How To Visit Borobudur Temple – Budget Travel In Indonesia

Visit Borobudur Temple, Indonesia to experience the world’s largest Buddhist temple. Built in the 8th and 9th century, it is a must-visit for travellers in the Yogyakarta region.

Borobudur Temple is located to the north-west of Yogyakarta city. We had already visited the Prambanan Temple the previous day using public transport to get there and saving a lot of money. Thanks to some tips from a chap who approached us on the street a few days previous, we decided to use public transport again to get to Borobudur Temple.

How To Get To Borobudur Temple

Bororbudur Temple is further away from Yogyakarta than Prambanan and is, therefore, more expensive. However, by using public transport instead of an organised tour, we managed to save approximately 200,000 IDR per person.

First of all, we had to get to ‘Terminal Jombor’ (map). We were able to take a bus from near our hotel and it passed through the Malioboro area. Wherever you are located, Google Maps will know how to get you to Jombor. All journeys on public buses cost 3,500 IDR.

The next part of the journey is not on Google Map. We got off the bus at Jombor, and there were plenty of drivers telling us where to go next. It’s almost as if they knew we were tourists trying to get to Borobudur! Annother bus would take us to the temple. These buses leave every 30 minutes (on the hour and half past) and cost 25,000 IDR.

The bus dropped us at a station approximately 15 minutes walk from the temple. Once again, locals pointed the way. We walked through the market and turned left. After about 10 minutes, we noticed the signs telling us to turn right.

The whole journey took around 2.5 hours.

Borobudur Temple

As we had planned to visit both Borobudur and Prambanan, we bought a combined ticket for 630k. Buying a combined ticket saves you money but you have to visit the temples on consecutive days. You cannot use the combination ticket to visit the temples during the sunrise/sunset hours.

Unlike Prambanan, where there are lots of different sized temples, Borobudur is one big temple. And it is VERY big!

Apparently, if you walk clockwise around its three layers, it will bring you good luck. Wanting to get our money’s worth, we walked around every layer possible! I hope that means we will get MORE luck!

Up close, you get to see just how much detail went into creating this massive temple.

The views got better the higher you climbed.

After we reached the top and had our photos taken with tourists from ‘Solo’, we climbed back down to explore the rest of the park. We visited a museum and even saw some elephants!

On leaving the park, we had some food in one of the many market stalls you have to find your way through to find the exit.

Is Borobudur Temple Worth Visiting?

Borobudur is an incredible temple in peaceful surroundings. It is a must-see when in the Yogyakarta region. I recommend spending a day here and a day at Prambanan Temple if you have the time. This means you can have a relaxing day rather than cramming it all into one day.