Most popular holiday attractions in Solo- There’s something for everyone!

The Kasunanan Palace; also known as the Karaton Surakarta is Solo’s largest and significant Palace built in 1675 combining Javanese and classical European styles. As the Palace is home to the Sultan of Surakarta, most of the property is off limits to guests. The eastern entrance opens out in to a large courtyard whose surrounding buildings accommodates the palace’s kriss (dagger) collection, chariots, silver ornaments and many other royal figures. At the south west corner of the town’s main alun-alun, Java’s largest batik market is located here where designs from all over the city can be found. The palace is divided by two sections, an outer public space with a huge pendopo that’s used to feature dance & musical performances and a small pavilion used for smaller audiences with the Sultan. Palace grounds are surrounded around several large courtyards, one of the courtyards has been converted to a museum which preserves old horse carriages, palanquins, and a few statues from nearby temples.

Identified by UNESCO as forming Javanese cultural heritage, batik has developed in to one of Indonesia’s bigger tourist attractions. The Danar Hadi Batik Museum was opened in 2000 features a collection of around 10 thousand ancient batiks, from different styles including Chinese Batik, Batik Java Hokokai (Japanese), Batik Coastal (Holy Lasem, Pekalongan), Farmer’s Batik, Batik Contemporay and others, is known to be the best and most comprehensive batik museum in the world. Most of the collections of ancient batik portray legendary stories, like that of Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood or even the story of the Java War. Travellers searching for a hotel in Solo that’s within close proximity to the popular attractions would find that Alila Solo is the ideal location as it’s a modern retreat in the middle of the cultural, traditional city.

The Grojogan Sewu waterfall is located in Central Java and forms part of the National Park. At an altitude of 1000 metres above sea level, the area provides scenic views where travellers can also watch wild monkeys as they swing between branches. The forest surrounding the waterfall is home to pine trees and a variety of trees that date back to 100 years old.

A safe, interactive, educational environment that is dedicated especially for kids to learn and act out their future careers. Kidzania offers kids the chance to be a doctor, a firefighter, a chef, or even a F1 racer! Kidzania is a mini town designed to replicate a real city, complete with roads, buildings, retail outlets, and a wide variety of mini vehicles, where they are guided by the a ‘Zupervizor’. Kids are given the chance to play adult roles while simultaneously learning and experiencing various professions. Parents are encouraged to be part of the audience in the theatre and TV stations to watch their kids during these fun activities. Kidzania also features a Parents Lounge, a special play area called Urbano’s House for children under the age of six, and nursing areas.

A world created for children under the age of 12, Miniapolis features a wide selection of games in order to train children’s motor and sensory skills by enhancing children’s creativity and imagination. The park’s concept of ‘Play while learning’ encourages parents to bring their kids which features activities and areas dedicated to specific age groups. Older children are given the opportunity to take on challenging games like Digiwall; which is similar to rock climbing. Doodles is an area which allows kids to colour and paint.

An Australian based facility that’s dedicated to encourage and develop kids’ movements and coordination skills, through a neuro- educational program for kids between 6 weeks to 5 years old. Kindyroo provides movement classes to promote strength, flexibility, balance, rhythm, motor skills and muscle tone. The program also helps parents to understand child development as it aims to stimulate a child’s reflexes to encourage skills for early learning and literacy.