Published: July 17 2022

Our Jogja recommendations

Hotel 1 - Jambuluwuk Malioboro

We stayed very central in the Jambuluwuk Malioboro Hotel. This is a large hotel with some outstanding views, friendly staff and a huge buffet breakfast with foods from all over Indonesia and even some European options. I mean just check out this stunning garden you’ll be stuffing your faces in!

Jambuluwuk Malioboro Hotel Garden

The hotel has a laundry service and is within walking distance to the popular shopping district in Malioboro. Plenty to see and do just on your doorstep! The hotel was reasonable considering the location and especially considering the 5* service we were getting, the staff were stars and the hotel itself was so well furnished. It cost around £27 (est 487.000 IDR) a night

restaurant

We fancied heading out of the main part of the city to soak in some of the views you can get around Jogja. At the Candhari Heaven you can do just that while eating some delicious Indonesian food or even just sitting back and enjoying some of their refreshing fruit smoothies.

Candhari Heaven restaurants food

Now this place does get busy, so to guarantee a table we would recommend booking in advance. Their Instagram page and their number +6281282677677.

Candhari Heaven restauran

Candhari Heaven restaurant view

Malioboro

The street where it all happens!

Malioboro street

What a fun place to be! If you fancy doing some shopping or eating ice cream, Malioboro is the place to do it. With countless street performers and more shops than you’ll know what to do with, this vibrant place is a must-visit when coming to Jogja.

Jogja was HOT when we visited, so this icecream went down an absolute treat. Gelato in malioboro

Hotel 2 - Balkondes Ngargogondo The Gade Village

Now all of those activities we’ve talked about so far happen in the heart of Jogja, however, if you venture outside the city by an hour or so, there’s so much history and beauty to be witnessed. Now if there’s one the thing we love more than travel, it’s sleep, so in order to make it to the famous sunrise spot “Punthuk Setumbu” we’d have to be a little closer to it than our hotel near Malioboro. Balkondes Ngargogondo The Gade Village was fairly pricy for what you get at 500.000 IDR a night, but what a location. It was only 15 mins away from Punthuk Setumbu and felt like such a breathe of fresh air, you’re truly out in nature here.

Gade Village rooms

Just looking at those rooms relaxes me, beautiful. The welcome we got there was top notch too, we were given complimentary drinks and breakfast was brought to our door as there was an event on that morning so we couldn’t use the restaurant.

Gade Village Breakfst

The breakfast was tasty and traditional, although we do love our breakfast buffets where we can stuff our faces until our bellies can’t fit any more food in.

Punthuk Setumbu

The reason why we trecked outside of the city, and my god was it worth it.

Punthuk Setumbu

This popular sunrise location is popular for a reason. Sadly it was a a bit cloudy for us to get the full sunrise experience, but we did however get blown away by the beauty of the place.

Punthuk Setumbu

There are plenty of places for some the most memorable photos too if that’s what you’re into.

Punthuk Setumbu

We’ll let the pictures do all the talking for this one…

Punthuk Setumbu

Even though you’re out in the middle of nowhere, there are food sellers, and toilets too. What more could you ask for.

Borobudur

You can’t come out all the way to Jogja and not visit one of its ancient temples. We were torn between two, with it being our final day in Jogja we could only choose one, Borobudur or the Prambanan Temple… well as we’re talking about Borobudur you can guess which we chose. Borobudur Temple is magnificent, the biggest Buddhist temple built. For Indonesian citizen’s tickets are very cheap, however, if you’re foreign you will be expected to pay a bit extra, around £20 overall, however where else can you see such a magnificent landmark? Worth every penny.

Borobudur

Traveling to Jogja

Cepat Bus to Jogja

In case you’re traveling to Jogja within Indonesia like we were, we thought we’d go through some options. We made the journey from Bandung, the comfortable quicker way was using the train. Even the cheapest seats “eksekutif class” are incredibly comfortable. The train has food and beverage sellers and even a restaurant cart. If you’re on a tight budget you can use this bus from Bandung to Jogja.

It cost around 300,000 for a ticket, however, the journey took over 13 hours, which is including time spent stopping for passengers, toilet stops and lunch were included too (which was surprisingly tasty considering the ticket price!).

We love re-living and sharing these experiences, we hope you can get a bit of an insight into this fascinating place in Indonesia. Safe travels to all!