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A traveller on the rim of the Ijen crater looking over its milky-green acid lake and rising sulphur steam, East Java

Sample journey · 12–15 days

Through Java's volcanoes to the Toraja highlands

Yogyakarta, Bromo, Ijen, Makassar & Tana Toraja on Sulawesi

Photo: Polina Kuzovkova / Unsplash

Illustrative journey ideas — not bookable packages. No prices, dates or accommodation are implied.

This is an Indonesia with nothing of the resort about it. The first half is Java: Yogyakarta, often called its cultural capital, with 9th-century temples and batik workshops, and further east a chain of volcanoes. The Bromo caldera at dawn and the turquoise lake of the Ijen crater ask for early mornings and a little stamina, and repay both generously.

The second half is Tana Toraja, a mountain region on the island of Sulawesi. Here stand the tongkonan, houses with boat-shaped roofs; rice terraces climb the slopes; and funeral traditions, graves carved into cliffs and the honouring of the dead remain a living part of community life. It is a place to visit slowly, with a guide who helps you understand what you are seeing and reminds you where curiosity ends and privacy begins. The pace, the length of the walks and the stays would be shaped around you.

The route

The journey

  1. Yogyakarta
  2. Bromo
  3. Ijen
  4. Makassar
  5. Tana Toraja
  6. Makassar
  1. The spire of Prambanan temple in the evening dusk, seen through the foliage, Yogyakarta

    01Days 1–3 · Yogyakarta

    Temples and batik patterns

    After the long flight, a few unhurried days in Yogyakarta. Borobudur and the villages around it can be explored by bicycle among the rice fields, while Prambanan, a Hindu temple compound of soaring spires, is best visited late in the day as the light softens. In the city, it is worth calling at the sultan's palace, the silversmiths' quarter of Kotagede and a batik workshop, where patterns drawn in wax slowly become cloth.

  2. The Bromo volcano and the Tengger caldera in morning light above a sea of cloud, with Semeru in the distance

    02Days 4–5 · Bromo

    Sunrise over the sea of sand

    A long travel day east, by train or a short flight to Surabaya and then a drive up into the cool Tengger highlands. The night is spent near the caldera rim, where nights can be genuinely cold. Before dawn you head to a viewpoint to watch Bromo, the cone of Batok and, in the distance, smoking Semeru emerge from the cloud. Later you can cross the Sea of Sand and climb the steps to the very edge of the steaming crater.

  3. The turquoise acid lake of the Ijen crater, with sulphur steam above its rocky walls

    03Days 6–7 · Ijen

    A night walk to a turquoise lake

    Through coffee plantations to the Ijen plateau at the eastern tip of Java. The walk to the crater rim begins in darkness: about three kilometres of increasingly steep path, roughly an hour and a half to two hours. At first light you see the turquoise acid lake and the sulphur steam through which local workers still carry heavy loads of sulphur. The gas can be harsh, so your guide will provide a mask and decide how far it is sensible to go that morning.

  4. A farmer leading a water buffalo along a lane between green rice fields, Tana Toraja

    04Days 8–9 · Makassar & the road to the highlands

    From the harbour to the rice fields

    A flight from East Java (usually via Surabaya) to Makassar, Sulawesi's largest city. The evening is for the old Dutch fort and the seafront, where the sun sets over the Makassar Strait; in the morning you might visit Paotere harbour, still busy with wooden pinisi schooners. Then comes a long but scenic drive north, until the plain becomes mountains and the road begins to wind between rice fields and the first tongkonan.

  5. A row of traditional tongkonan houses with boat-shaped roofs in Kete Kesu, Tana Toraja

    05Days 10–12 · Tana Toraja

    Houses that hold memory

    Several days with a local guide among the villages around Rantepao. In Kete Kesu and Palawa, the tongkonan are decorated with carvings and buffalo horns that tell the story of each family. At Lemo and Londa, graves are carved into the cliffs and watched over by wooden tau-tau figures, and at Kambira stands a tree where infants were once laid to rest. Funerals here belong to families, not visitors: a guest may sometimes be invited if the guide knows the family, but they involve animal sacrifice and are never a spectacle. We don't plan a journey around them.

  6. Hands weaving a patterned cloth on a traditional loom, Tana Toraja

    06Days 13–14 · Batutumonga & Sa'dan

    Terraces, mist and looms

    The last Toraja days are spent higher in the mountains. From Batutumonga, footpaths descend past rice terraces and bamboo groves into the valley, with mist lying low in the mornings. Around Sa'dan, women still weave on traditional looms, and you can quietly watch the patterns take shape. Then it's the road back to Makassar and the flight home, usually via Jakarta or Bali.

Experience highlights

  1. 01

    Prambanan late in the day

    The spires of a Hindu temple compound in soft evening light, once the crowds have thinned.

  2. 02

    The Bromo caldera at dawn

    Volcanic cones rising from a sea of cloud, then a walk across the Sea of Sand to the crater rim.

  3. 03

    The rim of the Ijen crater

    A pre-dawn walk and a turquoise acid lake at first light, with a guide who keeps an eye on the gas and the weather.

  4. 04

    Toraja villages with a guide

    Tongkonan houses, cliff graves and terraces, explained respectfully and without hurry.

First, we listen. Then, we explore what's possible.

Make it your own

  • Fewer early starts

    Choose just one volcano, Bromo, and swap the night walk at Ijen for a quiet day in the coffee plantations.

  • More walking in Toraja

    A multi-day walk from village to village with a local guide, staying in simple guesthouses.

  • Less time on the road

    When flights from Makassar to Toraja are operating, the long drive can be replaced by a short flight in at least one direction.

  • With the sea at the end

    After the mountains, a few days by the sea in South Sulawesi or on Bali, or onward to Raja Ampat.

Practical considerations

  • The dry season on Java and Sulawesi usually runs from around May to October, but rain and mist are possible in the mountains at any time; nights around Bromo and Ijen are cold, so warm layers are essential.
  • Access to Bromo and Ijen depends on volcanic activity and local authority decisions: trails are sometimes closed for short or longer periods, so the route is confirmed against the latest information.
  • Sulphur gas in the Ijen crater can be dangerous, especially for anyone with asthma or heart conditions; it's worth asking a doctor for advice beforehand, and always following your guide on the day.
  • In Toraja, the graves and villages you visit with a local guide are places of living communities: photographs only with permission, and ceremonies only by invitation.

General guidance only. Seasons, weather and wildlife are never guaranteed, and travel requirements are always worth checking before you go.

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