Posts about Experience

Discover authentic Yogyakarta through immersive experience tours designed to connect you with local culture and traditions. Join a hands-on batik course guided by skilled artisans, learn to cook traditional Javanese dishes in an interactive cooking class, and explore vibrant local markets. From village visits and heritage walks to art workshops and cultural performances, each experience offers a deeper understanding of Yogyakarta’s rich history, creativity, and warm community life. Perfect for travelers seeking meaningful, memorable adventures beyond sightseeing.

Places to celebrate New Year’s Eve in Yogyakarta

We’re almost at the end of 2025 and ready to celebrate New Year’s eve of 2026. Here are some famous spots you can go with the crowd to enjoy New Year’s celebration in Yogyakarta.

Tugu, Malioboro and Titik Nol Kilometer
Tugu as the main landmark of Yogyakarta as well as Malioboro and Titik Nol Kilometer have always been the center of New Year’s most visited celebration in the city. You can expect thousands of people jammed for hours to see the performances and also fireworks.

Fireworks over Tugu
HeHa Sky View
Heha will host a spectacular fireworks display for the New Year’s Eve celebrations, titled Heha Hore 2026. Located atop Pathuk Hill with views of Yogyakarta, Heha promises to create a truly magical New Year’s Eve experience full of music, DJ performance and karaoke.
Obelix Sea View
One Night in Alengka Diraja will be the title of Obelix Sea View New Year’s special performance. Based on the story of Ramayana, this performance will give a different vibe of the unforgettable and unique celebration.
Prambanan temple
Prambanan temple offers New Year’s celebration like no other. There will be musical performance from famous Indonesian musicians with the magical Prambanan temple as the backdrop.

What to prepare in Jomblang cave

Jomblang cave has become a unique natural attraction and one of a kind in Indonesia. Foreign tourists from Singapore, Malaysia, China and various European countries visit Jomblang Cave every day. Limited to only 100 people per day, visitors come to look for the heavenly lights.

Visitors descend the cave with a depth of 60 meters and a width of 80 meters using a rope that can withstand a load of 1000 kg and another rope as a safety backup. The experienced Jomblang cave team slowly lower every 2 people then pull you up afterward.

After arriving at the bottom, visitors walk through the darkness of the cave for 300 meters, heading to Grubug Cave where the heavenly light shining down between the gaps in the mouth of the cave.

Here are things that visitors need to prepare:

Compact and comfortable clothing
The muddy and slippery conditions of the cave require clothing that makes you move comfortably.
Eat and drink
You will be in the cave for around 2 hours in a humid and pretty difficult terrain, so having enough food and drink before entering it is necessary.
Flashlight or headlamp
The middle of the cave is completely dark.
Bottled drinking water
Jomblang Cave is very humid inside. This may make visitors easily feel tired and thirsty
Camera or cellphone
A camera or cellphone that has good low-light capabilities will make beautiful photos inside the cave. You surely don’t want to miss a chance to get good pictures with the ray of light shining on you.
Socks
A pair of sock prevent your ankles from being scratched by the boots

Get a Jomblang cave and Pindul cave tour here.

Tips to ride a motorbike in Yogyakarta

Ride a motorbike in Yogyakarta can be fun and challenging at the same time. Yogyakarta used to be called as city of bicycles in the ’80s and ’90s, and now it can reasonably be called as city of motorbikes. So riding a motorbike is pretty challenging due to some reasons.

Firstly, we ride on the left lane like in Japan, UK, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia. For you who live in a country drive on right lane, you may need some time to adjust yourself.

Secondly, some Indonesians don’t really go with the rules. You need to watch the road restlessly and be aware to anything that may come unexpectedly. You can surely blow your horn in this case, while most of the time Yogyakarta people don’t usually do this.

Thirdly, Yogyakarta has beaches like Timang beach and mountains like Merapi which means there some uphill roads. This takes more skill to ride a motorbike, especially when you go downhill. A manual clutch or semi manual motorbike is better than a scooter since it has reliable engine-brake to help you reduce the speed when descending. Last but not least, you better have your driver’s license ready.

Becak : the forgotten public transport

People widely used becak everywhere in Indonesia, especially during 80s and 90s as one of the main public transportations. Throughout South and East Asian countries it is also known as bike taxi, tricycle, trishaw, bikecab. Initially it was all human-powered pedaling, while now it’s becoming more rare to find. Most drivers are now using modified motored.

Traveling with it is fun. You sit in front being able to enjoy the view comfortably with the air breezing through your face. However when raining, you tall fellas should squeeze your body because the its foldable roof is not high enough for you.