Java Itinerary - Feedback Welcome
 

I will be visiting Indonesia from 21st Sep to 27th Oct. I intend to visit the following places but might make changes depending on recommendations I am given:
Java (Baturaden, Dieng Plateau, Borobudur, Mount Merapi, Mount Bromo, Mount Ijen, Candi Prambanan), North Sulawesi (Lake Tondano, Tangkoko National Park, Tomohon Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park), Lombok, Gili Air and Bali.

Below is my draft itinerary for Java. I would really appreciate your feedback and answers to some questions

1. Is it easy to find tours that go to the places I want to visit on 25th Sep?
2. Should I fly to Surabaya from Yogyakarta rather than take the train to Malang / Probollinggo?
3. The plan is to fly to North Sulawesi from Java. Flying from Banyuwangi to Manado is too expensive. Going all the way to Surabaya from Mt Ijen will take too long. Should I: i) Forget about Mt Ijen?, ii) Visit Bali after Java then go to North Sulawesi?, iii) Replace Sulawesi with some other island, like Flores?





Date - Itinerary - Transport

Friday 21st September - Land in Jakarta @ 18:00 - Plane

Saturday 22nd September - Jakarta > Purwokerto > Wonosobo - Train + bus

Sunday 23rd September - Wonosobo > Dieng Plateau > Wonosobo - Bus

Monday 24th September - Wonosobo > Yogyakarta via Mendolo - Bus

Tuesday 25th September - Yogyakarta > Borobudur > Mt Merap > Prambanan > Yogyakarta - Bus (Tour)

Wednesday 26th September - Yogyakarta > Malang or Probollinggo > Cemoro Lawang - Train + Mini Bus

Thursday 27th September - Cemoro Lawang > Mt Bromo > Cemoro Lawang > Malang / Probolllinggo - Mini Bus

Friday 28th September - Probolllinggo > Banyuwangi - Train

Saturday 29th September - Banyuwangi to Mt Ijen (early morning). Return to Banyuwangi, pick up luggage and take train to Surabaya - Bus + Train

Sunday 30th September - Fly to Manado - Plane

Tuesday 25th September sounds unpleasantly rushed to me. YMMV.

No time in Yogyakarta or Surakarta, except for sleep?

I'm not sure I understand your plans for Wed. or Thurs. - what is that you want to do in Malang and/or Probolingo?

I am confused buoy your itinerary but that is not to say it won’t work. However, I agree with kja re 25 Sept. unless you have a TARDIS this is not going to work. Borobudur deserves at least and overnight to see the temples at dawn and sunset.

We travelled down through Java by train and picked up a tour in Malang to cover Bromo and Ijen and then drop us off at the ferry terminal for Bali. Here is a link to my blog of our time there https://accidentalnomads.com/category/indonesia/ - note my dire experiences of tour operators/guides in Java! Choose wisely.

Can’t help with Northern Sulawesi but loved our time in the south.

One issue you may have is your visa. I think the max allowed for most nationalities is 30 days and it is pretty difficult to extend in country I believe.

For your time in Java:
My suggestion would be to skip Jakarta and the overland travel between Jakarta and Central Java. You can connect to an AirAsia flight to Yogya later in the evening. It will cost around USD50 one way.

You can then use Yogya as your base for Central Java. All of the places you want to see are within a couple of hours' drive. You can stay in Yogya or stay near Dieng or Borobudur. The point is that a long bus or train rides through Java eat up a lot of time that could be better spent seeing the sights in Central and East Java.

You can easily find tours to join that will take you to Dieng, Borobudur, Prambanan, but alternately, these sites are easily accessible to the independent traveler.

Mt. Merapi is right in the middle of Yogya and Borobudur. You can't help but see it. If you want to climb it, that's another situation. For that you'd best get a guide.

If you do Dieng last you can fly to East Java from Semarang. Again, flights are cheap and overland travel is long. Night buses are especially awful (and dangerous).

Personally I would suggest flying from Yogya or Semarang to Surabaya and get your Bromo resort to pick you at Surabaya airport. Spend a few days in Bromo then head down to Malang then Ijen. Some backtracking is inevitable in this area. Local transport (car and driver) may cost a little more than a bus, but it will get you where you want to go with a lot less aggravation.

After Ijen take the ferry to North Bali and either stay in North Bali for a few days or continue south to Ubud. Stay in Ubud for a few days then get a fast boat to the Gilis/Lombok from Pandang Bai.

I think flying out of Bali to Manado (you may have to connect through Makassar) or to Labuan Bajo is a good plan. I couldn't tell you which is better as the experience of Sulawesi versus Flores is very different. They're both good choices. Maybe if you add a few flights and cut down on overland travel you'll have enough time to do both or to add in Central Sulawesi (Tanah Toraja). Again, just my personal opinion, but Central Sulawesi would be high on my priority list.

Re Crellston's query about your visa, I assume you're getting a 60 day visa from an Indonesian Embassy or Consulate prior to arriving in Jakarta. If not, extending a 30 day visa once in Indonesia isn't all that difficult, but you have to stay in one place for about a week in order to process it.

Thank you all for your feedback. My first itinerary clearly needed to be rethought. I’ve drawn up a second version on the basis of your suggestions. Can I have your views once again?

@kja

I read that there are tours that cover the places I want to see on 25th September. Was hoping to book one of those when I get to Yogyakarta on the 24th.

I can afford to spend another day on Java to explore Yogyakarta or Surakarta. Might be best to add this to the itinerary after I prepare the itinerary for the other islands.

As regards 26th / 27th, I can either get to Cemoro Lawang from Yogyakarta via Malang or via Probollinggo. I'm inclined to go via Probollinggo though.


@crellston

I will be getting a 60-day tourist visa in prior to arrival in Indonesia.


@marmot

Your suggestion to skip Jakarta and fly to Yogya appeals to me even if it means adding another 5hrs (minimum) to my journey from home, bringing total journey time to around 22hrs. If I do this, my itinerary will look like the one below.

I only want to see Mt Merapi so I suppose there’s no point in going near its base.

I prefer to go to Sulawesi as early as possible because the later I get there the more rain I’m likely to find.I think doing both Sulawesi and Flores would be too much. I'll stick with Sulawesi for now and replace it with Flores if logistics for Sulawesi start to look daunting. So from Mt Ijen, I’ll fly to Manado via Surabaya.

Java Itinerary v.2

Date - Itinerary - Transport

Friday 21st September - Land in Jakarta @ 18:00 & fly out to Yogyakarta @ 21:45 - Plane

Saturday 22nd September - Yogyakarta

Sunday 23rd September - Yogyakarta > Borobudur > Prambanan > Yogyakarta - Bus (Tour)

Monday 24th September - Yogyakarta (Jombor terminal) > Magelang > Wonosobo - Bus

Tuesday 25th September - Explore Dieng Plateau, return to Wonosobo, pick up luggage and catch bus to Semarang by 16:00 - Bus

Wednesday 26th September - Semarang > Surabaya > Cemoro Lawang - Plane + hotel taxi

Thursday 27th September - Mt Bromo

Friday 28th September - Cemoro Lawang > Probollinggo > Banyuwangi - Bus + Train

Saturday 29th September - Banyuwangi to Mt Ijen (early morning). Return to Banyuwangi, pick up luggage and take train to Surabaya - Bus + Train

Sunday 30th September - Fly to Manado @ 08:10 - Plane

When I planned my visit to Mt. Bromo, I learned about some stunning scenery between Malang and Mt. Bromo, reached by circling the Mt. Promo area to the south and the east -- in other words, NOT the route that includes Probolinggo. I'm glad I took that route, even though it took more time and money.

I am headed to Indonesia next month, with two nights on Bali, eights nights on Sulawesi, and fourteen nights on Java. I have worked on my itinerary on and off for a year, and one thing that struck me during my planning was how easy and inexpensive it is to arrange private drivers.

Regarding your bus tour on September 23, I would recommend that you hire a private driver instead of taking a bus tour. A driver for 10 to 12 hours will cost between $40 and $60 dollars, and your only additional costs will be parking and lunch. I arranged all my drivers via my hotels, and I was amazed at how nice the concierges were in helping with my arrangements.

I agree with kja about the southern route to Bromo, which is what I am planning to do and crellston did as well (I'm a good copier, lol).

Your overall itinerary looks workable. I agree, however, that you'd be better off opting for cars with drivers than relying on trains and buses. Public transportation in Indonesia is weak. Except delays and more delays and often a low level of hygiene. Having your own car and driver allows you to set your own schedule and to stop at places of interest along the way. Drivers also know the most scenic routes and good places to stop for meals. The price will be less than you would expect.

An old TR of mine about N Sulawesi in the thread below below with all possible info & links , if it could be of any help to you for the Sulawesi section of your tour. Absolutely memorable holiday.

https://www.fodors.com/community/asi...tember-790186/

Thanks for your thoughts. That's a fantastic TR, inquest....I'll certainly refer to it in the next few days when I'm preparing my Sulawesi itinerary, which I will publish for feedback in a new post by the end of the week.

A question about drivers....is it also feasible to use drivers for long (> 6hrs) one-way journeys? Would I have to pay for the driver's return journey or is it not possible to do one-way trips of such length?

"A question about drivers....is it also feasible to use drivers for long (> 6hrs) one-way journeys? Would I have to pay for the driver's return journey or is it not possible to do one-way trips of such length?"

Absolutely possible. When you retain a driver in Indonesia you'll want to negotiate the deal upfront. Sometimes you'll pay by the hour, sometimes by a block of time (full day, half day), sometimes by distance (from A to B). Any arrangement is acceptable as long as you and the driver agree in advance. For longer journeys, you'll also want to be clear on who pays for gas and highway tolls.

A few caveats on car travel in Java: Highways between major cities are modern and well maintained. To get from, say, Semarang to Surabaya is a straight forward process. If, however, you're traveling in less developed areas such as around the Dieng Plateau, Bromo or Ijen you'll want to make sure that your vehicle is road worthy (especially around Bromo) and that your driver knows the way. Many Indonesians don't read maps and GPS systems are unreliable so you want a driver who's actually been to where you're going.

Highway maps can be misleading because they underestimate the difficulty of getting over and around mountains, and there are lots of mountains, some of which are active volcanos. So don't underestimate travel time based on kilometers. The sun sets at between 6:00 to 6:00 PM every day. In mountain areas it's best to arrive before dark.