Yogyakarta

Borobudur is the world's largest Buddhist temple, a 9th-century Mahayana masterpiece built during the Sailendra dynasty. Rising from the Kedu Plain surrounded by volcanoes, this UNESCO World Heritage Site consists of nine stacked platforms topped by a central dome, decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues.

Prambanan is the largest Hindu temple compound in Indonesia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built in the 9th century, the complex features soaring towers dedicated to the Hindu trinity — Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva — with the central Shiva temple rising 47 metres.

The Merapi Volcano Museum sits on the southwestern slopes of Mount Merapi, Indonesia's most active volcano. Interactive exhibits explain volcanic geology, the monitoring systems used by Indonesia's volcanology agency, and the human impact of Merapi's frequent eruptions.

The Merapi Lava Tour is an off-road jeep adventure through the destruction zone left by Mount Merapi's catastrophic 2010 eruption. Open-top 4x4 vehicles navigate through hardened lava fields, devastated villages, and ash-covered landscapes on the volcano's flanks.

The Kraton of Yogyakarta is the official seat of the reigning Sultan and the cultural heart of the city. Founded in 1755 by Sultan Hamengkubuwono I, this walled palace complex blends Javanese cosmology with European colonial architectural influences and remains a functioning royal court.

Candi Sewu is the second-largest Buddhist temple complex in Java, located about 800 metres north of Prambanan. Its name means 'a thousand temples' — while the actual count is 249, the scale of the compound is staggering, with a grand central temple surrounded by ring after ring of smaller shrines.

Taman Sari is an 18th-century royal garden complex built as a pleasure retreat for Sultan Hamengkubuwono I. Once featuring bathing pools, meditation chambers, and an artificial lake, it now stands as a romantic ruin surrounded by a vibrant artists' kampung famous for batik painting.

The batik workshops in the Taman Sari kampung offer hands-on experience with Indonesia's UNESCO-recognized wax-resist dyeing art form. In open-air studios surrounding the Water Castle ruins, local artisans teach visitors to apply wax with a canting tool and dye their own fabric.

Kotagede is the original capital of the Mataram Sultanate, founded in the 16th century. Today its narrow alleys wind past centuries-old Javanese houses, silver workshops, and the royal cemetery, offering an authentic glimpse into Java's past far from tourist crowds.

The Affandi Museum is dedicated to Indonesia's most celebrated modern painter, housed in his eccentric banana-leaf-shaped former residence and studio along the Gajah Wong River. The collection includes more than 300 of Affandi's expressive paintings alongside works by his daughter Kartika.

Ratu Boko is an 8th-century hilltop archaeological complex offering sweeping views over the Prambanan plain and the distant silhouette of Mount Merapi. The ruins include massive stone gateways, bathing pools, meditation caves, and ceremonial platforms, their purpose still debated by historians.

Candi Mendut is a 9th-century Buddhist temple located 3 km east of Borobudur, housing three magnificent stone statues: a 3-metre seated Vairocana Buddha flanked by the bodhisattvas Avalokitesvara and Vajrapani. It served as the starting point of an ancient pilgrimage route to Borobudur.

Candi Pawon is a small but beautifully decorated Buddhist temple standing midway between Mendut and Borobudur on the ancient pilgrimage route. Its external walls feature some of the finest ornamental stone carving in Java, including celestial beings pouring treasures from overflowing jars.

Malioboro is Yogyakarta's most iconic street, a roughly 1-kilometre stretch running from Tugu monument south toward the Kraton. By day it bustles with batik shops and becak drivers; by night, lesehan street-food mats line the pavement with gudeg, satay, and other Javanese specialities.

Fort Vredeburg is a restored 18th-century Dutch colonial fortress situated at the intersection of Malioboro and the Kraton axis. Now a museum of the Indonesian independence struggle, it features dioramas and exhibits chronicling resistance from colonial oppression through the revolutionary period.

Candi Plaosan is a striking twin-temple complex combining Buddhist and Hindu architectural elements, reflecting the religious harmony between the Sailendra and Sanjaya dynasties. The two main temples — Plaosan Lor (north) and Plaosan Kidul (south) — sit amid rice fields east of Prambanan.

Tugu Yogyakarta is the city's most recognisable landmark, a white pillar monument standing at the northern end of the Kraton's ceremonial axis. It marks the symbolic center of the imaginary line connecting Mount Merapi in the north with the Indian Ocean and Kanjeng Ratu Kidul in the south.

Alun-Alun Kidul (the southern square) is a large public green bordered by two ancient banyan trees, located directly behind the Kraton. It serves as a gathering place and is famous for the masangin challenge — walking blindfolded between the two trees is believed to bring good fortune if you pass between them.

Museum Sonobudoyo is one of Java's most important cultural museums, located on the northern alun-alun facing the Kraton. Its collection spans Javanese, Balinese, and Madurese art, including shadow puppets, keris daggers, gamelan instruments, and Hindu-Buddhist sculptures.

Parangtritis is the most famous and culturally significant beach south of Yogyakarta, where the Indian Ocean crashes onto a dramatic coast of black volcanic sand backed by towering limestone cliffs. According to Javanese mythology, it is the domain of Kanjeng Ratu Kidul, the Queen of the South Seas.