Flores travel guide: Komodo, Kelimutu, when to go and which route

Labuan Bajo, a far-western harbour linked to Bali by air, is the base for trips into Komodo National Park. You see the giant monitor lizards on the islands of Rinca and Komodo, with a ranger, the pink sand of Pink Beach, the Padar island viewpoint over its three bays, and snorkelling sites with manta rays. Boat days leave early; overnight cruises reach the more distant sites. Park fees are paid on site. Most travellers arrive by air from Bali.

The heart of the island is reached by the winding road linking west to east. Kelimutu, near the village of Moni, has three crater lakes of different colours, turquoise, green and black, best seen at sunrise before the clouds rise. Around Bajawa, a cool highland town, the Ngada villages such as Bena keep megalithic tombs and decorated roofs. Wae Rebo, further west, is a village of seven conical houses reached after a three-hour uphill walk.

Linking Labuan Bajo to Ende or Maumere on the trans-Flores road takes two to three days of actual driving, with stops at Ruteng and the spider-web circular rice fields of Cancar, at Riung and its seventeen islands, and at the Bajawa hot springs. The alternative is a domestic Labuan Bajo to Ende flight, an hour, to save time. The east of the island, around Maumere and Larantuka, is the most Catholic and the least touristed, with fine dive beaches and little infrastructure.