2 Perfect Days in Yogyakarta – including everything you need to know to visit Borobudur and Prambanan

Yogyakarta is a must-visit if you are in Java, Indonesia. This thriving city is well connected, has excellent food, a chill vibe, and most importantly, it’s close to two Unesco Heritage Temples. Borobudur and Prambanan are both stunning, but very different, and it’s definitely worth visiting them both. 

In this guide I’ll lay out how to make the most of your time in Yogyakarta, including how to get to and from the city. I’ll also dive into what you need to know to visit the temples – it’s not as straightforward as just rocking up!

Planning to visit multiple islands in Indonesia? Check out my post Visit Sumatra – An Amazing Off the Beaten Track Destination in Indonesia to find out why Sumatra should be one of your stops.

Contents:

• How to get to Yogyakarta
• How long should I spend in Yogyakarta
• Where to stay in Yogyakarta
• Yogyakarta Itinerary – Day 1
  • Kraton
  • Taman Sari
  • Lunch – Roaster and Bear
  • Malioboro
  • Relax
• Yogyakarta Itinerary – Day 2
• KNOW BEFORE YOU GO – Borobudur Temple
  • Borobudur Temple
  • Loewak Coffee and lunch
  • Prambanan Temple
  • Dinner
• Alternative Itineraries

How to get to Yogyakarta

Being well connected to the rest of Java is one of the best things about Yogyakarta.  

I arrived by plane from Sumatra into Yogyakarta International, the new airport. It’s modern and clean, and there is a train into central Yogya. This train should be booked ahead at peak times – it can get full. You can also drive into central Yogya – it’s about 1 hour and costs around 100k for a private car. 

Many people arrive in Yogya via train from Jakarta. While I didn’t take this train, I met other travellers who did, and I heard only good things. The trains in Indonesia are modern and punctual. The train from Jakarta to Yogya takes about 6-8 hours. 

While most people visit Yogyakarta before Malang and Bromo, you could also be doing the trip in reverse. I took the train from Yogya to Malang. It takes about 6 hours and is comfortable and punctual (at least in the Executive Class, which is worth paying for). 

Trains in Indonesia are not super straightforward to book if you have a foreign bank account, but I booked my ticket via Tiket.

There is also a strong bus network in Java. Buses are available between Yogya and Malang, and Yogya and Jakarta. However, given how cheap, reliable and comfortable the train is, I would recommend taking the train unless you are really committed to budget travelling.  

How long should I spend in Yogyakarta

I’ve set this blog up to give you two full days in Yogyakarta, but I spent five days in the city. I loved the chill vibe and plethora of coffee shops for working in. My opinion is that two full days is the absolute minimum you need to really enjoy the city. 

Where to stay in Yogyakarta

Most hotels are around Jalan Prawirotaman, the main backpacker street in Yogya. I’d advise staying around here, as it’s near a plethora of restaurants and coffee shops, as well as tour options. 

I stayed at Otu Hostel. The rooms were basic but had everything I needed. The staff at this hostel were amazing – so friendly and helpful. The location is also great – down quiet backstreets but just off Jalan Prawirotaman. But the cherry on top is the pool – a beautiful spot to rest and relax, with bean bag chairs offering you a comfortable place to sit. I can’t recommend Otu highly enough. 

If you’re looking for an alternative, many of the major hotel chains have hotels in Yogya, including the Sheraton and Hyatt. A more expensive/ high-end hostel option is Snooze, which has a huge number of positive reviews and is near the Kraton.

However, I recommend staying near Jalan Prawirotaman, the main backpacker/tourist street. Yogya is not super pedestrian-friendly, and staying in this area means you can go out for dinner without needing to take a taxi. If this sounds like the right option for you, try the Aloha Hotel, which has a score of 9.1 with over one thousand reviews.

Yogyakarta Itinerary: Day 1

Day 1 is your chance to really get to know Yogyakarta itself. Assuming you’ve arrived the night before (or overnight via the night trains), I would start bright and early before the heat of the day. 

Stop 1: Kraton

Yogyakarta is as a ‘Special Region’ within Indonesia. This means it’s the only part of the country still ruled by a Sultan. The current Sultan still lives in the Kraton palace in central Yogyakarta, which should be your first stop of the day. Construction started in 1755 and still plays an important ceremonial role today.

The main part of the Kraton was closed for renovation when I visited in August 2024, but there was still plenty to visit. This did lead to me being taken to a Batik workshop by a friendly helper on the palace doors – not quite a scam, but he was definitely on commission. If you don’t fancy the Batik workshop, don’t fall for this and head to the rest of the palace instead. 

Top tip: Don’t head to the ‘main gate’ if you take a Grab or Gojek, as this is the closed area. Head to the entrance by Rotowijayan Mosque instead. 

The part of the palace that’s still open is beautiful, and very interesting. It’s well worth hiring a guide to take you around. Our guide was from the Sultan’s Guard, dressed in his ceremonial uniform and toting his arsenic covered blade. 

I hopped on a tour with some other travellers and it cost us 50k for the tour. He filled us in on the Sultan and his daughters, all of whom have married commoners. It was a really good way to understand the unique way Yogyakarta fits into Indonesia. 

Stop 2: Taman Sari, The water palace

Once you’ve taken in the delights of the Kraton, it’s time to head to Taman Sari, the water palace. One of the Sultan’s built the palace as a place to rest and retreat, and as soon as you enter you can see why. It’s an instagram-perfect site with multiple pools and places to reflect (though it’s unlikely you’ll be doing any of that given the number of visitors). 

I didn’t pay for a guide at Taman Sari as 100k felt steep, especially compared to the Kraton. But if you are a group it would definitely be worth it to understand the history of the site. 

Make sure you take your camera and selfie stick, as the site is absolutely gorgeous. Taman Sari is about a 15 minute walk from the Kraton. If it’s too hot to walk, you can also take a becak (the local tuktuks), with plenty waiting outside, or hop in a Grab.

Lunch break: Roaster and Bear

Once you’ve walked around the Kraton and Tama Sari, you’ll be ready for a break and food! Get a Grab to one of Yogyakarta’s most unique restaurants, Roaster and Bear. 

This western-style restaurant is located in a hotel near the top of Malioboro, your next stop. It has an excellent menu with a wide variety of delicious and beautifully presented Western and Asian dishes. However, the real draw is the BEARS. 

I’d found this restaurant on various Yogya guides well in advance of my trip, and I’ve been looking forward to it ever since. Their two giant bears feature heavily in their social media presence, but once you’re in the restaurant you’re free to take selfies with them (as lots of people were when I was there). The restaurant is also beautifully decorated with a bear theme, and you can even order a bear-themed coffee. 

Stop 3: Malioboro

Once you’ve spent enough time with the bears, head to Malioboro street. This is the thriving main street in Yogya with a variety of shops including a medium sized mall. Walk down the street to Beringharjo Market at the far end. This huge market is absolutely not what I was expecting – it’s not touristy at all, but rather an insight into how people in Yogya shop. There’s a huge variety of items on sale and it’s worth taking a quick walk around to marvel at everything available. 

Stop 4: Relaxation

Your second day in Yogya is going to be busy, so take this opportunity to relax before an early start tomorrow. There are a few options to relax in Yogya:

• Spend time by the pool – lots of hotels and even hostels in Yogya have pools, so this is a great opportunity to chill out in a beautiful spot
• Head to one of the many coffee shops on Jalan Prawirotaman, the main tourist street. Some of my favourites were Ministry of Coffee (great coffee and ultra-modern chill out vibes), Opera (incredible pastries) and Adam’s Coffee and Pastry (good for working).
• Try a delicious gelato at Tempo Gelato – a hugely popular spot with young Yogyans
• Get a massage or spa treatment – there are so many on offer! I went with a full spa experience at Saarah Day Spa and can thoroughly recommend it, but it is at the higher end of the price range. Shop around if you want a cheaper alternative

Alternatively, if you fancy a more active evening, head down to Alun-Alun to check out the famous neon cars!

Yogyakarta Itinerary: Day 2

Today is the big day! My recommendation is to combine Borobudur Temple and Prambanan Temple into one big day trip, as it works out more cost-effective to have a driver/join a tour than to do them separately. Believe me, I looked into whether it would be viable to do them on separate days, but it worked out much more expensive. 

You’ll need an early start to fit everything in, given driving times, but it’s worth it. 

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

It is relatively complex to plan your visit to Borobudur. There are two types of tickets – ground tickets, and tickets to climb (most of the way) to the top. You want the tickets to the top – there’s relatively little value in exploring the grounds. If you’re worried about the climb, I talk about it in more detail below. 

The temple limits Vstors to protect the structure. This means either booking your ticket in advance, or finding a guide/tour operator who has tickets available. There is a lot of pressure on earlier tickets, because people want to do the tour before the heat of the day really kicks in. The earliest timeslot is 8.30am. 

I used Jogya Private Tour 87 with a shared tour – he had tickets for the 9.30am slot when the official website only had 2.30pm tickets. I would also recommend his tour company in general – our driver was on time, friendly and navigated the complex ticketing processes for us seamlessly. 

If you are buying your own tickets, it’s definitely a case of the sooner the better. The tickets are available from the official website. If you are booking a tour via e.g. Viator or Get Your Guide, I would suggest questioning them on the timeslot they have tickets for to make sure you avoid waiting around. 

Stop 1: Borobudur Temple

Having sorted out your ticket, hopefully for an early time slot, you’ll head to Borobudur. You can take Grab or Gojek to the site, but as I said above, I recommend hiring a driver for the day or taking a tour. 

Built in the 8th century, Borobudur is an imposing monument emerging dramatically from the landscape. It is the largest Buddhist temple in the world, and one of the architectural and archaeological wonders of South East Aisa. 

Our guide told us that it was abandoned following a volcanic eruption in the area, but other sources suggest it was due to the overall decline of Hindu kingdoms in Java. Either way, the British coloniser Stamford Raffles ‘rediscovered’ Borobudur in the 1800s, and brought it back to the attention of the world. It is now a Unseco heritage site, and has been restored on a number of occasions. 

Pre-visit process

Access is strictly controlled, as in the past over-tourism has threatened to harm the structure. When you arrive and go through the ticketing process (or hopefully your guide does this for you, as it’s crowded and confusing), you will be given a token with your tour number on it. Your ticket includes an official guide.

Next is the shoe area, to collect the sandals that everyone visiting the monument must wear to avoid damaging the structure. There is the opportunity to swap if your size doesn’t fit, and you get a bag for your own shoes. 

Once you’ve got suitable shoes, you go to a waiting area. Once it hits your time slot, staff will call out each tour group by number. You’ll join your allocated guide. Groups are around 20 people. Your guide will walk you down towards the temple, explaining some of the history as you go. 

Top Tip: As you’re walking, you’ll be offered the chance to rent umbrellas for 20k to shield you from the sun – I highly recommend this, as even at 9.30am the heat was fierce, and there is limited shade in the temple. 

Your visit

Your guide will help you ascend Borobudur, stopping at different levels to explain the history, and tell some of the stories depicted in the stone carvings. 

I was really worried about how difficult it would be to climb the structure, particularly in the heat. However, while the steps are strenuous, you will take it slowly and ascend the levels over a period of time, as your guide tells you about each level. 

Once you’re at the highest level open to the public, you get free time to walk around. While the visit had felt very crowded early on, once we got to this point it was really clear that they’d limited the number of visitors, as it was easy to take pictures without other people. The results are stunning – it’s a beautiful monument. 

Everyone has to descend by a certain time. You then walk back to your car/driver – be aware that not only is this a long walk, it’s through a seemingly-never ending alleyway of tourist stalls. Every time I thought it was over, there were more. Just brace yourself, you’ll get to the end eventually. 

Stop 2: Loewak coffee, or the chicken temple, and lunch

Different tours offer different options for the journey between Borobudur and Prambanan, which is about a 1.5 hour drive. Our driver took us to try the famous Loewak Coffee. 

Loewak coffee, known in the west as Civet Poop Coffee, is the most expensive coffee in the world. Created from beans eaten, digested and then pooped out by civets, the process takes much longer than ordinary coffee harvesting. 

I thoroughly enjoyed our trip for loewak coffee, and learning about how it’s made. However, other tours offer the opportunity to visit the surreal chicken temple, and you should make a decision on which of these you want to prioritise when organising your trip.

If you’re on a guided tour/with a driver, you will go for lunch before visiting Prambanan. If you’re organising the day yourself, I highly recommend stopping at this point. There are a number of restaurants around Prambanan. 

Stop 3: Prambanan

I absolutely loved Prambanan temple, probably more than Borobudur, even though it’s less well known. While Borobudur is one tall structure, Prambanan is a series of temples stretching across the landscape. 

Built in the 10th century, it is the largest temple compound dedicated to Shiva in Indonesia. The three largest temples are dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, and depict the Hindu epic Ramayana. 

It was originally 240 structures – today, only a fraction of those survive. However, local archaeologists are rebuilding them at the rate of one temple per year – as a dedicated history buff, one of my favourite things at Prambanan was seeing the rebuilt temples and understanding the complex jigsaw required to achieve this. 

Prambanan is much easier to visit than Borobudur, with straightforward access. As there is no guided tour included in the ticket, I recommend contracting a guide within the temple. Our driver helped us with this, and it was well worth it. 

Our guide took us to the three main temples, taking us inside the largest and explaining the meaning of the statues hidden within. This led to one of the highlights of my entire trip so far – he encouraged me and the other lady on my tour to touch a statue for fertility, and we both flat out refused, to much laughter. He also took us to the best spots to get people-free photos. 

Like Borobudur, the exit route from Prambanan is lengthy. I thought we’d avoided the vendors, as the initial walk is through the beautiful grounds, where there are coffee and ice cream spots. However, just before the car park there is the same lengthy row of vendors, so again, brace yourself. 

Stop 4: Dinner

Once you’ve finished your visit to Prambanan, it’s time for another lengthy drive back to central Yogyakarta. Unfortunately, Borobudur and Prambanan are on opposite sides of the city, so there is no avoiding having to drive for significant parts of your day.

Having started our trip at 7.30am, we arrived back in Yogya around 5.30pm. Once you’re back, you’ll most likely want a chilled out evening to recover from such a busy day. I recommend heading to Jalan Prawirotaman for dinner. There are excellent restaurants up and down this street:

• Via Via – excellent healthy food with lots of veggie and vegan options
• Mediterranea – while I didn’t visit, so many people recommended this place
• Ministry of Coffee – if you just want something quick, their Mie Goreng was excellent

Alternative Itineraries in Yogya

• Borobudur sunrise

One of the most popular things to do in Yogya is to visit Borobudur for sunrise. I’m far too lazy to get up this early, but it’s on offer in lots of places. It  heading to a sunrise spot near the temple, rather than the temple itself, for sunrise. If you choose this option, make sure to check what time slot the tour company has for Borobudur entrance, to ensure you avoid waiting around for hours. 

• Mount Merapi

Aanother popular destination in Yogya! and can be combined into a (very busy) day trip to the two temples, or done on its own.

• Cultural tours

Via Via offer a number of cultural tours around Yogya, including to villages, and alternative routes to Borobudur and Prambanan. 

• Ramayana Ballet

One of the most popular activities in Yogya is to see the Ramayana Ballet at Prambanan. Sadly this wasn’t on when I was in Yogya, but if your trip combines with a show, it’s highly recommended. 

Hopefully this gives you everything you need to know to plan the perfect two days in Yogyakarta – but if there’s anything else you’d like to know, drop a comment below!