The Best Of Surakarta – Visit Surakarta – Budget Travel In Indonesia

Visit Surakarta, Indonesia to experience a historical royal city in central Java. It is one of the major producers of dyed Batik and its artistic traditions, such as dance, puppetry and music, to the more modern street art, give the city the worthy title of ‘spirit of Java’.

We arrived in Surakarta, known colloquially as ‘Solo’, having just spent 5 nights in Yogyakarta. Most people there were heading straight to Bali. One traveller was leaving to embark on a 17 hour bus journey to Bali! No one we spoke to had any plans to visit Surakarta. We had decided to move across Java towards Bali, stopping at various cities along the way.

How To Get To Surakarta From Yogyakarta

Surakarta is less than an hour away from Yogyakarta on the train. As we visited Java during the month of Ramadan, we were advised to travel by train instead of by bus and to book all our train tickets in advance. We managed to get seats on an early-afternoon train.

Buying Train Tickets In Indonesia

We bought our tickets through the website tiket.com. It isn’t straight-forward as the site does not always accept non-Indonesian credit cards. If you have this problem, follow the rules on this site.

When you buy online, you will be sent an e-ticket with a QR code. You do not need to print off this ticket. When you arrive at the station, there are a number of kiosks from which you can print your boarding passes. You only need the code from the email to do this. You must print off boarding passes. The e-ticket alone will not be accepted.

You will then pass through security. You will need your passport here. Once inside, you can wait for your train. Trains here have names, not numbers!

Arriving In Surakarta

As is standard when arriving at any train station in Southeast Asia, the first task is getting past the collective of over-eager taxi drivers. Once we had accomplished this, we began the 25 minute walk to our hotel. It was basically a long, straight road that led us through a trade area where people were selling all sorts of goods; the corn clearly taking Joanna’s eye.

Where To Stay In Surakarta

CLICK HERE FOR ALL ACCCOMMODATION IN SURAKARTA!

These are some of the best budget hostels in Surakarta, according to user reviews. These are affiliate links to the Agoda web site. I found Agoda to be much better than booking.com in Southeast Asia. I receive a small amount for any bookings made through these links at no extra cost to you.

• Spot On 2209 Solo Point Syariah
• RedDoorz near Stadion Manahan Solo
• RedDoorz near Terminal Tirtonadi
• RedDoorz near Solo Balapan Station
• OYO 2258 Santana Syariah Residence
• OYO 1506 Shabrina 2 Syariah
• Kartika Syariah Guest House
• Front One Cabin Solo

Airy Imam Bonjol 35 Solo

We had booked a room at ‘Airy Imam Bonjol 35 Solo’ (map). Not the catchiest of names but we were greeted by a very friendly host (Paul) and, on first impressions, it looked fine. We had been staying in a home-built shack for 5 days so we were ready for some comfort. The room was very big and had A PROPER BED!

The bathroom wasn’t gthe best and didn’t seem to be any hot water but we could deal with it for just a short stay.

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Exploring Surakarta

We headed out into the night to try to find food. We thought we’d be able to find something around the ‘Great Mosque’ (map) but we had no luck. It was cool walking around the narrow side streets and seeing the reaction of locals who clearly were not used to having many western tourists in the area.

We tried both ‘Saffron’ (map) and ‘Mr Chubby’ (map) but both were full. The local cafes didn’t seem to offer any vegetarian choice for Joanna so we kept on walking. We eventually came to a busy street called Jl. Gatot Subroto (map) that grabbed our attention with its street art.

There was so much of it but the light wasn’t great so we decided to return the next day.

We eventually found a small restaurant that was open and we both had fried rice dishes that were actually very nice. The chef was very happy that we showed appreciation for his food.

Coffee In Surakarta

All days must begin with coffee and we had noticed a coffee roaster on our street the previous night. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open. So we continued our search and within a minute, we bumped into Paul from the hotel. He recommended us a coffee shop nearby and also said that he would like to take us for food later that evening! How nice!

The coffee shop he recommended was ‘Sekutu Kopi’ (map) and it was a very good recommendation. The coffee was delicious, as was the cinnamon pastry we had to go with it.

Surakarta Street Art

We headed back to Jl. Gatot Subroto to see more street art. As some of the shops that were open the previous night were now closed, and vice versa, there were plenty of new pieces to feast our eyes on.

We had planned to visit ‘Warung Selat Mbak Lies’ (map) for some Javanese food and ‘Mrs. Lidya’s Serabi Notosuman’ (map) for some traditional Indonesian pancakes, but we changed our mind and decided to head towards a Batik village instead.

Batik Laweyan Village

Laweyan is one of the oldest batik areas in Solo. It is around 30 minutes walk from the centre. We took a grab cab to ‘Soga Batik Solo Laweyan’ (map) and took a left turn, down one of the side alleys, towards the river. Along the way, we came across many batik shops. This is where you will find the best batik. I have read that it is expensive but it was cheaper than I expected, with shirts starting from around £3. I very nearly bought a very nice shirt for around £12 but talked myself out of it. It is a very nice area to wander and get lost in. Expect people to offer to be your ‘guide’. They work on commission and probably would expect a small donation. We declined and made our own way around.

Food At Solo Grand Mall

One of the things that surprised us in South East Asia is the quality of mall food. In the UK, we would never visit malls but here, you can almost guarantee that every mall has a food court filled with cheap vendors selling freshly-made, local food. It’s street food with air-con! They are also usually the easiest places to find vegetarian options.

After the batik village, we headed through the side streets to the ‘Solo Grand Mall’ (map) where, sure enough, we discovered a busy food court and ordered some good food for just over £2.

We then walked back to our hotel to rest, taking in some of the sights along the way.

Indonesian Street Food

In the evening, we were meeting up with Paul, the host at our hotel. We weren’t sure whether this involved going out for food, or going to his house for food so we explained in advance that Joanna was vegetarian as we didn’t want to offend anyone. He said this wouldn’t be a problem.

We left the hotel around 7 pm and headed to a roadside vendor serving a traditional local dish, Nasi Liwet. This is a dish consisting of a coconut rice, pumpkin and arah, which is kind of a coconut porridge. Mine came with shredded chicken and washed down with iced lemon. It was a great experience sitting by the roadside, eating local food and chatting with Paul. He even paid for the food. In his own words, “I just want people to be happy.” What a great guy!

Is Surakarta Worth Visiting?

Whilst it may not have the same appeal to backpackers as Yogyakarta, Surakarta is definitely worth a couple of days exploring. Judging by the local people’s response to us, it probably doesn’t get many western tourists. Everyone treated us with curiosity and respect. Surakarta is a historical city with excellent street art and it is the place to come for all your batik needs. We enjoyed our short stay there.