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Surabaya
Capital and largest city of East Java, Indonesia

Surabaya

Surabaya is the capital and largest city of East Java province and the second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta.

Plan a trip to Surabaya→From Surakarta

Located on the northeastern corner of Java island, on the Madura Strait, it is one of the earliest port cities in Southeast Asia. According to the National Development Planning Agency, Surabaya is one of the four main central cities of Indonesia, alongside Jakarta, Medan, and Makassar. The city covers a land area of 334.50 km2, and had a population of 2,874,314 within its city limits at the 2020 census. With 3,003,860 people living in the city as of mid 2025 and over 10 million in the extended Surabaya metropolitan area, according to the latest official estimate, Surabaya is the second-largest metropolitan area in Indonesia. Surabaya metropolitan area also has ASEAN's 6th largest economy, ahead of Hanoi. In 2023, the city's GRP PPP was estimated at US$150.294 billion.

Get in

Getting to Surabaya

  1. 01
    Juanda International Airport
  2. 02
    Surabaya Gubeng
  3. 03
    Surabaya Kota
  4. 04
    Tanjung Perak

    Perak Timur road is about 4 km north of downtown.

See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    Jembatan Merah

    This red bridge plays a big role in Surabaya's history; not for the bridge itself, but for the Dutch colonial era commercial area which lies in northern part of the city surrounding this bridge.

  2. 02
    The Suramadu Bridge

    Also known as the Surabaya-Madura Bridge, is a cable-stayed bridge which connects Surabaya on the island of Java and the town of Bangkalan on the island of Madura.

  3. 03
    Tugu Pahlawan & Museum Sepuluh November

    A monument dedicated to the fallen heroes of Surabaya during the Independence war of 1945-49.

  4. 04
    Monumen Jalasveva Jayamahe

    A monument on Surabaya's seafront dedicated to the service of the Indonesian Navy.

  5. 05
    Monumen Kapal Selam
  6. 06
    Monumen Pers Perjuangan Surabaya

    Jl.

Do

Things to do

Swim and have fun with water in

Eat

Where to eat

Surabaya is a foodie's dream, with many local specialities. The city is famous for rujak cingur, a local salad with sauce, and cingur (slices of cooked cow nose). Try also the sate klopo, satay with coconut rasp which you can find in Jalan Walikota Mustajab. Don't forget to try rawon, pecel, gado-gado Surabaya, semanggi, es campur, es teler, and es kacang ijo (mung bean dessert).

  1. 01
    Ibu Hasan

    Jl.

  2. 02
    Jasmine Ice Cream and Pastries

    1, Galaxy Mall Lt 2 - 315, +62 31 7099-1431.

  3. 03
    Pecel Bu Kus

    Serves Pecel (traditional Javanese salad with peanut sauce).

  4. 04
    Rujak Cingur Genteng Durasim

    Jl.

  5. 05
    Lontong Balap Pak Gendut
How locals move

Getting around Surabaya the local way

  • Get inPasar Turi serves executive air-conditioned trains from Jakarta, Semarang, and all of Java's northern coast; while Gubeng is the terminus station for mainly economy class trains and trains for southern and eastern Java, including Yogyakarta, Bandung, and Banyuwangi (tickets Rp 290,000) for the ferry to Bali.
  • Get inAngkutan Sungai Danau dan Penyeberangan (ASDP): Daily ferry service from Ujung Kamal and Madura.
  • Get inTo Denpasar in Bali, fair price is Rp 200,000-280,000 by eksekutif night bus, including the ferry trip between Banyuwangi and Gilimanuk, mineral water and a meal.
  • Get inAnother option is to go by minibus (known in Indonesia as travel).
  • Get inA number of companies run door-to-door minibus services from and to major destinations in Java, including Malang and Yogyakarta.
  • Get inSurabaya is reachable in 12 hours from the west end of the island at the Merak ferry crossing to Sumatra, 9 hours from Jakarta, 4 hours from Semarang, 3.5 hours from Solo, 2 hours from Ngawi and less than 1.5 hours from Malang.
  • Get aroundBecak (cycle rickshaw) are a traditional form of transportation in Surabaya.
  • Get aroundUse a motorbike (ojek) if you are traveling solo and in a hurry.

From Wikivoyage: Surabaya, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see file page), Wikimedia Commons.