Yogyakarta walking tour & city guide

The Kraton and Malioboro

The Kraton, the sultan's palace, is a complex of pavilions where you can see gamelan music and classical dance. Nearby, the Taman Sari Water Castle was a royal garden with bathing pools and underground passages.

Malioboro Street is the city's lively main street, lined with batik shops, street vendors and becak rickshaws. In the evening, food stalls called lesehan let you eat sitting on mats on the sidewalk.

Borobudur and Prambanan

Borobudur, about an hour away, is the largest Buddhist temple in the world, built in the 9th century with thousands of carved reliefs and bell-shaped stupas. Prambanan, a group of tall Hindu temples, is just east of the city and hosts the Ramayana ballet on an open-air stage.

A day in Yogyakarta

Get up very early for Borobudur. Climbing the terraces of the world's largest Buddhist monument at sunrise, as the mist lifts from the surrounding volcanoes, is one of the great experiences of Southeast Asia. Visits to the upper levels are now managed with timed tickets, so book ahead.

Back in the city, visit the Kraton, the sultan's palace, and the nearby Taman Sari water castle, whose underground passages lead to an old mosque. In the late afternoon, take a short trip to Prambanan for its tall Hindu temples, then end on Malioboro Street, buzzing with street food and becak rickshaws.

Good to know

Yogyakarta is the cultural heart of Java and a great place to see batik making, gamelan music and shadow puppet shows. Many workshops let you try batik yourself.

Try gudeg, the city's signature dish of jackfruit slowly cooked in palm sugar and coconut milk. The dry season from April to October is the best time for temple visits.