Borneo/Java holiday summer 2027

[needhelpprocrastination]

I posted this as a comment on an older thread but realised it was more sensible to make my own.

We are thinking of the following itinerary for a family with a mix of teens and twenties kids plus us and would appreciate any comments on the plan and any further suggestions on operators for tours or accomodation. It would need to be in school summer holidays.

London to Jakarta (1 night there because of flight times)

Flight to Tanjung Puting then a 4 day/ 3 night klotok along the river and to the orangutan/wildlife/conservation areas

Flight back to Semarang then travel to Jepara (probably with a 1 night transfer in either place as a buffer built in for flight delays or ferry issues the next day)

Ferry from Jepara to Karimunjawa for 8 night stay on the islands to snorkel and chill

Transfer via Jepara to Yogyakarta for 4 nights (borabador, prambanan, night markets etc)

2 nights in Malang (with waterfalls - Coban Rondo and/or Tumpak Sewu?) either by car or train. This breaks up the long drive from Yogya to Bromo

Overnight near Mount Bromo crater then pick up at 2am for sunrise trek, back to hotel for a shower and breakfast

Drive (or bus and train?) to Surabaya from Bromo for 2 nights chill before flying home

All thoughts or recommendations welcome. We wanted a real mix of wildlife, nature, temples, a proper white sand beach break and adventure. Thanks

IMO four nights is too long in Yogyakarta- it’s a bit of a dump although Borabador etc are worth visiting as is Merapi.

That’s good to know. If we have a long travel day from the islands there, that would be night one. So thought prambanan and that area the following day and then a sunrise borabador on day 2 which gives us one more day there before leaving. Looking at our route, is there anything else you’d add in instead or extend? Need to look up merapi.

@needhelpprocrastination we ended up with 3 nights instead of 4 in yogyakarta (thanks Emirates 🙄) so did Prambanan and Borobudur in one day (had originally planned one per day) which was straightforward. We did a batik workshop which was really good (look on Seek Sophie.com).
Personally I'd leave your beach flop days to the end, but I haven't checked a map to see how that work.
Train and taxi transfer from yogyakarta to bromo was straightforward, as was sunrise hike without a tour. Amazing views. Back for breakfast. Then walk to crater. Back for shower and checkout. Then taxi to Surabaya.
It's a brilliant and diverse country. We loved it.

Fantastic, thank you! Who did you book your tours and private cars with? We were originally going to finish with the beach but the flow just seems to work better this way. Like the idea of a batik workshop so will look that up, too. Which area in Yogya did you stay in and would you recommend it? Thanks for the tips

Just looked up Seek Sophie and some great tours on there. Thanks

@needhelpprocrastination I got ideas there then booked directly.
A cooking class went down well with mine during our 'chill' days.

I have only done bits of your itinerary, but when we visited we did spend 4 nights in and around Yogyakarta. We had a day to look around the city, a second day where we spent a lot of time around Prambanan, it appears we went to 3 different temple complexes around there. The main temple at Prambanan, and also Plaosan lor and Sojiwan and I think there was at least one more temple complex we didn't see. We did Borobudur on a separate day to Prambanan. I loved Borobudur, it's still one of my favourite places.

Good idea to research there and then book direct. My kids will also love a cooking class so that;s been added to the list. Thanks!

Fantastic, thank you. That was the sort of pace I was thinking.