been continuously inhabited for centuries and is often described as among the largest settlements of its kind still standing. Tens of thousands of residents once lived here, connected by wooden walkways rather than streets, and a smaller but still substantial population remains today, a short water-taxi ride from the mosque's gold dome.

What money hasn't changed

Brunei has had no personal income tax for decades, funded by its oil and gas reserves, and healthcare and education are heavily subsidised for citizens. None of that has loosened the country's Islamic legal code: the public sale and consumption of alcohol has been banned since 1991, nightlife in the Western sense is essentially absent, and visitors are expected to dress and behave accordingly, particularly around religious sites.

A capital tourism barely touches

Brunei receives a fraction of the visitor numbers of neighbouring Malaysia or Indonesia, without the backpacker infrastructure that's grown up around most of Southeast Asia's capitals. That scarcity is arguably the city's most distinctive feature now: a genuinely wealthy, quietly run capital that the region's main tourist trail still mostly skips.

Traveller tips

• Brunei International Airport connects to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and a handful of other regional hubs; there are no long-haul direct routes from India.
• Modest dress is expected when visiting mosques; scarves and robes are usually available on loan at the entrance.
• Alcohol cannot be bought or consumed in public; non-Muslim visitors may bring in a small personal allowance for private consumption, subject to declared limits that are worth confirming before arrival.
• Confirm current visa requirements for Indian passport holders directly with Brunei's immigration authorities before booking, since rules can change with little notice.