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Beneath Surabaya’s gleaming skyscrapers lies its charming Old Town, a low-rise area dotted with colonial buildings and tradition. House of Sampoerna is one of the more popular Surabaya attractions in the area, the former headquarters of the eponymous kretek cigarette manufacturers that today houses a museum.

Also known as the Great Mosque of Surabaya, Al-Akbar is the impressive focal point of Indonesia’s second-largest Muslim community. It’s not just religiously important: the mosque’s design, with its turquoise dome and towering minarets (including one 99 metres high), make it a splendid architectural landmark as well.

Surabaya’s naval history is on show at Surabaya Submarine Monument, a vessel that was used during West Papua’s liberation from the Dutch and is now one of Surabaya’s top attractions. Squeeze through portholes to tour the crew quarters, officers’ lounge, control room and even peek through the periscope.

You can’t travel to Surabaya without sampling rawon, a soup of slow-braised beef heightened with the colour and flavour of fermented buah kluwek nuts. Another beloved local delicacy is rujak, a tropical fruit salad that’s usually served with a sweet and spicy dressing of shrimp paste, peanuts, sugar and chilli.

Mount Bromo’s smouldering caldera and cloud-framed peak is a spectacular sight to behold. You’ll need to do an overnight stay to experience it at its most spectacular: sunrise. Once you do, you’ll see why it’s one of the most popular day trips for visitors who travel to Surabaya.

Surabaya is known as the City of Heroes for its role in the Indonesian independence movement. Explore the history of the period at Surabaya attractions such as the 41-metre-tall Heroes Monument, dedicated to those who died during the 1945 Battle of Surabaya, and the attached museum.

Madakaripura Waterfall is unlike any you’ve seen before. From its 200-metre top, water streams down through a huge circular canyon, over moss-carpeted walls and into a vast pool below. You can enter the waterfall, swim in the pools and soak in one of East Java’s most incredible scenes.

Hotel Majapahit is Surabaya’s answer to Singapore’s Raffles Hotel. It’s no coincidence: Majapahit was built by the son of one of the Singaporean landmark’s founders in 1910. This hotel was where Indonesian revolutionaries tore the blue strip off the Dutch flag above the hotel to create Indonesia’s red-and-white national flag.

This active volcano is famous for the blue flames that lie within. They’re only visible in the dark, so you’ll need to start the arduous hike long before sunrise. Your reward is an otherworldly landscape which includes an acidic turquoise lake, the largest of its kind on Earth.