Flores

Flores is a long, narrow, mountainous island running seven hundred kilometres east from Labuan Bajo, and it is one of the most rewarding overland journeys in Indonesia. Most visitors see only its western tip, because that is where the boats to Komodo leave from. Beyond it the Trans-Flores Highway climbs into a spine of volcanoes through cool highland towns, past megalithic villages where stone platforms still stand in the square, traditional Manggarai settlements of conical thatched houses, spider-web rice fields, and — near the eastern end — Kelimutu, where three crater lakes on one mountain hold different and periodically changing colours. Flores is also predominantly Catholic, a legacy of Portuguese contact, which makes it unlike almost anywhere else in Indonesia.

Bare ridgelines above curving bays in the islands off western Flores
The islands off Flores's western tip — where most visitors stop.
A volcanic crater at dawn with mist filling the caldera below
Volcanic Flores — the island is a chain of cones from end to end.

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All Flores Guides

15 in-depth guides to Flores — food, nightlife, beaches, transport, money and the practical detail that is hard to find.