Flores Island is one of the three biggest islands in East Nusa Tenggara Province. Administratively, from a total of 21 regencies and 1 city in this province, eight of them are located in Flores which was named after the arrival of Portuguese in the 16th century. The size of the island is around 15 thousand kilometers square, spanning from Labuan Bajo on the western part to Larantuka on the eastern part.
The distance from the western part of Flores to its eastern part is 650 km and if someone wants to drive by car, it takes about 20 hours without stops, driving through Trans Flores which we are happy to call it as our highway that is about 6-8 meters in width and yellow line to differ the lane and is one and only that differentiates between provincial and regional road.
The distance may sound that long but when it comes to the amount of hours to drive, it seems like it takes you “forever” to drive due to the topography is full of mountain ranges with varied contour lines of valleys, mountains, hills, and cliffs make the journey takes 4 hours of drive on average to reach from one city to another.
For those who want to take a flight connecting the cities inside the island, there are six airports built and operating, Komodo International Airport in Labuan Bajo, Frans Sales Lega Airport in Ruteng, Turelelo Airport in Soa-Bajawa, H. Hasan Aroeboesman Airport in Ende, Frans Seda Airport in Maumere, and Gewayantana Airport in Larantua, East Flores.
From those airports, the flight to Bajawa, Ende, and Maumere opens a direct flight from Labuan Bajo which takes between 45 minutes to 1 hour. H. Hasan Aroeboesman Airport in Ende opens two flights to Labuan Bajo which are in the morning at 8.30 and 11.40 (Traveloka). According to the Ende Airport authority which we have contacted before back in June 2025, their second morning flight at 11 am is not open everyday and is open four times a week on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. This also depends on the number of pax.
For the flight to Maumere, it is open three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. All flights are with Lion Air even though there are other planes but they fly from other islands like Kupang in Timor with NAM Air and Sumba with Susi Air. The rest of the airports are operating flights from or to Kupang, the capital of the province and to Sumba.
What do the travelers do?
Most of the travelers who have been with our company started their journey to explore Flores from the east part Ende or Maumere and finish in west part, Labuan Bajo. There are simply two reasons why they chose to do this.
Firstly, because they want to combine their Flores Overland Tour with Komodo Boat Tour. They liked to do the adventure first and relax on the beaches or snorkelling activities at the end.
Secondly, because they have multiple options for flights back away from Flores. By finishing the trip in Labuan Bajo, they will be relaxed and stress free on having the flight options to fly back to Bali or Jakarta instead of finishing in the east part of Flores which has only one option of flight and it is only a morning flight. Flying from Labuan Bajo could be done on the last day of their land trip from Ruteng or be more free to enjoy the night in Labuan Bajo by flying the next day in the morning, midday or noontime.
However, for those who start their trip from Labuan Bajo and finish it in Ende or Maumere, we will make sure to inform them to have one night stay before flying in the next day. Ende is mostly a city we recommend to include on this option since it has two flight options in the morning and midday.
Length of Tour in Flores
From our nine tour packages offered to explore Flores, the data says that 60 % of travelers explored Flores within six days, 25 % for three days exploration to Wae Rebo, and 15 % to explore Flores within eight days. Since the tour is initially tailored for private tours, the travelers are offered a flexibility on their length of stay, free to include their special interest in places they want or not want to visit, and the rest is on us to make it happen.
What you can do in 6 Days
As informed above, the Six-Day Flores Overland Tour is our highly purchased tour offered to our valued travelers. This tour can be adjusted according to some categories such as; difficulty level, age category, pace, interest or passions. Based on those categories, we provide three different options of program or itinerary with the same length of tour.
Overall, these three options are all doable for the age category from 7 to 65 and also it does not matter on the group size, it can be for solo traveler, partner, or a group of 2-12 pax. However, when it comes to interest or passions, it will play a big difference.
For those who like to explore the highlight of Flores which includes Kelimutu three crater lakes, Bena traditional village, the spider web rice field, and Wae Rebo traditional village, we recommend you to choose THIS tour. Besides that, this tour is also designed for those who like to see and experience the diversity of culture in Flores yet it requires a moderate level of fitness because there will be a 10-15 km trekking to Mount Kelimutu and Wae Rebo traditional village. This tour is only a night stay in each city and for that reason, it is more of a pace tour.
For travelers who want the land tour combined with a sea tour, THIS tour is definitely recommended. This tour takes travelers to pause their long drive with a hopping tour to explore Riung 17 Island Marine Park on the north of Flores. This is a perfect mixture of nature lovers and cultural enthusiasts where they are able to trek to Mount Kelimutu, experience the unique cultures of Ende, Bajawa, and Ruteng and relax by snorkeling at some unspoiled marine park in Riung.
The last option is more on a slow pace where travelers have the opportunity to spend two nights in Bajawa and Ruteng. This tour option is tailored to travelers who have different interests or passions. For nature lovers who like to go hiking, they can tailor their tour to go hiking to Mount Inerie (2.245 mbl) on their second day staying in Bajawa and do forest jungle trek in Ruteng during their second stay in Ruteng. The total hiking or trekking activities 12,45 kilometers for Inerie hike and 14 km for the forest jungle trek in Ruteng as the longest forest trail in Flores.
For culture lovers, having the opportunity to stay two nights in Bajawa and Ruteng will take them deeper to see the indigenous people who still live in the traditional villages. Trekking to Tololela Bajawa is one the main activities including the magnificent visit to Bena megaliticum village, and visit Gurusina in Bajawa. In Ruteng, you will have the opportunity to see the unique cone shaped house of Manggaraian tribe at Ruteng Pu’u, trekking for 2 km in the rice terrace and visit Liang Bua Cave, a place where found a first Flores man known as “Homo Florensiesis”. You can see the program here, you do let us know your interest and let us do the rest.
From all three options that we offer, the tour is mainly tailored to start from the east part of Flores and finish in Labuan Bajo. However, the tour can also be started from Labuan Bajo but please be advised to have one night stay on the last day of the tour. The tour will be in total seven days including the transfer to the airport on the last of the tour or on day seven.
For travelers who want to explore the whole interesting part of Flores, it needs a min. 8 days for them to spend exploring the siland. Hit us a message and we will do the rest.
