Semarang, the capital of Central Java, is a port city of well over a million people and the natural gateway to Karimunjawa. Flights from Jakarta, Bali and other Indonesian cities land at Ahmad Yani airport; trains from Jakarta and Surabaya stop at Tawang and Poncol stations; and Jepara is two to three hours up the coast.
It is also one of Java’s most underrated cities. Centuries as a trading port have left a Dutch colonial old town, one of the largest Chinese temple complexes in Indonesia and a food culture all its own. A day here bookends an island trip nicely.
What to do: Semarang
Walk Kota Lama
Semarang’s old town is a compact grid of Dutch-era banks, warehouses and offices around the domed Blenduk Church, much of it restored in recent years and now home to cafés and galleries. It is best on foot in the late afternoon, ideally with a guide who can tell you what the buildings were.
See Lawang Sewu
The “Thousand Doors” — the former headquarters of the Dutch East Indies railway company, built in the early twentieth century — is Semarang’s landmark: long arcaded wings, stained glass and rows of tall doors. It is now a museum.
Visit Sam Poo Kong
A sprawling red-and-gold temple complex commemorating the Chinese admiral Zheng He, who is said to have landed here in the fifteenth century. It is used by worshippers of several faiths and is especially atmospheric in the evening.
Head for the hills
South of the city the land rises quickly to the cool slopes of Mount Ungaran, where the small ninth-century Hindu temples of Gedong Songo sit among pine woods, and to Ambarawa with its railway museum of steam locomotives.
Eat lumpia
Semarang’s signature snack is lumpia, a spring roll filled with bamboo shoots, egg and prawn or chicken — a legacy of the city’s Chinese-Javanese kitchens. Food tours and the night market in Chinatown are good places to start.
Getting there: Semarang
- By air: Ahmad Yani International Airport (SRG) has frequent domestic flights. Small-aircraft flights to Karimunjawa’s Dewadaru airport have also operated from here — see getting there for the caveats.
- By train: comfortable services from Jakarta take around five to six hours; from Surabaya around three and a half to four and a half.
- To Jepara for the boat: 2–3 hours by road. A pre-booked private car is the least stressful option.
Insider tips
- Boats to Karimunjawa have sailed on some days from Semarang’s Tanjung Emas harbour and from nearby Kendal, but far less regularly than from Jepara. Treat any timetable you find online as provisional and confirm locally.
- Semarang is hot and humid; plan walking for early morning or after four.
- Parts of the low-lying north of the city flood in heavy rain. Allow extra time to reach the airport in the wet season.
- Get cash here if you will not have time in Jepara.
Tours & transfers: Semarang
These bookable experiences are the easiest way to fit Semarang into a Karimunjawa trip:
Walking tour from $14 Semarang: Old Town Walking Tour With Local Storytelling
Two hours on foot through Kota Lama, the old trading quarter of Semarang, with a local guide telling the stories behind its churches, warehouses and canals. An easy way to use the half-day you will probably have in Semarang before or after the islands.
- Kota Lama, Semarang’s Dutch colonial quarter
- Told by a local guide
- Short and inexpensive
City tour from $36 Semarang 3-Hour Tour: Old Town, Sam Poo Kong & Great Mosque
A short, flexible city tour of Semarang’s headline sights: the colonial Old Town, the Chinese temple complex of Sam Poo Kong and the Great Mosque of Central Java. Three hours is enough to see that Semarang is more than a transit stop.
- Choose from the Old Town, Sam Poo Kong and the Great Mosque
- Three hours with a driver
- Fits between a flight and a transfer
Private day trip from $93 per group Semarang Tours: Gedong Songo Temple / Train Museum Ambarawa
A full day in the hills south of Semarang: the small, ancient Hindu temples of Gedong Songo scattered up a mountainside, and the old steam locomotives of the Ambarawa railway museum. Priced per group.
- The hillside Hindu temples of Gedong Songo
- The railway museum at Ambarawa
- Cool mountain air south of Semarang
Private day tour from $93 Semarang: Borobudur Private Day Tour with Drop-off in Yogyakarta
A private day that turns the transfer from Semarang to Yogyakarta into a visit to Borobudur. If you come off the islands into Semarang and are heading south next, this saves a day.
- Pickup in Semarang, drop-off in Yogyakarta
- Borobudur on the way
- A travel day that is also a sightseeing day
Private transfer from $41 per group Private Car Jepara – Semarang
The road between Semarang and Jepara takes around two to three hours depending on traffic. A pre-booked private car removes the most stressful link in the journey, especially for the early-morning boat or a same-day flight out of Semarang.
- Door to door between Semarang and Jepara
- Timed to your boat or flight
- Priced per car, not per person
Multi-day package from $155 From Semarang: Karimunjawa Island Tour
A four-day trip from Semarang, the nearest city with a major airport, out to the islands and back. It suits travellers who fly into Semarang and would rather not piece together the road to Jepara, boat tickets and island boats themselves. A newer listing with very few reviews so far.
- Starts and ends in Semarang
- Snorkelling over Karimunjawa’s coral reefs
- Four days, so the sea crossing is not rushed
