22-07-2025
This Indonesian city with a big Chinatown was voted Asia's best cheap holiday
It might be the second-biggest city in the world's fourth-biggest country by population, but the malls, Dutch colonial history and massive Chinatown of Surabaya in Java's east do not usually make for a first or even second choice stop for tourists.
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A few hours' drive west from Surabaya in East Java is Borobudur, an imposing and ornate 9th century Buddhist temple, and its popular gateway city Yogyakarta.
A few hours farther west on Java - home to 156 million of
Indonesia 's 280 million people and the world's most populous island - lies the sprawling asphalt vastness of Jakarta, one of the world's biggest metropolises.
Meanwhile, a short hop to the east from Surabaya sits
Bali , where beaches and bars draw millions of tourists each year and from where another couple of island-hops takes a visitor to Komodo, the island home of the fearsome eponymous lizards.
But according to travel booking website Agoda, an average room rate of 'just US$35 per night' makes Surabaya 'a top choice' not only for holidaymakers hoping to save a few dollars, but 'for those eager to embrace culture and adventure this summer'.
A dragon dance in the Chinatown night market in the Indonesian city of Surabaya. Photo: Johannes Nugroho
