Hotels near Ruteng Airport - RTG, Ruteng

Ruteng is a non-turistic town. If you are looking for turistic attractions this is not your place. If otherwise, you are looking to meet locals and learn more about how they live, you might enjoy this place as many of them will be exited about meeting foreigners.

Ruteng is a charming mountain city that was unexpectedly memorable. It was the administrative center for the old Manggarai Kingdom. Most visitors arrive to the city as a jumpoff point to Wae Rebo village. But for us, although we did partake in plenty of activities outside of Ruteng like the Todo Village, Liang Bua Cave and Spider Rice Fields, we had fun checking out the old cathedral, sunrise at the Golo Curu Hill that has a Virgin Mary altar at the top and experiencing the local culture in general. Any coffee enthusiast should experience Flores coffee at Kopi Mane. Don’t expect any local Manggarai food (we tried looking for them) but there’s plenty of Padang and Javanese options which we had at the street vendors and warungs. Swalayan 33 also has a variery of goodies and essentials that literally beats anything we found in Labuan Bajo so check it out. You can hike up Mt. Ranaka too which isn’t far from town. Though the town is more of a transit hub, give it a chance to explore its beauty. Marcel at Raja Guesthouse will make sure you enjoy your stay.

The population of Ruteng are all really really friendly. Greetings are called out to travellers everywhere you go. There were probably a few too many who walked up, hand outstretched, to introduce themselves, ask our name and what our plans were. Only being friendly but it can get a bit much very quickly. School students walked with us to show us the way to places we wanted to go (there is a tourism school in Ruteng) and were keen to practice their English language skills. We even had offers to come back to homes for a traditional meal. Ruteng has the best local market we have seen anywhere. Best thing we did was have a driver take us on a drive through small villages.

Ruteng is so much more than a pit stop on the long journey between Bajawa and Labuan Bajo. It has spectacular scenery, many things to visit and a vibrant local culture. I particularly enjoyed being driven around the area, watching the sun rise over the rice fields, going to the cave where the bones of Homo Floriensis were found and having a picnic by a beautiful waterfall. The local traditions, including the division of land by the spiderweb method, are fascinating.