Bandung to Surabaya by Train

Around 700km and eleven to thirteen hours, this is the complete southern traverse: Bandung, Tasikmalaya, Banjar, Kroya, Yogyakarta, Solo, Madiun, Surabaya Gubeng.

Argo Wilis runs it as a daytime service, which makes it one of the very few long-distance Indonesian journeys you can do entirely in daylight. That is the appeal — twelve consecutive hours of varied landscape, from mountain gorges in the west to sugar plantations in the east.

Which trains run this route: Argo Wilis is the daytime eksekutif service. Turangga runs overnight. Mutiara Selatan offers a mixed-class alternative.

It is a long day. Bring food beyond what the trolley offers, and be aware that eksekutif carriages run cold — the air conditioning on Indonesian long-distance trains is aggressive and a layer is not optional.