The city has two names and you will see both. Surakarta is the official one, used on maps, tickets and government signs. Solo is what everybody actually says, taken from the village of Sala that stood here before the court moved in, and it is what you will hear at the station and see on the buses. They are the same place.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, Roman Trail earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
It became a royal capital in 1745 when the Mataram court relocated here after a rebellion burned the old one, and it has been a court city ever since. There are two of them: the Kasunanan keraton and the smaller Mangkunegaran, both still occupied, both still keeping gamelan orchestras, dancers and a court calendar. Surakarta is also the centre of Javanese batik, which UNESCO listed in 2009, and it is the quieter, cheaper and considerably less visited alternative to Yogyakarta sixty kilometres west.
What Makes Surakarta Different to Pack For
Hot, humid and low
Solo sits on a plain about 100 metres above sea level between two volcanoes, and it is consistently hot: 30°C to 33°C by day in every month, humid, with nights that only drop to around 23°C. The wet season runs October to April with heavy afternoon rain, and the city floods in places when the Bengawan Solo river rises.
A packable rain jacket handles the wet season downpours, though a folding umbrella is what everyone local carries and it is more useful in rain that falls straight down.
Palace dress codes are real and specific
Both courts are working royal households, not museums, and both have rules. Shoulders and knees covered is the minimum. The Kasunanan keraton asks visitors to remove shoes and hats in parts of the complex, and in some inner courtyards sandals or bare feet are required rather than shoes. Sleeveless tops and shorts will keep you out.
You are going to buy batik, so leave room
Pasar Klewer is one of the largest textile markets in Indonesia and the batik villages of Laweyan and Kauman are working production quarters where you can watch wax being applied by hand. This is the genuine article rather than printed imitation, and it is inexpensive.
The mountains behind the city are cold
Mount Lawu rises to 3,265 metres on the eastern edge and the temples on its slopes, Sukuh and Cetho, sit at around 900 and 1,400 metres. Cetho in particular is regularly wrapped in cloud at 18°C while Solo is at 32°C. A merino wool base layer for women packs to nothing and covers that gap, the overnight buses and the cold restaurants.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
The Surakarta Packing List
Footwear
Shoes that come off easily and go back on without sitting down, because you will remove them at the palaces, at mosques and in many homes and shops. Slip-on flats or sandals with a back strap are ideal. Solo's pavements are broken, uneven and often missing, with open drains at the edge, so anything with a heel is a bad idea.
If you are walking on Mount Lawu, up to Cetho, or around the Sukuh temple terraces, waterproof hiking shoes are right. The slopes are wet, muddy, steep and slippery almost every afternoon.
Clothing
Light, loose, covering clothes. Long lightweight trousers or a long skirt and sleeved tops will serve you better here than shorts, both for the heat and for the fact that Central Java is conservative, majority Muslim, and a good deal more modest in dress than Bali.
Pack at least one outfit that is unambiguously respectable for the palaces and for any court performance you attend. A scarf for mosque visits, where a head covering is expected of women and is usually lent at the door.
For sun and rain
A wide brim sun hat, sunscreen and sunglasses for the exposed walking between sites, and a folding umbrella for the afternoon rain. A dry bag or a plastic sleeve for a phone during the wet season.
Health and insects
Dengue is present in Central Java and the mosquito that carries it bites in daylight, so repellent is a daytime item. Long sleeves in the evening. Rehydration salts, since the heat and humidity dehydrate faster than they feel like they should.
Bring prescription medication in original packaging with a copy of the prescription. Indonesian rules on controlled medicines are strict and codeine preparations that are routine elsewhere are not.
Practical
Cash in rupiah, in small notes, for the markets, becak rickshaws and warungs. Solo is a cash city far more than Jakarta or Bali. A reusable bottle, since tap water is not drinkable. Gojek and Grab both work well here and are cheaper and easier than negotiating.
What to Wear at Key Sites
The Kasunanan keraton
The senior court, founded 1745, with a tower from which the susuhunan is said to commune with the Queen of the South Sea, a museum of court regalia, carriages and gamelan, and sand in the main courtyard brought from the south coast.
Practically: shoulders and knees covered, and expect to take off your shoes in the inner courtyard where the ground is sand. Photography is restricted in parts. Much of the complex is closed as a private residence. It is worn and underfunded, and a fire in 1985 destroyed a great deal, so go for the atmosphere and the guides rather than expecting grandeur.
Pura Mangkunegaran
The junior court, founded 1757, smaller, better maintained and in many ways the more rewarding visit, with a vast joglo pavilion whose ceiling is painted in the eight colours of the Javanese zodiac, and a gamelan set that is played on Wednesday mornings.
Practically: same dress code. Guides are included and are excellent. The gamelan rehearsal is open to visitors and is the best hour in Solo.
Pasar Klewer and Pasar Gede
Klewer is the textile market, several floors of batik, rebuilt after a fire in 2014. Pasar Gede is the big covered produce market from 1930, and it is where the city eats.
Practically: hot, crowded and busiest early. Go at seven. Carry a small cross-body bag in front of you, keep cash split up, and expect to bargain, which is normal and good-humoured here rather than aggressive. Covered shoulders.
Kampung Batik Laweyan and Kauman
Two old batik quarters of walled merchant houses and workshops, where you can watch tulis batik drawn by hand with a canting and cap batik stamped with copper blocks, and take a class.
Practically: hot wax and dye. Wear something you do not mind staining, and closed shoes rather than open sandals in a working workshop.
Sukuh and Cetho
Two fifteenth century Hindu temples on the western slope of Mount Lawu, the last built in Java before Islam. Sukuh is a flat-topped pyramid that looks more Mesoamerican than Javanese and carries explicit fertility carvings, including a well known one at the original entrance. Cetho sits higher, on terraces in the cloud forest, and is still actively used for Hindu worship.
Practically: a sarong is required at both and is lent at the gate. Cetho is cold, wet and often in cloud; take a layer and expect mud. The road up is steep and winding and the drive from Solo takes about ninety minutes each way. At Cetho you are walking into a living temple, so follow the signs about which terraces are open.
Court performances and festivals
Wayang kulit shadow puppetry runs long into the night, gamelan and classical Javanese dance are performed at both courts, and the Sekaten festival around the Prophet's birthday fills the square with a fair and two ancient gamelan sets played for a week.
Practically: dress respectably for anything at the courts. Wayang performances traditionally run until dawn and nobody expects you to stay for all of it.
What Not to Bring
Leave shorts, vest tops and anything sleeveless as your main clothing, which will keep you out of the palaces and mark you out in a conservative city.
Leave heels, which Solo's pavements will destroy. Leave the Bali mindset, because this is Central Java, alcohol is far less available and drinking in public is not done. Leave any illegal drugs entirely out of your planning: Indonesian narcotics penalties extend to life imprisonment and death, and enforcement is not discretionary.
Essential Resources for Women in Surakarta
Emergency numbers in Indonesia: 112 is the national emergency number and works from mobiles. Direct lines are 110 for police, 118 or 119 for ambulance and 113 for fire. English is not reliably available on any of them outside Jakarta and Bali, so have your accommodation call on your behalf if you can.
Tourist support: Indonesia's tourist police, the Polisi Pariwisata, operate in the main visitor cities and Central Java has a presence in Solo and Yogyakarta, though it is thinner here than in Bali. A theft requires a police report, the surat keterangan kehilangan, for any insurance claim and before a consulate will replace a passport. Your hotel will usually help with the language.
US Consulate: there is no consulate in Surakarta. Central Java is covered from the US Embassy in Jakarta, Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan 3-5, telephone +62 21 5083 1000, at id.usembassy.gov, with the consulate in Surabaya the nearer post to the east. Jakarta is about an hour by air or eight hours by train. Enrol in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at step.state.gov before you travel.
Main hospital or clinic: RSUD Dr Moewardi is the main public referral hospital for the region, with Rumah Sakit Kasih Ibu and RS PKU Muhammadiyah among the private hospitals used by visitors. Standards are decent for routine care, but anything serious is usually stabilised here and moved to Jakarta, Surabaya or Singapore, which is exactly the situation travel insurance with medical evacuation cover exists for. Buy it, and check it covers motorbike travel if you intend to ride.
Official health authority: the Indonesian Ministry of Health at kemkes.go.id, with the US Centers for Disease Control destination page for Indonesia the more practical source on vaccinations, dengue and typhoid.
US State Department travel advisory for Indonesia: current advisory level and detail. Read it directly rather than relying on this page.
UK FCDO travel advice for Indonesia: entry requirements, safety and health guidance, including the advice on volcanic activity, which is directly relevant given Merapi to the west and Lawu to the east, and on the severity of drug penalties.
Official tourism authority: the Indonesian national tourism board at indonesia.travel, with the Solo city tourism office for court opening hours, gamelan rehearsal times and the Sekaten and Solo Batik Carnival dates, which move with the Islamic and Javanese calendars.
Solo women safety assessment: Surakarta is a calm, courteous and low crime city and it is comfortable for a woman travelling alone, in some ways more so than the busier tourist centres because the hustle simply is not there. Javanese social manners are notably indirect and reserved, confrontation is avoided, and aggressive street harassment is rare. Violent crime against foreigners is very unusual. You will attract curiosity and a great deal of friendly attention, including requests for photographs, which is genuine interest rather than a prelude to anything, and a polite refusal is accepted without offence. Being a woman alone here is unusual enough to be remarked on kindly rather than treated as an opportunity. Dressing modestly is worth doing not because you will be threatened otherwise but because it changes the quality of the attention substantially, and because this is a conservative and religious city where it is the ordinary courtesy. Petty theft is the main practical risk and it is concentrated in the markets and at the bus and train stations, where crowded conditions and distraction techniques are the pattern; carry a bag in front of you and split your cash. The real dangers here are traffic and the road: Indonesian driving is fast and disordered, pavements are broken or absent so you will often walk in the carriageway, and becak and scooter travel carries genuine risk. Use Gojek or Grab cars rather than motorcycle taxis if you have the choice. Avoid riding a scooter yourself unless you are licensed and insured for it. Solo is quiet after about ten at night and the streets empty, which is not dangerous but does mean fewer people around; use an app taxi rather than walking back across the city late. Finally, flooding in the wet season can close roads with very little warning, and the volcanoes either side of the city are both active and occasionally disrupt flights and air quality.
Reading On
Surakarta is the Javanese court city that Yogyakarta's crowds pass by, and three days here cost a fraction of what the same days cost sixty kilometres west. The Indonesia travel guide for women is the parent for the country and covers the islands, the seasons and the internal flights. Immediately west, the Yogyakarta packing list for women covers the sister court city and the temples of Borobudur and Prambanan, which most visitors reach from there. East, the Mount Bromo packing list for women and the Kawah Ijen packing list for women cover the East Java volcanoes, which is the usual direction of travel from here. West, the Jakarta packing list for women covers the capital. For the contrast, the Bali travel guide for women covers the Hindu island an hour's flight away. The travel packing guide for women is the parent for all destinations. For why a thin wool layer is worth carrying between a 32°C city and a 1,400 metre temple in cloud, the best merino wool base layers for women explains the fibre, and the Roman Trail collection is where the tops themselves live.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
