Discover Surabaya
with Cathay Pacific

It’s a common story in Asia: a once-important port city falls on hard times, only to rise again to prominence. Add Surabaya to that list.
Once the hub for exporting tobacco, coffee and sugar for the Dutch, the city lost its crown to Jakarta in the mid-20th century. Travel to Surabaya and you’ll see it has undergone a renaissance, slowly shedding its industrial image, investing heavily in infrastructure and developing the traditional kampong neighbourhoods. It may not have the beaches of Bali, or Jakarta’s financial might, but the City of Heroes has both a rich history and an exciting future for visitors to discover. Read our Surabaya travel guide to discover the city’s best spots.

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Things to do in Surabaya

Take a trip back in time in Old Town

Beneath Surabaya’s gleaming skyscrapers lies its charming Old Town, a low-rise area dotted with colonial buildings and tradition. House of Sampoerna is one of the more popular Surabaya attractions in the area, the former headquarters of the eponymous kretek cigarette manufacturers that today houses a museum.

Marvel at Al-Akbar Mosque

Also known as the Great Mosque of Surabaya, Al-Akbar is the impressive focal point of Indonesia’s second-largest Muslim community. It’s not just religiously important: the mosque’s design, with its turquoise dome and towering minarets (including one 99 metres high), make it a splendid architectural landmark as well.

Get surreal at Surabaya Submarine Monument

Surabaya’s naval history is on show at Surabaya Submarine Monument, a vessel that was used during West Papua’s liberation from the Dutch and is now one of Surabaya’s top attractions. Squeeze through portholes to tour the crew quarters, officers’ lounge, control room and even peek through the periscope.

Sample local delicacies like rawon and rujak

You can’t travel to Surabaya without sampling rawon, a soup of slow-braised beef heightened with the colour and flavour of fermented buah kluwek nuts. Another beloved local delicacy is rujak, a tropical fruit salad that’s usually served with a sweet and spicy dressing of shrimp paste, peanuts, sugar and chilli.

Climb the imposing Mount Bromo

Mount Bromo’s smouldering caldera and cloud-framed peak is a spectacular sight to behold. You’ll need to do an overnight stay to experience it at its most spectacular: sunrise. Once you do, you’ll see why it’s one of the most popular day trips for visitors who travel to Surabaya.

Visit the Heroes Monument

Surabaya is known as the City of Heroes for its role in the Indonesian independence movement. Explore the history of the period at Surabaya attractions such as the 41-metre-tall Heroes Monument, dedicated to those who died during the 1945 Battle of Surabaya, and the attached museum.

Get wet at Madakaripura Waterfall

Madakaripura Waterfall is unlike any you’ve seen before. From its 200-metre top, water streams down through a huge circular canyon, over moss-carpeted walls and into a vast pool below. You can enter the waterfall, swim in the pools and soak in one of East Java’s most incredible scenes.

Taste the colonial days at Hotel Majapahit

Hotel Majapahit is Surabaya’s answer to Singapore’s Raffles Hotel. It’s no coincidence: Majapahit was built by the son of one of the Singaporean landmark’s founders in 1910. This hotel was where Indonesian revolutionaries tore the blue strip off the Dutch flag above the hotel to create Indonesia’s red-and-white national flag.

Peer into a volcano at Mount Ijen

This active volcano is famous for the blue flames that lie within. They’re only visible in the dark, so you’ll need to start the arduous hike long before sunrise. Your reward is an otherworldly landscape which includes an acidic turquoise lake, the largest of its kind on Earth.

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