Tatamailau (Mount Ramelau)
The highest mountain in Timor-Leste. Hikers climb in the dark to reach the summit by sunrise, where a statue of the Virgin Mary stands, with wide views on clear mornings.
Mount Ramelau and Maubisse
Cool highlands dotted with coffee villages, where visitors can hike at sunrise up Mount Ramelau, the highest peak in the country.
Attractive locations
Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão National Park
A mountain national park around the Ramelau range, with mountain forest, cool air and coffee-growing villages. Good for hiking and watching birds.
Maubisse
A cool highland town on the road south from Dili, with Portuguese-era buildings, a pousada and a lively morning market. It is a common stop on the way to Mount Ramelau.
Ainaro
A mountain town in the south-west highlands, close to the slopes of Mount Ramelau, with cool air, a Portuguese-era church and views over forested ridges.
Aileu
A hill town on the main road from Dili into the highlands, with cool air, a Portuguese-era church and ridge views. Many travellers pass through on the way to Maubisse and Mount Ramelau.
Airports
Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport DIL
It is about 33 km in a straight line from Mount Ramelau and Maubisse.
Commander in Chief of FALINTIL, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, International Airport UAI
It is about 62 km in a straight line from Mount Ramelau and Maubisse.
Baucau Airport BCH
It is about 97 km in a straight line from Mount Ramelau and Maubisse.
Scams and safe taxis
Taxi and scam advice for this country is on the Timor-Leste page
Weather by month
Each month shows its average temperature in °C and its mm of rain per month.
- Jan23.7 °C242 mm
- Feb23.4 °C205 mm
- Mar23.4 °C126 mm
- Apr23.1 °C55 mm
- May22.4 °C37 mm
- Jun21.3 °C23 mm
- Jul20.7 °C10 mm
- Aug20.9 °C4 mm
- Sep22.2 °C5 mm
- Oct23.9 °C13 mm
- Nov25.0 °C57 mm
- Dec24.5 °C173 mm
Driest months: Jul, Aug, Sep. Wettest months: Jan, Feb, Dec.
Costs
Prices here are about 28% of US prices (World Bank, 2025). This compares a country's overall prices, not the cost of a trip.
Who can help
Emergency and help
Ask your hotel for the local emergency numbers and save the contact of your own embassy, or the country that represents yours, before you go.
local government
Police and emergency numbers (official tourism portal)
Helps with: The official tourism portal lists 112 for police, 115 for fire and 110 for an ambulance, and advises saving them before travelling beyond Dili. Mobile coverage can be patchy on remote roads.
Who qualifies: Anyone in Timor-Leste, including visitors, who needs police help in an emergency.
Phone: 112
local government
Ministry of Tourism and Environment
Helps with: Timor-Leste's tourism ministry, which runs the official tourism portal. Contact its head office in Dili for tourism information.
Who qualifies: Anyone visiting Timor-Leste or planning a trip there.
Phone: +670 331 1563
Email: [email protected]
Address: Edifisiu Haksolok, Villa Verde, Dili
ngo
Timor-Leste Red Cross (Cruz Vermelha de Timor-Leste)
Helps with: Timor-Leste's national Red Cross society, based in Dili. Contact it through its main office for Red Cross services.
Who qualifies: People in Timor-Leste who need to reach the national Red Cross society.
Phone: +670 78377717
Address: Avenida 20 de Maio, No. 79, Gricenfor, Nain Feto, Dili
un agency
International Organization for Migration (IOM) Timor-Leste
Helps with: The UN migration agency, with a country office in Dili. It supports emergency shelter and relief, disaster preparedness, safe labour migration, border management and counter-trafficking.
Who qualifies: Migrants, displaced people and government partners. It is not a help service for ordinary tourists.