Usually people get to Yogyakarta by Plane, arrived at adi sucipto airport, try to look for an airport taxi (they will not give you an extra charge because you are foreigner).
Before getting to Yogyakarta you really SHOULD book your losemen/hotel/motel in advance, because Yogyakarta is visited by tourists all year long. I suggest you to look up to book hotel closed to Malioboro. THERE ARE SO MANY OF THEM FROM THE CHEAPEST ONE - MOST PRICY ONE
if your budget is $11-$20 ($1= Rp 9500) google for trim hotel
if your budget is $21-$40 look for HOTEL JENTRA, HOTEL AMARIS, HOTEL MUTIARA
if your budget is more than than look for IBIS, PHOENIX HOTEL , SANTIKA HOTEL.
In one day I suggest you to :
Go through Malioboro
Visit vredenburg
kraton
Alun alun kidul
Okay, Malioboro is the center of Yogyakarta, also the center of tourism . Malioboro is a street name. it's special because on the side street for almost 1 km there are so many sellers, they sell mostly batik (Indonesian clothes, and souvenirs) DON'T FORGET TO BARGAIN , and WATCH YOU STUFFS OUT, sometimes there are pick pocket. If you get tired of walking take the becak or andong to get you to kraton, museums. for andong usually the fare is Rp 25000 and for becak is RP 15000, most of the time they will wait for you when you are inside kraton , museum. For alun alun kidul you should go here at night, there is no attraction in the afternoon
Yogyakarta is known for their cheap living cost, eating is also cheap
Local food is called GUDEG, you can find it anywhere in Yogyakarta, but if you wanna try a good one, take becak from Malioboro, and ask him to take you to wijilan (center of gudeg)
Malioboro
kraton
go here before 3 pm so you can get in, visit the carriage museum next to kraton. The entrance fee is not expensive dont worry
alun alun kidul at night
this is a place to be at night, this is where people gathered, friends, family, all in one place. there are several games that you can enjoy. first is the bike just like the picture. This bike shouldnt take more than Rp 30000 so, bargain hard. or in the middle of alun alun kidul there are two trees. The myth is , if you can pass through these two trees with eye closed from certain distance, you wishes will be granted. It is a myth but there is nothing wrong to get closer to local right
II. Visit ullen sentalu museum and merapi, the volcano
After you finished you malioboro-kraton-alun alun kidul tour, you will be going a bit far from malioboro to find another place.
You can rent a car with the driver, or you can rent a car without a driver, or another option is rent a motor bike . (I dont suggest you to take public transportation, it is rare, and it will take a lots of your time)
Rent a car : Rp 200.000 + Rp 75.000 (for driver)/ day
Rent a motor bike : Rp 50.000 /day (you have to have international license, they will ask you to leave at least 3 of your id car as a guarantee )
for motor bike rent, to easies you to go every where, you really should have your google maps on , other wise you will just get lost.
to get closer to the volcano you should go at 6am, so when you can get up there the mountain is still clear and not covered by clouds. This picture below was taket at 6PM , it is so rare to still see the volcano at that time, I only saw it once at 6pm and my bf took this picture (picture from jalan kaliurang km 9)
After you see the volcano closer you should plan to visit ullen sentalu museum it is not really far from the volcano (located on Jalan Kaliurang km 28 ). This museum used to be a private museum, but now it is open for public, from 9 am - 4 pm , but IT'S CLOSED ON MONDAY, entrance fee is Rp 25.000. There is no picture of their collection since photograph is not allowed inside.
III. Borobudur
Who does not know borobudur , it's a buddhist temple . really big and pretty
it's about 1,5-2 hours from Yogyakarta, but it's worth it.
you should go here in the morning though..
tips : bring food from outside, prepare lots of drinks, and wear glasses, hat , or umbrella
when you get inside, I suggest you to rent the couple bike, it's fun, also after visiting the temple, you can go to museums (still inside teh are of borobudur temple).
IV. Parang Tritis
This is a beach that famous for the myht. DONT WEAR GREEN WHEN YOU VISIT, this is a myth but you should respect local belief.
Beaches along southern yogyakarta is not a beach for swim, or surfing, or sun bathing, so you go there just to look , or play atv enjoying the view , other beaches are a bit further (sundak beach, indrayanti beach, they are located in a place called wonosari, it takes 2 hours to get here).
You should pack Parang tritis and PRAMBANAN in one day to save the time.
Prambanan is a Hindu temple , the temple is known for it's story called Ramayana
you might get to prambanan after noon, but that is okay, also plan to see RAMAYANA BALLET (it requires you to reserve first so google and give it a call) the show is still in prambanan area . Ramayana will be showed around 7 or 8 pm, so the best time to get to Prambanan is around 4 pm, means you dont have to wait too long before the show starts
One more to do in Yogyakarta is Cave tubing
it's located in wonosari, basically what you are doing is tubing in a slow river, and pass through fev stalactite cave :D
open this http://kalisucicavetubing.blogspot.com/search/label/Contact%20Us and give them a call before you take off, because if the day before was raining they will closed the place due the rain
Have fun in Yogyakarta !!!!!! :D
If you get lost or confused feel free to comment
