Photo: Jakub Hałun (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Indonesia
Yogyakarta
The cultural heart of Java
City · Indonesia
Discover Yogyakarta
Yogyakarta, or Jogja as locals call it, is Java's city of the sultan, crafts and the arts. The sultan's palace, the Kraton, still stands at its centre, surrounded by streets of batik and silver workshops and the busy shopping street of Malioboro.
About 40 km north-west of the city lies Borobudur, a 9th-century Buddhist temple and the largest of its kind in the world; about 17 km to the east is the Hindu temple complex of Prambanan, from the same century. Both have been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1991.
Yogyakarta is a mostly Muslim city, so halal food and mosques are close at hand. Its signature dish is gudeg, young jackfruit slow-cooked in coconut milk. It is about 1 h 15 by domestic flight from Jakarta, or about 7 h by train.
Two nights are enough for the two temples and the palace; three nights leave time for sunrise at Borobudur and an evening performance at Prambanan.
Experiences
What to do here
LandmarkPrambanan temple compoundIndonesia's largest Hindu temple compound, from the 9th century and on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
LandmarkThe Kraton of YogyakartaThe palace of the sultans of Yogyakarta since the 18th century, still the sultan's residence and a centre of Javanese culture.
ShoppingMalioboro StreetYogyakarta's best-known shopping street: batik, crafts, silver and street food.
Indonesia
