BALI – IJEN CRATER – MOUNT BROMO – SURABAYA – BOROBUDUR TEMPLE – JOMBLANG CAVE – YOGYAKARTA TOUR (6 DAYS 5 NIGHTS)
WHAT MAKES THIS TOUR INTERESTING?
This tour is designed for travelers who start their holiday from the beautiful Bali Island and are willing to explore Java Island from there. Here is the six-day itinerary that covers the must-see destinations in East Java and Central Java.
We will be visiting Ijen Crater / Ijen Volcano, Mount Bromo, Borobudur Temple at sunrise, Jomblang Cave, and Prambanan Temple in Yogyakarta. We also will invite you to try our local train that will bring you from Surabaya (East Java) to Yogyakarta (Central Java).
Overall, this tour has a lot of experiences to get, especially Java Island is a completely different lifestyle compared to Bali Island. Our guide will explain to you what can and cannot do upon your arrival in the harbor before taking a ferry to Java Island. To read more about what the itinerary looks like, you can scroll down to the details below:
DAY 1: BALI – ACCOMMODATION IN BANYUWANGI
Ijen Crater tour from Bali will start at 10:00 AM (Balinese timezone), our staff will pick you up from your hotel in Bali. Then you will drive to Gilimanuk Ferry Port, which will take about ±5 hours. Afterward, you will take the ferry for about an hour to reach Ketapang Ferry Port. Then, we will escort you to a local restaurant for lunch and then continue our trip to your hotel in the Banyuwangi area for an enjoyable stay before you do a tour in Ijen Crater the next morning.
NOTE:
UBUD, SANUR, KUTA, LEGIAN, DENPASAR TO GILIMANUK FERRY PORT (±4-5 HOURS), PEMUTERAN (± 30 MINUTES) AND LOVINA TO GILIMANUK FERRY PORT (±2HOURS)
DAY 02: IJEN CRATER TOUR – HOTEL IN BROMO AREA
The Ijen crater tour will start at 4:00 AM from your hotel then our car will bring us to the village of Licin and then continue to the slope of Mount Ijen, passing through plantations and rainforest. This is one of few remaining on the island of Java with giant ferns, plants & big trees. This journey takes approximately 1, 5 hours.
OPTIONAL PROGRAM:
If the weather is good enough and you have a good condition for trekking at night, you can take the Ijen Blue Fire Tour at Ijen Crater but you are required to leave the Hotel or Homestay around 00:30 AM or Midnight and the price is included. Please check the picture of the blue fire at Ijen Crater on the Internet.
Arriving at the parking area of Ijen Crater (1850m), From here, you need 1, 5 hours will be required to hike the slope of Ijen Crater. Along the path, you will enjoy the stunning natural scenery with fresh air & shade. Resting on the edge of the crater at an altitude of 2385 meters and enjoy the best panorama of the lake of acid water which reflects the spectacular view in the surrounding walls that gives the impression of doom. The sulfur miners go down into the crater and climb back up by passing a dangerous path on the edge of the Ijen crater with a load of as much as 80 kilograms on their shoulders. This is a dangerous and hard job. Here also, you will enjoy the beautiful scenery of Ijen Crater one of God’s amazing creations. Do not forget to take pictures in this area as proof that you have visited one of the most amazing places on earth. After enjoying the natural scenery at Crater of Ijen and then descend the slope of Mount Ijen until the vehicle’s parking area where our vehicle is waiting to escort you to the plantations. Afterward, we will escort you to a local restaurant for lunch and then continue our trip to Mount Bromo for about 5-6 hours to overlook the active volcano of Mount Bromo, staying overnight in the Mount Bromo area before taking the Bromo sunrise tour tomorrow morning.
DAY 03: BROMO SUNRISE TOUR – TRAIN STATION IN SURABAYA – ACCOMMODATION IN BOROBUDUR TEMPLE AREA
Mount Bromo tour will start at 3:30 AM from your hotel and then the jeep will bring you to the world’s most famous viewpoints, those are Penanjakan and Kingkong Hill, it is located on the rim of the Tengger caldera (2,700m). From here, you can see the enchanting sunrise with the amazing scenery of Mount Bromo, Batok, and Semeru. After you have enjoyed the view here, we will go back to the jeep then the jeep will continue our adventure to reach the sea of sands in the Mt. Bromo area. We will stop at the parking area then you will cross the sea of sands by riding a horse or on foot (it is optional) till reach the stairs up at the slope of Mt. Bromo which will lead you to reach the peak of Mt. Bromo.
At about 8:00 AM, the 4WD vehicle (jeep) will bring you back to the hotel for breakfast, take a shower, pack, loading bags into our van, and then we will continue our trip to Surabaya Gubeng Train Station for about 3-4 Hours (it depends on the traffic situation). We will take the train at 16:40 arrive at Yogyakarta at about 20:50 and drive about 2 hours to Borobudur Temple to stay overnight.
There are two train schedules that we take normally at 16:40 and 17:26, here is the detail below:
The train that leaves at 17:26, takes about 5H7M, so you will be arriving in the Yogyakarta area at 22:33 and for the train that leaves at 16:40, you will arrive in Yogyakarta around 20:50.
Upon your arrival at Yogyakarta airport/ train station, you will be escorted by our local driver to check in at your accommodation in the Borobudur temple area, it will take about 2 hours to drive.
DAY 04: SETUMBU HILL SUNRISE TOUR – BOROBUDUR TEMPLE TOUR – MERAPI JEEP TOUR – ACCOMMODATION IN YOGYAKARTA CITY
At about 4:30 AM, you will be escorted by your driver to Setumbu hill where you can see sunrise toward the view of Borobudur Temple from far distance and volcanoes nearby. The hill is located northwest of Borobudur temple and it offers a great landscape if the weather allows it.
Start your day with an exciting trip to Setumbu Hill. Our team will show you the best spots to see the sunrise. It’s a short walk from where you park, about 10 minutes. When you get to the top, you’ll see Borobudur Temple and the area around it. It’s really pretty, especially as the sun comes up. Don’t forget to take lots of pictures!
After enjoying the sunrise, head back to Borobudur Temple. It’s a big Buddhist temple, the largest one in the world! You can spend time exploring all the cool carvings on the stones. They tell stories about Buddhism. Remember to be respectful while you’re there. For now, they limit the number of visitors per day, and you get only 1 hour to explore the whole temple, every visitor will be divided into groups and get the guide organized by the Borobudur Temple itself.
Finish your day by trying some local food and snacks. Talk to the people who live there and learn about their culture. It’s a great way to end your trip, full of beautiful views, history, and tasty food. After that, we can go back to your accommodation to have breakfast and rest a bit before continuing the trip.
Important News from Borobudur Temple & Sultan Palace
Borobudur Temple and Sultan Palace are closed on Monday.
After having breakfast and packing your luggage, you will be doing an adventurous tour in Mt. Merapi, we will drive for ± 2 hours from the Borobudur area to Kaliadem Basecamp. Kaliadem Basecamp is the last place before you do the “Kaliadem Lava Tour in Merapi Volcano”. Around 10:00 AM, your jeep’s driver will escort you to Kaliadem Village; it’s a village on the slope of Mt Merapi that is destroyed after the last great eruption of Merapi on November 4th and 5th, 2010. The hot cloud (pyroclastic flow) hit this village. This position of the Kaliadem is 1100 meters above sea level. It makes the air still relatively cool, although the tree forest was destroyed when the hot clouds hit on. When the area was opened again, hundreds of visitors have been coming until today, locals and foreigners reach the location by 4WD Car and motor riding.
The tour will start at the Kaliadem Parking area, from here the jeep will be ready to take you around the volcano for 2-3 hours, such as visiting the museum, alien stone, yellow river, the cemetery, and the village of the shaman of Mt. Merapi, Kaliadem hill, and Kaliadem bunker. At about 2:00 PM, the driver will escort you to our normal car then we will go to your hotel in the Yogyakarta area. At about 04.00 PM, arrive at your hotel in the Yogyakarta area and then stay overnight here.
OPTIONAL PROGRAM:
RAMAYANA BALLET PRAMBANAN (OPEN AIR THEATER)
This dance-drama is a marvelous visualization of legendary epos in Javanese culture, Ramayana. Performed on an open stage, Ramayana ballet invites you to enjoy the story in a set of typical Javanese dances accompanied by gamelan music. In the evenings (07.30 pm – 09.30 pm), this ballet comes to life, enacted by over 200 professional dancers and musicians on an open-air stage that takes advantage of the Prambanan Temples as a backdrop but sometimes it’s also indoor too. But it will be at your own cost and it will depend on their calendar too. I will attach the price for this optional program and you can choose your seat if you are interested in it. Please check the picture of the Ramayana ballet open-air/indoor theater on the Internet
DAY 05: YOGYAKARTA CITY – JOMBLANG CAVE IN GUNUNG KIDUL
After having breakfast at 7:00 am, we will drive from your hotel to Jomblang Cave. Jomblang Cave is one of the natural highlights of Yogyakarta. The caves are located in Semanu Village, Gunung Kidul Regency. It’s a 2-3 hours drive from the center of Yogyakarta and it’s the perfect day trip from the city. Going to Jomblang cave, you need to set off early from Yogyakarta, because you need to be at Jomblang cave by 10:00 (and it’s good to get there early because only 25 people a day are allowed to visit). It’s super easy to get to Jomblang Cave. The roads to Jomblang Cave are really good. Well, most of the way. The last part of the journey is a bit bumpy. The last 200 meters are dirt with rock and no tarmac.
Jomblang cave isn’t a cave, it’s part of a cave system that covers the whole of Gunung Kidul. The caves were formed over thousands by rainwater and underground rivers that eroded the karst rock (a bit like the famous underground caves in Yucatan, Mexico). The actual cave (or the bit that the tourists see) is made up of three parts. The first is a large huge sinkhole that was formed by the roof of the cave collapsing. The second part of the cave is a long tunnel and the final part is Grubug cave, the central cave. It’s hard to put into words just how big the sinkhole is. The hole is easily 25 meters in diameter and drops 50 meters straight down. It must have been formed hundreds of years ago because there’s a forest at the bottom of the sinkhole.
You need to be lowered on a rope to get to the bottom of the sinkhole. It’s perfectly safe. You have to get strapped up in all the proper safety equipment before they even let you near the edge of the sinkhole. Still, I have to say I felt nervous stepping off the edge into thin air 50 meters above the forest floor. Once you have reached the forest at the bottom of the sinkhole you need to wait around for the rest of the group to join you (remember, there’s a maximum of 25 people per group and only one group per day). As soon as everybody is at the bottom you follow the trail to the tunnel.
The entrance to the main tunnel linking Jomblang and Grubug cave is at least 7 meters wide and 4 meters high. The tunnel itself is 250 meters long. At the start, you don’t need the torch, but in the middle, it becomes pitch black. It’s also muddy and the rocks are slippery. The word amazing is used a lot. As you turn the final corner of the tunnel you start to see the rays of sunlight pouring through the roof of Grubug cave. The view is amazing (trust me, ‘amazing’ is the right word)!
After you take in the view, the second thing you notice is just how large Grubug cave is. You could probably easily fit a cathedral, a large mosque, or the first five floors of a skyscraper in the cave. Space is just that big. You will feel like you should be holding your breath. The view around me was amazing. The cave is huge. The roof of Jomblang cave was 50 meters or more above our heads. Sunshine was flooding in through the hole in the roof of the cave. It is time to pose on a rock, a dark silhouette against the light. After doing the most adventurous trip here, you will be escorted to go back to your hotel in Yogyakarta city.
DAY 06: YOGYAKARTA CITY – YOGYAKARTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
After having breakfast around 8:00 AM, we will escort you to the airport to catch the flight back to your home, it will depend on your flight time schedule because the new airport is 2 hours away from the city now. If we still have time, we can do a short city tour on the way to the Airport.
TOUR’S SERVICES FINISHED.
Note: Do not book a flight in the morning, it’s better to book the flight in the afternoon. So, you can take a full city tour in Yogyakarta before flying back home.
PRICE IS IN IDR & INCLUDES:
- Pick-up service from Bali and transfer out to Yogyakarta Airport
- 1N stay in the Banyuwangi area with breakfast
- 1N stay in the Mount Bromo area with breakfast
- 1N stay in the Borobudur Temple area with breakfast
- 2N stay in the Yogyakarta area with breakfast
- Land transportation with the driver and fuel during the trip
- Jeep for Mount Bromo and Mount Merapi tour
- Private English-speaking guide for Mount Bromo and Ijen Crater
- Cost for the train ticket from Surabaya to Yogyakarta
- Cost for highway or parking during the trip and mineral water
- Cost for Jomblang cave, Borobudur sunrise, and entrance tickets for Mount. Merapi
- Cost for Ferry from Bali to Java Island
- Local guide for the temple in Borobudur temple and Yogyakarta city tour
- All entrance fee during the tour
PRICE EXCLUDES:
- Travel Insurance
- Horse riding at Mount Bromo
- Bar, laundry, phone calls, internet, tipping & other personal costs
- Cost for lunch & dinner during the trip
For further information about the tour and booking, please feel free to contact us directly at our Email: Info@javaadventuretrail.com / WhatsApp number: +6287755920876 or please fill in the booking form below!