Indonesia Self-Launched: Java, Bali & Lombok (29 Days)

Land at Soekarno–Hatta, grab a Grab/Bolt or the Damri airport bus (£1) to a hostel in Jalan Jaksa or Menteng. Jet-lag day: eat at a nearby warung, buy a local SIM (Telkomsel, ~£5 for 20GB) and sort an e-money top-up. If you're on a tourist e-visa, have your arrival card QR ready.

🚌Airport bus Damri ~£1, or Grab ~£7

🛏Hostel in Jalan Jaksa/Menteng, ~£10 (dorm) or £16 (private)

• →Arrive & SIM card
• →Evening warung dinner

Walk the loop yourself: Istiqlal Mosque (free entry, cover up; short guided tour optional) and the neo-Gothic Jakarta Cathedral across the road, then an afternoon in Kota Tua — cobbled Dutch-era squares, the Jakarta History Museum, then on foot to Sunda Kelapa harbour to see the wooden pinisi schooners unloading. Book a Grab scooter between sights (~£1 each). Dinner at Sabang street warungs.

🚌Grab scooters & short walks, ~£4

🛏Hostel in Jalan Jaksa/Menteng

• →Istiqlal Mosque
• →Jakarta Cathedral
• →Kota Tua Old Town
• →Sunda Kelapa Harbour
• →Sabang street food

Take the morning Argo Parahyangan train from Gambir to Bandung (~3hr, £8–14 via Traveloka/Access by KAI). Check into a guesthouse near Jalan Braga, have a Sundanese family-style lunch at a local rumah makan (nasi timbel, sayur asem, ~£3), then wander Gedung Sate and Jalan Asia Afrika in the afternoon. Geological Museum is free-ish (~£1) if you still have energy.

🚌Intercity train ~£11

🛏Guesthouse near Jalan Braga, ~£13

• →Argo Parahyangan train
• →Sundanese lunch
• →Gedung Sate
• →Jalan Asia Afrika
• →Geological Museum

Hire a driver for the day (~£35 total, or split with hostel-mates) to hit Kawah Putih crater lake (entrance ~£7) and the Tangkuban Prahu volcano rim, finishing at a Ciwidey tea plantation for lunch and a tea tasting. Alternatively join a GetYourGuide/Klook day tour (~£30). Back in Bandung for dinner on Braga Street.

🚌Shared private car day-hire ~£12 per person

🛏Guesthouse near Jalan Braga

• →Kawah Putih crater
• →Tangkuban Prahu volcano
• →Tea plantation tasting

Take a morning train Bandung to Semarang (~5–6hr, £10–14) or, faster, fly Bandung–Semarang (£25–35). Afternoon walk of Kota Lama (the old Dutch quarter), Greja Blenduk church and the haunted Lawang Sewu colonial railway building (~£1.50). Finish at Sam Poo Kong Chinese temple and a plate of Semarang lumpia spring rolls (~£2).

🚌Train ~£12 or flight ~£30

🛏Hostel/guesthouse in Kota Lama, ~£11

• →Lawang Sewu
• →Greja Blenduk
• →Kota Lama
• →Sam Poo Kong Temple
• →Lumpia

Bus or shared car to Ambarawa (~2hr, £3) for the Ambarawa Railway Museum (~£1.50) and its working steam engines, then up to Gedong Songo temple complex on Mt Ungaran's slopes (~£2.50, doable on foot between temple groups). Continue by bus to Wonosobo (£2) and settle into a guesthouse for the next two nights.

🚌Local buses ~£6

🛏Wonosobo guesthouse, ~£10

• →Ambarawa Railway Museum
• →Gedong Songo temples
• →Wonosobo arrival

Rent a scooter or share a car (£15 for the day) to loop the plateau: Telaga Warna coloured crater lake (~£2), the Arjuna temple complex, and the sulphurous Sikidang crater walkways. Bring a fleece — it's genuinely cold up here at 2,000m. Evening back in Wonosobo at the town square eating alunalun street food (mendoan, carica).

🚌Shared car/scooter ~£8

🛏Wonosobo guesthouse

• →Telaga Warna
• →Arjuna temples
• →Sikidang crater
• →Wonosobo night market

En route south, stop at Selogriyo — an atmospheric Hindu temple reached by a 30-minute rice-terrace walk (local guide ~£2). Then bus/train to Yogyakarta (£2–4). Base yourself in the Sosrowijayan or Prawirotaman area. Evening stroll down Jalan Malioboro.

🚌Bus + local transport ~£5

🛏Yogyakarta hostel, ~£9 dorm / £15 private

• →Selogriyo temple walk
• →Malioboro street

Do the classic cyclo (becak) heritage loop through the Sultan's Palace area and Taman Sari water castle (~£6 for an hour, negotiate first). Afternoon: cycle to rice paddies outside town or book the Jomblang Cave vertical descent via GetYourGuide/Klook (~£45). Eat gudeg for dinner at a warung.

🚌Becak & scooter ~£5

🛏Yogyakarta hostel

• →Becak heritage tour
• →Taman Sari
• →Rice paddy cycle
• →Gudeg dinner

Travel to Candirejo village near Borobudur and arrange a village walk direct with the local community tourism office (~£6 incl. guide): multi-crop farming, home industries, and a home-cooked Javanese lunch with a family (~£4). Continue 30 mins to Magelang for the night so you're close to Borobudur for sunrise.

🚌Bus/shared car ~£4

🛏Magelang guesthouse, ~£10

• →Candirejo community village walk
• →Family-style lunch
• →Magelang

Head out pre-dawn to Setumbu Hill (~£2 entry) for the misty Borobudur sunrise view, then hire a bike in Wanurejo/Borobudur village (£3/day) to ride between rice fields, the temple, and the traditional market. Optional: Borobudur sunrise-entry ticket via the official site (~£25). Late afternoon train to Solo (~1.5hr, £3).

🚌Train to Solo ~£3, bike hire £3

🛏Solo homestay, ~£10

• →Setumbu Hill sunrise
• →Village cycling
• →Borobudur (optional)
• →Train to Solo

Mangkunegaran Palace (~£2), Triwindhu Market, and Laweyan batik village where you can do a 2-hour batik workshop (~£8–12) with a family workshop. This is Java's cultural heart — slow, cheap and very local. Dinner: nasi liwet at a street stall.

🚌Becak/scooter ~£3

🛏Solo homestay

• →Mangkunegaran Palace
• →Triwindhu Market
• →Laweyan batik workshop

Long travel day: train Solo → Surabaya → Probolinggo (~5–6hr, £7–10), then the local green bemo up to Cemoro Lawang on the Bromo crater rim (~£4). Book a jeep for tomorrow's sunrise directly with your guesthouse (~£30–35 per jeep, split 4 ways). Wrap up warm — it's 5°C at 4am.

🚌Train + bemo ~£13

🛏Cemoro Lawang guesthouse (shared bathroom), ~£12

• →Trans-Java train
• →Bemo to Bromo rim

4am jeep to the Penanjakan viewpoint for the classic Bromo sunrise over the caldera, then drive across the sand sea to the crater rim steps. Afterwards trek or ride 45 mins to Ngadas, a Tenggerese farming village, and stay the night in a family homestay arranged via local community tourism (~£15 with dinner and breakfast).

🚌Shared jeep ~£9

🛏Ngadas village homestay (shared bathroom), ~£15 incl. meals

• →Bromo sunrise jeep
• →Crater rim walk
• →Ngadas village walk & homestay

Walk the Ngadas terraces in the morning and lunch with your hosts, then descend to Malang (~2hr). Spend the afternoon in Malang's Dutch-era streets and rainbow Jodipan village (~£1). Evening: overnight train to Banyuwangi or take a morning flight to Denpasar tomorrow (~£40–55).

🚌Local bus ~£3; flight next day ~£45

🛏Malang hostel or overnight train, ~£12

• →Ngadas morning walk
• →Jodipan colourful village
• →Malang old town

Fly into Denpasar (pay the 150,000 IDR Bali tourist levy online in advance), then take a Perama shuttle or hired car north (~2.5hr, £12) to the Bedugul/Munduk area. Stop at Jatiluwih rice terraces (~£2) and the Ulun Danu Beratan lake temple (~£3.50) en route. Cool mountain air, guesthouse with a valley view.

🚌Flight ~£45 + road transfer ~£12

🛏Munduk/Bedugul guesthouse, ~£14

• →Jatiluwih rice terraces
• →Ulun Danu Temple
• →Bali tourist levy

Scooter or driver day through north Bali: Beji temple in Sangsit, the Singaraja traditional market, then soak at Banjar hot springs (~£2). Swim at Lovina black-sand beach and spot dolphins at dawn tomorrow if you stay the night. Lunch at a warung for £2.

🚌Scooter hire £4 or shared driver £10

🛏Lovina/Munduk guesthouse, ~£13

• →Banjar hot springs
• →Singaraja market
• →Beji Temple
• →Lovina beach

Book a local village guide in Lemukih direct (~£10–15) for the rice-terrace and waterfall trek — Sekumpul falls area, rice paddies, and a swim stop. Small villages here run their own community guiding schemes, so your money stays local. Afternoon transfer south to Ubud (Perama shuttle ~£6, 2.5hr).

🚌Shuttle to Ubud ~£6

🛏Ubud hostel/guesthouse, ~£13

• →Lemukih village trek
• →Waterfall swim
• →Transfer to Ubud

Wander Ubud on foot: Campuhan Ridge walk at dawn, the market, and the Sacred Monkey Forest (~£4). Book tomorrow's activities locally — prices are cheaper at the counter than online. Evening Legong dance performance at Ubud Palace (~£6).

🚌Walk / Grab ~£3

🛏Ubud hostel/guesthouse

• →Campuhan Ridge walk
• →Ubud market
• →Monkey Forest
• →Legong dance

2am pickup for the Mt Batur sunrise hike with a local guide booked via GetYourGuide or your guesthouse (~£30 incl. breakfast and transfers) — summit for 5:45am, down by 9. Sleep off the afternoon by the pool or take the optional Medahan village family visit (arrange direct ~£10).

🚌Included in trek; local transfer ~£3

🛏Ubud hostel/guesthouse

• →Mt Batur sunrise trek
• →Optional Medahan village visit

Hire a driver for the morning (£25 total) to see Penglipuran, the immaculately kept bamboo village (~£3), and Pura Gunung Kawi Sebatu water temple (~£3). Continue east to Sidemen — Bali's quieter rice-terrace valley — for two nights instead of Candidasa's tourist strip.

🚌Private car hire ~£10 per person

🛏Sidemen guesthouse, ~£12

• →Penglipuran village
• →Gunung Kawi Sebatu
• →Sidemen valley

Morning Balinese cooking class with a village family in Sidemen (~£20, booked direct or via Klook) — market visit, spice paste, then eat what you made. Afternoon: snorkel the Blue Lagoon at Padangbai with a local operator (~£15 incl. gear).

🚌Scooter/local car ~£5

🛏Sidemen guesthouse

• →Balinese cooking class
• →Blue Lagoon snorkelling

Fast boat Padangbai → Bangsal or Lembar (~£25–35, 2–5hr) bookable online or at the harbour. Shared taxi/bemo south to Kuta Lombok (~£4). Afternoon on the white-sand bay — Lombok's south coast is far less crowded than Bali's.

🚌Fast boat ~£30 + bemo ~£4

🛏Kuta Lombok hostel, ~£10

• →Fast boat crossing
• →Kuta Lombok beaches

Visit Sade or Ende traditional Sasak village south of Kuta (donation ~£2, guide ~£3), then surf, swim at Tanjung Aan, or rent a scooter (£5) to explore Mawun, Mawi and Selong Belanak beaches. Sunset at Bukit Merese.

🚌Scooter hire ~£5

🛏Kuta Lombok hostel

• →Sasak village visit
• →Tanjung Aan beach
• →Bukit Merese sunset

Cycle through Bonjeruk village near Praya with a local guide arranged at the village tourism office (~£10 incl. bike and home-cooked lunch). Continue north to Tetebatu at the foot of Rinjani for two nights — waterfalls, rice terraces, monkey forest.

🚌Bemo/shared car ~£8

🛏Tetebatu guesthouse, ~£10

• →Bonjeruk village cycle
• →Village lunch
• →Tetebatu arrival

Book a women-led walking excursion in the Rinjani foothills through a community guiding initiative in Senaru (~£15–20) — rice paddies, coffee and cacao plots, and Sidang Gile/Senaru waterfalls. Local homestay dinner and an early night.

🚌Shared car ~£8

🛏Senaru/Tetebatu homestay, ~£11

• →Women-led Rinjani foothills walk
• →Senaru waterfall
• →Community homestay dinner

Public ferry or fast boat from Bangsal/Bangsal harbour to Gili Trawangan (£3 public ferry + £1.50 boat shuttle, or £15 fast boat). No motorised traffic on the island — walk or cycle. Sunset at the west-coast swings, snorkel straight off the beach.

🚌Boat ~£8

🛏Gili Trawangan hostel, ~£12

• →Bangsal ferry
• →Sunset beach
• →Beach snorkelling

Join a 3-island snorkelling trip by glass-bottom boat (~£15, turtles at Gili Meno), hire a bike to circle the island (£3), or take a drop-in yoga class (~£8). Optional open-water dive intro (~£45) if you want to add a certification start.

🚌Bike hire ~£3

🛏Gili Trawangan hostel

• →3-island snorkelling trip
• →Island cycle
• →Yoga class

Fast boat back to Padangbai or Serangan (~£25) and onward to Denpasar airport (Grab ~£8). If you booked a Gili-to-Kuta express transfer through a local operator, expect ~£40. Buffer at least 4 hours before an international flight.

🚌Fast boat + Grab ~£33

🛏—

• →Departure transfer