13 Awesome Things to do in Yogyakarta, Central Java, Indonesia

Discover 13 Awesome things to do in Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta is a faily well known tourist city in the region of Central Java in Indonesia.

This list of 13 awesome things to do in Yogyakarta gives a short review of each of the things to do in Yogyakarta as well as links to more detailed reviews (where applicable) which include directions, pictures, and other useful information.

Featured Picture: Street art in Yogyakarta.

Right Picture: Just chilling on the castle walls at night.

13 Awesome Things to do in Yogyakarta

I arrived in Yogyakarta without much of a plan of what to do. I had booked two nights in Villa Sambal and by the next morning decided to stay a full week. Partly because the accommodation was awesome (review at the end of this post) and partly because after a little research I discovered quite a few awesome things to do in Yogyakarta.

Like I had done during my trip to Palawan I decided to announce my travel plans on couch-surfing again. Within a day I got some messages about things to do. This is where most of these things come from. Also wikitravel.org and lonely planet.

1. Jalan Malioboro

The first item on this list of awesome things to do in Yogyakarta is to go to Jalan Malioboro.

On my first full day in Yogyakarta I made use of the free push-bike from Villa Sambal and rode to the Sultan Palace (a.k.a. Kertaton). First I rode for 3km in the wrong direction, then, when I finally got there, there was a parade on. I waited for the parade to finish only to discover that it closed for the day, so I went to Jalan Malioboro instead.

Jalan Malioboro is basically a shopping street. There are markets and proper shops/shopping centers. You can take a horse and carriage ride around. I was surprised that with all the horses there was no horse sh*t around. I just rode the bike up and back down again. There are food stalls as-well.

Malioboro Street.

2. Central Java Foods

Later than same evening I decided to go to a puppet show. On the way I stopped in at one of the (very) common street-food stalls and got an easy favorite of fried rice. During my Central Java itinerary I got to try a few really delicious local dishes.

Food stall where I got nasi goreng jawa (Javanese fried rice).

3. Puppet Show

I learned about the nightly puppet show via WikiTravel.org. It is from 2000 to 2200pm every night (except public holidays) in the Museum Sonobudoyo (close to and just North of Keraton) and costs only 20INR to enter. From the pamphlet they give you I discovered that it is like a series, with 10 or so “episodes”. You could go back every night and watch a different one to get the full story, although you wouldn’t understand any of it (unless you speak Javanese or whatever language they are using). It was nice to experience but I couldn’t stay for the full two hours.

Javanese puppet show.

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4. Alun-Alun

Whilst waiting for the puppet show to start I got talking to a couple from Belgium (I think) who showed me some pictures of them riding in a fluro car. They pointed it out to me on their map so I walked there after bailing on the puppet show. Apart from the neon lighted, disco, peddle cars there are some food stores and some kind of game where they blindfold you and you have to walk between a couple of trees.

Disco cars at Alun Alun.

5. Castle Walls

On my walk back to Villa Sambal I came across one of the castle gate entrances. There are a couple around the city. You can go on top and even walk along the wall for a bit. It seems to be a kind of hang-out spot for couples and groups of youths. Actually, I found it really nice and just sat there playing on my phone and people watching for a good thirty or so minutes.

On top of the castle walls.

6. Keraton

The next day I went back to Keraton. After approaching it from the south I was told I had to walk all the way around to the main entrance. I probably spent about an hour or so inside and didn’t find it particularly fantastic but due to the easy accessibility (walking distance from my accommodation) and cheap entry fee (12,500INR) I would say it is a must see if you are in Yogyakarta.

Inside the Taman Sari Water Castle.

7. Taman Sari Water Castle

I was told of the Water Castle but hadn’t planned on visiting it. Luckily I stumbled upon it after Keraton, and I’m glad I did. Walking through the ruins and along the streets of Taman Sari inside was easily the best thing I saw in the city of Yogyakarta.

Inside the Taman Sari Water Castle.

8. Kalibiru National Park

The next day I hired a motorbike from Villa Sambal (60,000IDR/day) and went to see some of the things on the outskirts of Yogyakarta. The first place I went was Kalibiru National Park. It was not what I expected but still very nice and had some fantastic views.

Awesome view at Kalibiru National Park.

9. Gumuk Pasir Parangkusumo

After Kalibiru I rode to Gumuk Pasir and Parangkusumo beach. Actually, I almost missed Gumuk Pasir but luckily I stumbled across it on the way out.

View from the top of an abandoned tower at Parangkusumo beach.

10. Learn Javanese Healing Techniques

For some reason I decided that it was a good time to do either a yoga or reflexology course. After a google session I came across this Javanese Wisdom and Healing website. The next morning I went to scope it out and within an hour I had signed up for a 20 hour course.

This was by far the best thing I done on this list of awesome things to do in Yogyakarta, as well as during my whole trip in Central Java. It even inspired me to add a healing module in Survival Fitness Plan.

On our last day they gave all of us a full body massage. It was amazing.

11. Gunung Api Purba

After the morning at the Javanese healing course I decided to go to Ratu Boko but when I got there I discovered the entry fee was a ridiculous amount in comparison to what I had read online (over 160,000IDR). I literally did not have enough money in my pocket to enter, and even if I did I wouldn’t have.

After riding through the countryside for a while I ended up at Gunung Api Purba, which turned out to be just my thing. A peaceful mountain.

Amazing view from Guning Api Purba.

12. Perang Wedang

On one of the days during the Javanese Healing Course they took us to have a hot spring bath at Perang Wedang. Essentially it is a hot bath in natural, hot, mineral water. It was pretty nice. Cost was 4000IDR for the bath + whatever food and drink you have (if any).

At Perand Wedang. One of our teaching just giving some guy a quick massage while waiting.

13. Bird Market

The last thing on this list of things to do in Yogyakarta is to go to the bird market.

After the mineral bath we went to Parangkusumo beach (#10 in this list of things to do in Yogyakarta) and then they took us to eat lotak. After that we went to the bird market. I hate cruelty to animals so for me this was pretty horrible. They are not hitting them or anything, just that they are caged up and generally look in a bad way. There’s some exotic species too such as owls, bats, etc., as well as non-bird animals such as dogs, lizards, fish, etc.

Inside the bird market. Looks fine so far, but the cruelty factor goes up as you go further in.

Can you believe that after two weeks of being in Yogyakarta I didn’t see one temple or go to a single waterfall. My plan was to do a temple and a waterfall before flying out but I saw some in Solo so i wasn’t too fussed about it by the time I got back to Yogyakarta.

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Getting To Yogyakarta

You can catch a train from Jakarta or Solo. Buses will probably run from most Javanese cities.

You can fly in.

Accommodation in Yogyakarta

Whilst in Yogyakarta I stayed at Villa Sambal.

Cost: 175000IDR single bed. 1,000,000/week, 3,800,000/month.

Address: Ngadinegara, Mantrijeron III No. 110, Mantrijeron, 55141 Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Villa Sambal is a bit tucked away and is a few km from the center of town, but I definitely recommend to stay here. For me it was (almost) perfect and one of the best accommodations I have stayed at in a long time.

The owner is a lovely multi-lingual Indonesian lady. Upon arrival she gave me tea and local snacks whilst waiting for my room (I arrived very early).

My room was very spacious. It had a desk, private bathroom, fan, and excellent wifi. There was a western toilet but an Indonesian shower, i.e., use a bucket of water, however, the design was amazing and it had hot water! Also, there were stones on the floor of the shower space so you can have a bit of a foot massage at the same time. I’ll be using that idea my house one day.

There is also some nice communal areas. TV room with books also, fully equipped kitchen (including fridge), dining area, tea, coffee, hot and cold drinking water, push-bike, etc. You can purchase soft drinks and beer which uses an honor system because for most of the time the owner is not around.

Negatives

You can hear everything. I mean, the girl across the hall makes a skype call and I can clearly hear everything she says.

There is also the sound of the mosque which wakes you up nice and early, which I like but others may not, although I have a feeling that happens in most places around the city.

Get the very best deal available at the Villa Sambal or any accommodation you choose in Yogyakarta.

How to Get to Villa Sambal

From the airport you will need to take some kind of private transport. Maybe you can do public transport but it will be too much of a mission if you are not familiar with the public transport in Yogyakarta and would not be worth the savings.

Villa Sambal itself offers an airport transfer for 10,000 INR. I used the official airport taxi (from the booth at the airport) and paid 80,000. You can probably get it cheaper from a metered taxi, which I did try to find but all the taxi drivers wanted to charge me 100,000+ .

GoJek would be cheaper (see below).

Other Information About Yogyakarta

There is an app called GoJek (check the play store, or whatever the iphone equivalent is). Basically you use it and can get anything you want (within reason) delivered to or from you via motorbike, including humans. So if you want a massage or food delivered, or if you wan to go somewhere get them to pick you up. It’s like Uber, but more. I only used it for motorbike rides, and I found the rates cheaper than the street price.

I bought a telkomsel simcard with 4gb of internet (3g, 4g, and LTE compatable) for 70,000INR. It lasts one month, unless you use all the data. It does not give you any phonecalls or txt messages, only internet. Ask whoever sells it to you to help set it up as it’s all in Indonesian. You need an Indonesian sim to use GoJek.

Got anything to add to this list of awesome things to do in Yogyakarta? Let us know them (or anything else you want to say) in the comments