The Java, Sulawesi & Bali Tour

Discovering the Extraordinary Islands of Indonesia

Java, Sulawesi & Bali Tour

15 days / 14 Nights

About this Tour

This itinerary includes visits to the two best-known and most often visited islands of Indonesia, Java, and Bali, as well as a visit to the lesser-known but extremely fascinating island of Sulawesi, once known as Celebes.

You will travel to Sulawesi to see the Toraja people, who don’t bury their dead but instead place them in caves with life-size effigies watching over them. It is one of the most unusual places in the world and is also very scenic.

There is a lot to see on this itinerary, but it concludes with 3 nights at a 5-star luxury beach resort in Bali, where you can sit on the beach or lounge by the pool and rest up before your flight home.

As with all our tours, these are private, tailor-made trips that can be changed to meet your particular needs. You can have more touring and less downtime, or less touring and more downtime. The choice is yours.

The Java, Sulawesi & Bali Tour Prices*

2-person private tour
$4,695 per person
(2 people sharing 1 room)

4-person private tour
$4,495 per person
2 rooms (2 people per room)

6-person private small group tour
$4,295 per person
3 rooms (2 people per room)

8-person private small group tour
$4,095 per person
4 rooms (2 people per room)

* Single room supplement for all tours is $595. For example, if two people travel together but each person has his or her own room, the cost is an additional $595. Please note that there is a $225 high-season surcharge for this tour. The high season is July and August.
Included in the tour price:
  • Jeep/4WD for Bromo Tour
  • Train tickets
  • 3 In-Country Flights
  • Meals as mentioned in the itinerary below
  • English-speaking guide and private vehicle
  • Assistance in getting a visa, but not the cost of a visa
  • Entrance fees for all museums and tourist attractions
Not included in the tour price:
  • Tipping
  • Extra beverages
  • Mini Bar at hotels
  • Personal services such as laundry, etc.

Java, Sulawesi & Bali Tour – Day 1

Arrival in Jakarta

Upon your arrival at Jakarta International Airport and clearing customs, you will head over to the Anara Airport Hotel, which is right at the airport.

Indonesia is an archipelagic country in between the Indian and Pacific oceans.

It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Bali, Java, and parts of Borneo that you will be visiting.

  • Overnight at the Anara Airport Hotel

Java, Sulawesi & Bali Tour – Day 2

Jakarta to Yogyakarta

Today will be a very full day, and you’ll need to get an early start. The day will begin with a short (45-minute) domestic flight to Yogyakarta, in Central Java, the cultural heart of Java.

The first site you will be visiting is Kraton, the former home of the Sultan of Yogyakarta, built in the mid-1700s. From Kraton, it is only a short distance to the batik market.

Yogyakarta is a center of batik production, and you can learn something about the process, including the difference between the more commercial ‘stamp’ batik and the more exclusive ‘tulis, or hand-drawn batik.

After some time at the batik market and perhaps some shopping there, it will be time to leave for the major experience of the day, a trip to the Prambanan Temple Complex.

Prambanan Temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is the second-largest Hindu temple in Southeast Asia (next to Angkor Wat). It dates back to the 9th century. Your Yogyakarta tour is structured in such a way that you are able to visit Prambanan and Borobudur on separate days.

The two famous sites are each around a 1-hour drive from Yogyakarta but in completely opposite directions. Seeing them all in one day would be a tourist overload.

Returning to town after visiting Prambanan, you will have time to rest up somewhat at your hotel, which is the beautiful Melia Purosani, an urban resort-style hotel with lush tropical gardens and a lagoon-style swimming pool.

Topping off this full day will be a full Indonesian buffet dinner followed by a performance of the traditional Ramayana Ballet.

  • Overnight the Melia Purosani Hotel
  • Meals: Dinner
Facade of Borobudur Temple

Java, Sulawesi & Bali Tour – Day 3

Yogyakarta to Borobudur

After breakfast, drive to the west of Yogyakarta to visit what is perhaps the most famous single site of your tour, the World Heritage Site of Borobudur.

It is the largest Buddhist temple in the world and dates back to the 9th century.

You will be able to climb up through all nine levels of Borobudur if you decide to do so. After leaving Borobudur, there will be a tour of nearby Candirejo, a traditional Javanese village.

You can travel by bicycle or horse-drawn cart along small lanes lined with typical Javanese houses, stopping to see village activities.

  • Overnight at the Melia Purosani Hotel
  • Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Java, Sulawesi & Bali Tour – Day 4

Yogyakarta – Mojokerto – Mt.Bromo

After an early breakfast, transfer to the train station and board the morning train for Mojokerto. You will enjoy the volcanic landscape of East Java from your executive-class seat on the train.

Upon arrival, you will be picked up at the station and driven to the Bromo area. You will be spending the night at the beautiful Jiwa Jawa Resort, over 6,500 feet above sea level on the slopes of Mt. Bromo.

  • Overnight at the Jiwa Jawa Resort
  • Meals: Breakfast

Java, Sulawesi & Bali Tour – Day 5

Mt. Bromo – Surabaya – Sulawesi

You will have to rise very early today if you want to view the sunset at one of the most spectacular volcanic landscapes in the world.

Leaving your hotel in the early hours, you will travel by jeep and pony cart to the slopes of Mt. Bromo for, we hope, a great sunrise. The view from Penanjakan Hill is otherworldly.

Then it’s time to return to the hotel for breakfast and check out. The next step will be to drive to the Surabaya airport for your flight to Makassar on the island of Sulawesi.

Upon arrival, you will be met at the airport and driven to your hotel, the Rinra, which is a very nice, upscale place.

Dinner at your hotel or at a local restaurant if you are a seafood fan. Makassar has some of the best seafood in the world. After dinner, you might want to take a walk near the waterfront, where you can see the unique boats of the local Bugis people, who are well known as sailors and shipbuilders.

  • Overnight at the Rinra Hotel in Makassar
  • Meals: Breakfast, and Dinner

Java, Sulawesi & Bali Tour – Day 6

Makassar to Toraja Land

After breakfast, it will be time to set out on the drive to Toraja Land. This will take up most of the afternoon, and it will be a very scenic and interesting trip.

You will first pass through the territory of the Bugis people, where you will be able to visit one of the local houses built on piles.

There will be time to make some more stops en route for photos and sightseeing.

Late in the afternoon, you will reach the entrance to Tana Toraja (Toraja Land) and enter one of the most fascinating and lesser-known places on earth.

Upon arrival at your destination, check into the Misiliana Hotel, built in traditional Toraja style and unlike any hotel that you have ever stayed at before.

Dinner and overnight at the Misiliana Hotel in a Tongkonan suite, an authentic Toraja traditional house built in 1746 and moved to the hotel to be used as a guest room. Enjoy this in a house with a magnificent garden and mountain view.

  • Overnight at the Misiliana Hotel
  • Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Java, Sulawesi & Bali Tour – Day 7

Exploring Toraja Land

The Toraja people are famous for their unique funeral and burial customs. We will spend the next two days of the tour seeing as much as we can of this fascinating area. After breakfast, the exploration will begin with a visit to Palawa, the oldest additional Toraja village. Palawa is filled with old Tongkonan houses, traditional houses in the shape of the bow and stern of a boat.

From there, we continue on to Batutumonga, a mountainous area with fantastic scenery and terraced rice fields. On the way there, you can visit the rock graves unique to this area.

There will also be time for lunch at a local restaurant as well as an easy walk through the beautiful countryside.

  • Overnight at the Misiliana Hotel
  • Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Java, Sulawesi & Bali Tour – Day 8

Exploring Toraja Land

There are two main reasons to visit Toraja Land: the unique boat-shaped traditional houses and the graves and effigies built into the sides of cliffs. Today will be devoted to exploring both of these unusual things.

After breakfast, we will visit the village of Lemo, with its many cliff gravesites. Your guide will tell you all about Toraja funerals and burial practices. If you are really fortunate, your visit may coincide with a Toraja funeral, but this, of course, cannot be guaranteed. You will also get to see Tampang Allo, a cave gravesite. After lunch, there will be a visit to another important Toraja site, the village of Londa.

What you see in the photos above are not the dead, but effigies of the dead standing on a balcony carved into the cliffside. The final stop of the day is the village of Ketekesu, which has many traditional houses.

  • Overnight at the Misiliana Hotel
  • Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Java, Sulawesi & Bali Tour- Day 9

Toraja Land – Makassar – Bali

After breakfast today, it will be time to drive back to Makassar for your flight to Bali. You will be arriving at the Makassar airport in time to catch your Bali flight.

The flight itself takes around an hour. Upon arrival in Bali, you will be met at the airport and driven to the art center of Bali, the town of Ubud, where you will check into one of the most beautiful hotels anywhere, the Komaneka Bisma Resort, and where you will have a very spacious Bisma suite.

  • Overnight at the Komaneka Bisma Resort
  • Meals: Breakfast and Dinner
Woman Standing in Front of Flowing Water in Bali, Indonesia

Java, Sulawesi & Bali – Day 10

Exploring Bali

Today will be devoted to seeing some of the most interesting parts of the island of Bali. This will be a very full day with a lot to see. A string of 8,000-foot mountains and volcanoes (some of which are active) cut through Bali from east to west. The scenery is spectacular. The terraced rice fields, using every inch of available space and watered by bamboo pipes, are a particular favorite of ours.

After breakfast, the tour will begin with a visit to a beautiful traditional Balinese village, Penglipuran.

Our next stop is the 11th-century temple complex of Gunung Kawi, where 10 niched shrines are cut into the sheer face of a cliff. (‘Gunung’ means ‘mountain’ in the Indonesian language.)

We then drive to the Tirta Empul water temple. Tirta Empul is a Hindu-Balise water temple. The temple compound consists of a bathing structure, famous for its holy spring water, where Balinese Hindus go for ritual purification. The temple is very active, so you will be able to observe the worshippers as they perform their rituals.

Our next visit will be to the town of Kintamani, up in the mountains and situated inside the huge caldera of Lake Batur.

On your way down the mountain and back to Ubud, we will stop to see the Tegalalang Rice Terrace, a huge, lush rice terrace where you will be able to walk among the rice fields and get a close-up view of the ancient traditional Balinese system of irrigation (subak).

Dinner will be at Café Lotus, a very nice local restaurant in Ubud.

  • Overnight at the Komaneka Bisma Resort
  • Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Java, Sulawesi & Bali – Day 11

Bali Tour Continued

After breakfast, we continue our tour of Bali, starting with a drive to the village of Bedugul, which is situated on a high mountain lake.

Bedugul is famous for being the home of the Ulun Danu Bratan Temple, one of the most famous and striking temples in Bali. It is located on the shores of Lake Bratan.

Next, there will be a visit to the Jatiluwih Rice Terrace, the oldest rice terrace in Bali and one that is actually a Unesco World Heritage Site.

The last stop of the day will be at Tanah Lot, a famous water temple built on a rock formation out in the ocean. It is an important place of Hindu pilgrimage.

  • Overnight at the Komaneka Bisma Resort
  • Meals: Breakfast, and Dinner

Java, Sulawesi & Bali – Day 12

Bali Tour Continued

After breakfast, our first stop today is the Besakih Temple, known as the mother temple, the largest and most important religious site of Balinese Hinduism.

Our second stop today will be at the Tirta Gangga Water Palace, the former palace of the local king. Its waters are considered sacred and are used for both recreation and irrigation.

Upon returning to Ubud but before going back to your hotel, we’ll stop at the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, which is in Ubud not too far from your hotel. This temple is devoted to and essentially owned by monkeys. They are not in cages but just wander around, trying to get food from the many tourists.

The monkeys are very tame, but don’t be surprised if they jump on your shoulder or even put their hands in your pockets looking for food. You can buy food to feed the monkeys yourself. But be careful about keeping anything of value in your pockets (seriously).

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  • Overnight at the Komaneka Bisma Resort
  • Meals: Breakfast, and Dinner

Java, Sulawesi & Bali – Day 13

Nusa dua beach

After breakfast, your itinerary will take you to Nusa Dua (the Two Islands) on the south side of Bali. You will be checking into your new hotel, the luxurious Melia Bali Resort, where you will enjoy a premier garden-view room.

Nusa Dua is a luxury resort area. Formerly fairly isolated, it has become more built-up and “touristy” in the past 20 years after becoming world-famous in 1986 as the area where Ronald Reagan stayed on his visit to Indonesia.

The Melia Bali Resort features five restaurants, a large lagoon swimming pool, and a landscaped tropical garden. It is located along the shores of Nusa Dua Beach. The hotel features complimentary resort activities ranging from canoeing, paddle surfing, bicycling, archery, and various daily kid activities.

  • Overnight at the Melia Bali Resort
  • Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Java, Sulawesi & Bali – Day 14

Nusa Dua Beach – Continued

You have the whole day free to enjoy all the available activities at your resort hotel. You can also just relax on the beach or by the pool. But if you feel that you need more sightseeing, it will be possible to arrange some excursions.

  • Overnight at the Melia Bali Resort
  • Meals: Dinner

Java, Sulawesi & Bali – Day 15

End of Tour & Departure

After breakfast, you have free time until you are transported to the airport for your flight home.

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