Things to do in Surabaya

Landmark · Central / north Surabaya

The Heroes Monument and the Red Bridge, at the centre of the November 1945 battle that gave Surabaya its name as the City of Heroes.

Local tip: The underground museum beneath the monument is better than the obelisk above it. Come on 10 November, Heroes' Day, when the whole city marks the anniversary — it is a genuinely national event and it belongs to Surabaya.

Culture · North Surabaya

The tomb and mosque of Sunan Ampel, one of the nine saints credited with bringing Islam to Java, inside a dense Arab-Javanese trading quarter.

Local tip: Approach through the covered lane of traders rather than driving to the mosque — the alley of dates, perfume, prayer beads and Yemeni food is the experience. Dress conservatively; this is a working pilgrimage site, not an attraction.

Culture · Kota Lama, north Surabaya

A Dutch colonial complex housing a clove-cigarette museum and a working hand-rolling floor, in the middle of Surabaya's restored colonial quarter.

Local tip: The upstairs gallery looks down onto the rolling floor, where the speed is remarkable. Combine it with a walk through Kembang Jepun and the old Chinatown, which has been progressively restored and is best in the early evening.

Neighborhood · Central Surabaya

The colonial-era residential boulevard and the shopping street that was the city's commercial spine, both revived over the last decade.

Local tip: Jalan Tunjungan is closed to traffic on some evenings and has become the city's favourite hangout. The Darmo villas behind it are Surabaya's most desirable old housing and almost never come onto public portals.

Food · City-wide, best at the old warungs

Surabaya's three defining dishes — a fruit and cow-snout salad in black shrimp paste, a soupy bean-sprout and fried-tofu plate, and East Java's black beef soup.

Local tip: Rawon is the safe entry point and it is superb. Rujak cingur is the test, and the correct answer is to eat it at a warung that has been doing one thing for forty years rather than at a mall.

Nature · East Surabaya

A boardwalk through tidal mangrove on the city's eastern edge, with a boat run out to the estuary and a lot of birds.

Local tip: Almost nobody visits, which is the point: half an hour from Tunjungan and you are in silence on a boardwalk over the mudflats. Go at first light for birds and before the heat, and bring repellent — the mosquitoes are serious.