Do you want travel around Flores but you don’t know how? You don’t drive motorbikes and you don’t like organized tours? No problem! In this article you will find the answers to all your questions about how to travel around Flores as well as some tips for your time on the island!
Click on the section of your interest or scroll down to read the article:
- Flores, Indonesia: a brief introduction
- How to get to Flores
- Travelling around Flores – What are the Options?
- One Week Itinerary on Flores – What we visited and what we think
Flores, Indonesia: a brief introduction
Flores is an island on the east part of Indonesia, in the province of East Nusa Tenggara, it’s one of the few Indonesian islands where the majority of the population is Catholic and it’s a popular tourist destination for those who want to see Komodo dragons. Many tourist don’t visit the inner part of the island but remain in Labuan Bajo, where the main airport is located and where boat trips to Komodo island depart.
If you want to travel out of the beaten tracks and have more a “local experience“, then Flores is definitely a good travel destination. In addition to Komodo Dragons, age-old villages, volcanos, hot springs and fantastic snorkelling destinations are just few of the attractions of this fantastic island. We travelled to Flores for a week between July and August 2024 and, due to the limited amount of time, we only visited the western part of the island.
The island of Flores is crossed by the Trans-Flores highway, a 500km road that connects Labuan Bajo, in the west, to Maumere, in the east of the island. The road is in good condition but, due to the mountainous terrain and the risk of landslide blocking the road, travel timing often exceeds the expectation, making the trip around Flores sometimes long and hard.
The human experience is what we loved the most on Flores. Locals were extremely welcoming, we visited traditional Indonesian villages, we learned how to cook Indonesian food, we discovered that reggae is the most popular music among Indonesian drivers and we also learned some Indonesian words but without great success.
How to get to Flores
Flying to Flores
This is definitely the most comfortable and the fastest option, it is ideal if you have a limited amount of time.
There are two main airports on Flores, one in Labuan Bajo and the other one in Maumere. However, the first one is definitely the “main airport” of the island and there are direct flights both from Jakarta and Bali. We flew from Jakarta to Labuan Bajo and it took us 2hrs and a half. There are several companies who run flights to Labuan Bajo, we flew with Batik Airways. Despite the terrible reviews you can find online, we had a good experience.
Ferry trip to Flores
There are ferries connecting Flores to Sulawesi, Sumba, Lombok and Bali. We don’t have direct experience about the timing but be aware that timetables in Indonesia are very often just indicative. Add minimum one to two hours to each timetable to have a rough idea of when you will get to the island. From what we were told, the ferry from Flores to Bali takes approximately 12hrs.
Travelling around Flores – What are the Options?
Hiring a motorbike or a scooter
Hiring a motorbike or a scooter is definitely the most flexible option and it might be the cheapest one as well unless you decide to take local buses. We didn’t hire a motorbike but it is a good idea if you are a confident rider. Roads’ conditions are not always good, travel time on google maps is definitely not reliable, traffic can be intense and it can be dangerous if you are an unexperienced driver.
The cost of hiring a scooter in Labuan Bajo was 120.000 IDR/die in July 2024.
Hiring a driver
You cannot hire a car by yourself but you need a driver as well. Having a driver definitely reduces the stress of driving around the Indonesian island, it is quite flexible and if the driver speaks English, you can communicate with him. You can either hire a car in Labuan Bajo for the all trip on the island or find a local driver every time you need just by stopping the cars on the street.
If you decide to hire a car in Labuan, just go to the main road and you will find plenty of agencies organising the trip for you. Most of the agencies wanted 1.500.000 IDR per day (including driver, petrol and hotel for the driver), with a bit of negotiation you might be able to spend around 1.000.000 IDR per day.
If you want to spend some days in one spot and you don’t need a driver every day, then you can easily find drivers on the way. Some hotels will help you finding the driver or you can stop any car in the street if you don’t go too far. This is more time consuming than having a driver arranged from Labuan Bajo but it is also cheaper if you negotiate the price. Most locals use scooters but they will be able to give you a lift if needed. Because it was four of us, we opted for this option and, all considered, we spent as much as we would have spent if we had hired the motorbikes.
Local Bus
There are local buses between the main destinations, especially along the Trans-Flores highway. Taking a local bus it’s definitely the most authentic and cheapest experience but it is also the slowest and the most uncomfortable. There are no official timetables, just go to the bus station and ask a local to stop the bus for your destination. It is generally difficult to know which bus you need to stop, many don’t have anything written and don’t even stop unless you call them. Set yourself on the island time, speak with the people and you will get to the destination at some point. We took a local bus from Ruteng to Labuan Bajo, we paid 100.000 IDR and it took us 6hrs. There are two bus station in Ruteng, the one for local buses is called Terminal Mena, you can find it on google maps.
As always, we love traveling with public transport but unfortunately in Flores is not always reliable. It could be an option if you have a considerable amount of time. Not all destinations can be reached by bus but you can generally find a taxi or a scooter on the way.
One Week Itinerary on Flores – What we visited and what we think
With one week on the island, we decided to limit our visit to the west part of Flores. We enjoyed our time there but we could have stayed a few days more because it took us quite a long time to travel from one destination to the another.
Labuan Bajo & the Komodo Dragons tour
Almost all tourists visiting Flores, join a Komodo dragons tours. You do not need to book in advance, in Labuan Bajo you will find plenty of tourists agencies selling their package tours. All tours are pretty much the same and include the visit to the islands, snorkelling in a two spots, food and drink. The slow boat cost 700.000 IDR, the fast boat cost 1.350.000 IDR (negotiable to 1.000.000 IDR) and included the visit to one more island than the tour with the slow boat. You will have between 30min to 1h on each island.
Although the Komodo tour is the main attraction of Flores, we did not love. The place is beautiful but it’s too overcrowded, the tour is probably too expensive and the Komodo dragons gets constantly harassed by herds of tourists taking picture of them. You will find yourself literally walking behind these huge lizards with a group of 30 to 40 people. On top of that, as unfortunately happened quite frequently in Indonesia, large amount of plastic was abandoned on the beach of Komodo Island, despite it is supposed to be a national park. As an endangered specie, Komodo dragons should be protected, we joined the tour but we didn’t feel it was the right thing to do. You can choose what to do.
Labuan Bajo to Riung & 17 Islands Marine Park
We hired a driver from Labuan to Riung and the drive was very long and tiring. It took us a total of 13 hours, which was much longer than predicted. We got stuck at some point due to a landslide and we had to go very slow between Pota and Riung because of the road condition (unpaved with several potholes). We agreed to pay 1.000.000 IDR to go all the way from Labuan to Riung but we eventually decided to give 500.000 IDR more to the driver as tip.
Riung is a very nice and authentic Indonesian village. There are a couple of restaurants, one ATM, a few hotels and a lot of amazing people. Despite being high season, there weren’t many tourist and the tour of the 17 islands wasn’t too busy. Booking in advance is not required and the tour cost 350.000 IDR each, including water and a BBQ on the beach. If needed, you can also hire fins and snorkel for 25.000 IDR each. The snorkelling wasn’t the best due to the limited visibility and occasional plastic but we really enjoyed the tour. It is definitely less busy and at a reasonable price as compared to the Komodo one.
If you have a bit of time in Riung we strongly recommend you going to a little village 30 minutes driving from Riung called Watulajar. When we got there there was a “school festival” and all the pupils from the province had come over for the event. As soon as we arrived, we were welcomed and we were invited for lunch by the principal of the school, an absolute fantastic experience. Watulajar itself is also a very nice village and its beach is very famous in the area. Expect to pay from 150.000 to 200.000 IDR each way to get there and come back. There are not many cars in Watulajar, you may have to come back by bike!
Riung to Bajawa
We stayed in Riung only a couple of days and then we went to Bajawa. There is one local bus that departs daily from Riung heading to Bajawa but it is quite early in the morning (we were told 6am but we are not sure), we decided to get a taxi in the evening in order to have an extra day in Riung. We paid 500.000 IDR for the 2 and a half hours journey. The road was in good conditions and there was not much traffic.
Bajawa city is not beautiful but there are many attractions around. The most famous one is the Inierie volcano which you can climb departing early in the morning from Bajawa. There are plenty of travel agencies that can organise the trip for you if you want. Unfortunately this time we didn’t have enough time to climb the volcano but we might consider to go back there one day…
Bajawa to Ruteng via Belaraghi village
We decided to arrange a taxi from Bajawa to Ruteng stopping at Belaraghi village. Despite we read that Belaraghi was remote and inaccessible, the new road to the village is actually in very good condition and you can drive all the way up to the village. The village today is not permanently inhabited but locals try to maintain the original aspect of the village with bamboo houses and thatched roofs. You will be offered lunch and you can decide to spend the night there. An offer for the community is normally requested. A local woman in Belaraghi showed us how to cook traditional food and told us a bit of the story of the village. We loved this place and the experience we had, we strongly recommend a visit!
We wanted to hike from Belaraghi to Pauleni but we were told it was dangerous to adventure alone in the forest and we didn’t find anyone who could guide us. For a longer hike, we were told that it is possible to hike directly from Bajawa to Belaraghi but it takes around 4 hours and you will need a guide.
Most tourists will skip Ruteng but, being an important centre of the area, it is easy to reach by public transport. If you travel by bus, you will probably stop in Ruteng at some point.
Ruteng to Labuan Bajo
For the last part of our journey on the island of Flores, we decided to take a local bus. If you decide to do the same, make sure you go to terminal Mena and ask a local for the bus to Labuan Bajo. We paid 100.000 IDR and it took us around 6 hours with just one quick stop for lunch. We loved travelling using the local bus so we strongly recommend it at least for part of your journey.