Where to stay in Serang

Serang is a city and the capital of Banten province and was formerly also the administrative center of Serang Regency in Indonesia (the Regency's capital is now at Ciruas).

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.

Getting in

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. The main bus terminal in Serang is Pakupatan bus terminal, 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.

Getting 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.

Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.