Adisumaryno Airport is 10km west of Solo and 2km north of Kartasura. A half-hourly minibus drives along the main road beside the runway to Kartasura (Rp300), from where you can catch a double-decker to Solo (Rp400). A taxi costs Rp10,000. All buses to Solo use the Tirtonadi bus station in the north of the city. Just across the crossroads by the northeastern corner of Tirtonadi is the minibus terminal , Gilingan. To get into the town centre from here, take orange angkuta (minibus) #6 from the front of the Hotel Surya, which goes via Ngapeman, the junction of Jalan Gajah Mada and Jalan Riyadi. Heading to the bus station from the town centre, catch a BERSERI bus (Rp400) from the bus stop on Jalan Riyadi, 100m east of Jalan Dahlan. A becak from the bus station to Jalan Dahlan costs Rp3000. Most homestays and travellers' restaurants sell door-to-door bus tickets to popular tourist destinations, as does Niki Tours (tel 0271/53278) on Jl Yos Sudarso. Balapan train station is 300m south of Tirtonadi. Niki tours also has details of Pelni ferries.

Solo's double-decker buses all charge a flat Rp200 and travel along the same route: from Kartasura in the west, down Jalan Riyadi, past the post office and on to Palur, where you can catch buses to Tawangmangu. Because of the one-way system on Slamet Riyadi, they head west along Jalan Veteran instead. Many homestays rent bicycles (Rp5000).

Nearly all of the hotels, sights and facilities are either on, or within walking distance of, the main road through the city, Jalan Brig Jen Slamet Riyadi (hereafter called simply Jalan Riyadi). The centre of the travellers' scene is Jalan Dahlan , a smallish road heading north off Jalan Riyadi. The tourist office is behind the Radya Pustaka Museum at Jl Riyadi 275 (Mon-Sat 8am-4pm; tel 0271/711435).