What the FAQ!

In 1994, a group of Belgian travelers met to share experiences from the road. They worried about the negative impact of mass tourism on the environment and local people, and shared ideas of sustainable tourism respectful of nature and culture. The dream to set up cafes around the world to implement their ideas developed. The first ViaVia opened in 1995.

ViaVia Traveler’s Cafes are meeting places for world travelers.
People visit ViaVia to rinse off the dust of the road and meet fellow travelers as well as local people. Food, drinks, music, art, trips and tours, cultural and social projects, all bring people and cultures together in an open-minded spirit based on respect and amazement.
In most ViaVia’s you can stay overnight.

ViaVia Traveler’s Cafes are heavens of travel information. Locally embedded and involved in local daily life, they give an extra dimension to your discovery of the country, the culture and the people.
ViaVia inspires to travel, to discover and to broaden your horizon.

Today the ViaVia family stretches across 18 establishments in 4 continents. ViaVia Marrakech in Marocco being the youngest of them all. Each ViaVia is different and set up in sync with its unique local environment. It is not a franchise, which means there is no such thing as a McViaVia with fries.
ViaVias offer the best of World Kitchen and local delicacies. Whereas ViaVia in Argentina offers Tango lessons, ViaVia in Jogja offers trips to a Javanese village, city walks or a taste of traditional medicine, Jamu. Whereas ViaVia in Senegal works together with street children, ViaVia in Jogja offers art space to young local artists. ViaVia is also often the venue of concerts, Friday night Jazz, performance art, film festivals, and debates. Parts of the ViaVia profits go to support educational, social and cultural projects in and around Jogjakarta.

Mie was part of a group of tour-leaders for a Belgian travel agency known for its adventurous tours and expeditions and its standpoint on responsible tourism. She also took part in giving training to new tour-leaders and regularly got together to discuss training techniques and philosophy on traveling. Some of them had come up with the idea to set up a traveler’s cafe in Belgium, which could be promoting a different way of looking at the world and through all kinds of activities.

It inspired her and some others to think more globally and they saw a similar concept in different places in the world. It could become a hub for travelers, for local communities and a place to learn about contemporary daily life. In other words, they aspired to be cross-cultural meeting spots and implement the ideas of sustainable tourism. She came to Jogjakarta in 1995 with the Goal of setting up ViaVia here.

Via is a very common word in many languages. “I heard about Jogja VIA my travel agent.” Or “I know about jazz night via-via my friends.” In Latin “via” also means road. In Bahasa, it translates to “jalan”. And “jalan-jalan” stands for traveling.

Is ViaVia a franchise?
Every ViaVia has a different organizational structure according to the local rules and restrictions. One thing we all have in common is that we belong to the big Living Stone group and all the ViaVias share the same philosophy and logo. The ViaVia cooperative in Belgium structures and binds us all together. A Belgian coordinator has been assigned for the complete ViaVia network.

How long has ViaVia been in Jogjakarta?
We opened our doors on the 18th of December in 1995 as the first international ViaVia. ViaVia Leuven (Belgium) was the first one starting in May 1995.

There is a contemporary art map displayed at our library. Take a look there or visit the following websites: www.artmapjogja.com and www.indoartnow.com

We opened our doors on the 18th of December in 1995 as the first international ViaVia. ViaVia Leuven was the first one starting in May 1995.

Back in the 90’s Indonesia was a very popular travel destination well known as being a good introduction to travel the rest of Asia. On the Java – Bali route, Jogjakarta usually is one of the first stops for travelers. We thought that by offering alternatives besides the traditional tours, at the start of people’s travels through Indonesia, we could somehow contribute to bringing the daily local culture and the sensitivity to sustainable and community based tourism a bit closer to them.

Maybe we could even have a tiny small impact on looking at this culture and at traveling with a different pair of spectacles. We thought that if just one or two travelers would go home with a tiny itsy bitsy bit of inter-cultural awareness and pass it on to others, we would be happy. Moreover Jogja is a pleasant town with lots of traditional and contemporary art, music and culture.

Why is there no ViaVia in Bali?

It’s hard enough in Jogja!

ViaVia Jogja has from the beginning practiced affirmative action of women to even out the fact the men are overly represented in the tourism industry and in management positions. As a result the majority of our staff are women, and all our managers are women. By challenging and changing the role of women, we have seen through the years that the stereotypes about women in the tourism industry have changed, which again has made ViaVia Jogja a safe workplace for women.

We want to show to the world that Indonesian women are professional and competent. We also want to provide travelers with an opportunity to get alternative perspectives on life, culture, values and religion as most other tour guides and people offering their opinions are men.

Through the years we have recruited brave and strong women, who dare to speak up, question things and share their ideas. They have become the heart and soul of ViaVia Jogja.

We really plant trees! Every time you join a tour with motorbike or car, ViaVia supports the planting of trees by local farmers through Trees4Tours. You receive a Trees4Tours card with a unique World Identification Number assigned to the tree that has been planted for your tour. You can see where your tree is planted on www.trees4trees.org by entering your WIN number. Here you find more information about our program here. So by joining our tours you help to make our world greener.

The walls of the ViaVia Restaurant serve as space for young local artists to exhibit their art. It’s a place where young contemporary artists can experiment, try, fail and succeed. In 2013, we counted that we have organized close to 200 exhibitions through the years! Many successful local artists have started their careers in ViaVia.

Approximately every 3 to 4 weeks the walls go through a metamorphosis. Have a look at our events page to stay updated. With a coat of paint the walls are restored to their original color, making space for new artists to play freely and use the space to express their creative ideas. Because the art is shown in a public space visited by many travelers, cultural exchange happens. The artists are made to reflect on how their work will be viewed by an international audience of people who might not otherwise be interested in art. The restaurant guests are given insight into the minds of young and creative locals. Hopefully this helps to bring different people closer together. We also believe that contemporary art shows how people, society and culture are dynamic and constantly in flux. This challenges the notion of ‘the exotic’ and ‘traditional’ Indonesia, so often promoted in mainstream tourism. So for us, working with contemporary artists is a part of our philosophy of sustainable tourism.

We owe who we are to our artist friends. As a tribute we published a book in 2013 called “Sweet Seventeen. A Celebration of Contemporary Art in ViaVia Jogja”. The book can be found in ViaVia.

There are plenty of options. Check out all our tours or visit the travel corner in ViaVia to explore all the possibilities.

The guesthouse is centrally located in Jalan Prawirotaman, 50 meters from the ViaVia restaurant and travel agency. It has 7 charming rooms, adorned with photography from different parts of Indonesia and a lovely garden for breakfast, afternoon rest and quiet evening chats.

Room rates and other accommodation can be found here.

Facilities: Simple breakfast & tax included, free internet, AC or fan, private bathrooms, tourist information, swimming pool, alternative tours and travel services, bicycle and vehicle rental.