Serang

Serang is the capital of the province of Banten, in the Western Java region of Indonesia. The city, with a population of about 600,000, is about 75 km west of the city centre of Jakarta. However, the distance between Serang and the urban sprawl of Greater Jakarta around Tangerang is only about 30 km. Although the city of Serang is nowadays much larger, the town of Banten about 7 km to the north is historically of much more importance.

Understand
Compared with the majority in Banten Province who speak the Sundanese language, in addition to the Sundanese language, some residents local people in Serang speak the Javanese language with a dialect similar to the Cirebon dialect of Javanese, called Bahasa Jawa Serang or Jaseng. The reason for this is that many Javanese migrants arrived in early 1527 to build the Banten Sultanate, and remained to form the base of today's population.

By car
Serang is along the major east-west toll road from Jakarta to Merak. The drive from Jakarta to Serang takes about 1 hour if there are no traffic jams, but usually it takes about 2 hours due to traffic congestion. There is also a trunk road to Serang from Pandeglang in the south.

By bus
The main bus terminal in Serang is, on the eastern side of the city near the toll road. There are highly frequent buses from and to most of the bus terminals in Jakarta and its satellite towns, and to the city of Cilegon and the port of Merak. In addition, there are some buses and minibuses to other towns and cities in the province (such as Pandeglang, and buses to destinations further away such as Bandung and Central Java.

There is also a direct bus from Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport to the bus terminal in Serang, operated by DAMRI. During daytime, this bus runs once per hour from the airport to Cilegon via Serang, and vice versa. The drive from the airport to Serang takes about 2 hours, and the ticket price is Rp55,000.

By train
is served a few times per day by trains between Merak and Jakarta. Taking a train is a quick option to and from nearby cities such as Rangkasbitung, Cilegon, and Merak. However, to and from Jakarta the train is relatively slow because of the detour via Rangkasbitung, and travelling by bus is usually faster.

Get around
There are various angkot (minibus) routes in and around Serang city. Angkots follow a fixed route, but there is no fixed schedule and there are no fixed stops. To get on, simply raise your hand. To get off, simply shout "Kiri!" to the driver, so he will pull over on the left (Indonesian: kiri) side of the road. The price of an angkot ride within the city is usually Rp4,000. It is best to ask a local which angkot route to take, and how to recognise the location you want to get off.

Go next

 * Banten — the old capital of the Banten sultanate, with several historic attractions.
 * Anyer — the most famous beach on the western coast of Java.