Where to Stay on Samosir & Lake Toba

The one full-scale resort in Tuk Tuk: a five-star with a large lakefront pool, terraced rooms and conference facilities, a short drive from the tombs at Tomok. The top-ranked premium hotel on Trip.com for the area.

• Lakefront pool
• Five-star comfort
• Excellent guest scores

A small family-run homestay on the Tuk Tuk ring road with the highest guest score of any Samosir property on Trip.com, from more than two hundred reviews. Simple rooms, warm hosts, very low rates.

• Outstanding guest reviews
• Family-run
• Budget rates

A long-standing Tuk Tuk favourite: cottages and rooms in a lakeside garden with a pool, a swimming jetty, and a well-known bakery and restaurant. Trip.com showed no rate on the day we checked, so follow the link for dates.

• Lakeside garden and pool
• Popular bakery-restaurant
• High guest scores

One of the peninsula’s classic guesthouses, on its own little point with rooms right on the water and a private jetty for swimming. By far the most-reviewed Samosir property on Trip.com.

• Rooms on the waterfront
• Private swimming jetty
• Hundreds of reviews

Bungalows on a quiet spit of land at the northern edge of Tuk Tuk, well away from the main lane — for travellers who want silence, a hammock and the lake on three sides.

• Very quiet location
• Lake on the doorstep
• Good value

Lakefront cottages in the middle of the Tuk Tuk strip, within easy walking distance of the peninsula’s restaurants and scooter rentals. Solid scores from over a hundred guests.

• Central Tuk Tuk
• Lake views
• Walk to restaurants

A mid-range resort on the Tuk Tuk shore with two pools, lake-facing rooms and a restaurant — popular with families and Indonesian weekenders.

• Swimming pools
• Family-friendly
• Lake-view rooms

A cheerful budget guesthouse on the ring road with lake-view rooms and a sociable terrace restaurant. Hundreds of reviews and a dependable backpacker choice.

• Backpacker favourite
• Lake-view terrace
• Low prices

A large, lively complex of rooms and cottages stepping down to the lake, with a pool, a restaurant and regular live music. Good for meeting people; less so for an early night.

• Pool and lake access
• Social atmosphere
• Wide range of rooms

The former Inna Parapat, a colonial-era lakeside hotel on the Parapat peninsula with lawns running down to the water. The classic choice for a night before or after the boat.

• Right on the lake
• Historic property
• Short ride to the harbour

A big hillside resort above Parapat with sweeping views over the lake, a pool and extensive grounds. A few kilometres from the harbour, so allow for a taxi.

• Panoramic lake views
• Pool and gardens
• Good value

Compact, smartly designed cabins among the trees on the lakeshore north of Parapat — a glamping-style stay with big windows and app-controlled rooms.

• Design cabins
• Forest and lake setting
• Something different

A straightforward, well-reviewed hotel near Tigaraja harbour, where the passenger boats to Tuk Tuk leave. Ideal if you arrive too late to cross.

• Close to the Tuk Tuk boats
• Low rates
• Strong guest scores