Famous Landmarks in Indonesia: 8 Sites Worth Seeing
Eight days across three islands of the world's largest archipelago: Java for the ninth-century Buddhist and Hindu monuments that outrank anything in the region, then east Bali for volcanoes, water temples, and rice terraces away from the beach crowds, and finally Lombok for the coastline Bali had thirty years ago. See the full itinerary.
From the same hand-researched library as our Indonesia itinerary. Last reviewed 2026-08-08.
Yogyakarta
The cultural heart of Java and still a sultanate with a working palace. It is the base for two of the great monuments of Asia, built within a century of each other by rival Buddhist and Hindu dynasties, and a university city with batik workshops, silversmiths, and gamelan you can actually go and hear.
1
Borobudur
The largest Buddhist monument on earth, built around 800 AD, buried by volcanic ash and rediscovered in 1814. Its 504 Buddhas and two thousand relief panels form a walkable path to enlightenment. Access to the upper terraces is capped and guided since 2023, so book ahead.
Yogyakarta
2
Prambanan
A ninth-century Hindu complex of soaring trident-topped towers dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma, built as a rival answer to Borobudur. The Ramayana ballet performed here on summer evenings is the good kind of tourist thing.
Yogyakarta
3
Kraton (Sultan's Palace)
The still-occupied palace of Yogyakarta's sultan, staffed by court retainers in traditional dress, with gamelan and dance performances most mornings.
Yogyakarta
4
Taman Sari Water Castle
The eighteenth-century royal bathing complex and its underground mosque, half ruin and half neighbourhood, with people living among the walls.
Yogyakarta
East and Central Bali
The half of Bali the beach crowds skip: the volcanic caldera at Batur, the mother temple at Besakih on Agung's slopes, and the Sidemen valley, which is what Ubud looked like before Ubud became Ubud. Working rice terraces, water temples, and black-sand diving on the east coast.
5
Besakih, the Mother Temple
Bali's holiest and largest temple complex, a rising series of courtyards and split gates on Mount Agung's slope. It survived the 1963 eruption when lava ran either side of it, which Balinese take as no accident.
East and Central Bali
6
Ulun Danu Beratan
The lake temple that floats on the water at Bedugul when the level is high, dedicated to the goddess of the waters that irrigate the whole island.
East and Central Bali
7
Tirta Gangga
A former royal water palace of stepping-stone pools and fountains, rebuilt after Agung's eruption. Small, strange, and lovely late in the day.
East and Central Bali
Lombok and the Gilis
Bali's eastern neighbour: drier, quieter, predominantly Muslim, and built around Indonesia's second-highest volcano. The south coast has wide empty bays, and the three Gili islands offshore ban motor vehicles entirely, so transport is bicycle, horse cart, or your feet.
8
Sade traditional village
A Sasak village of thatched houses and woven-grass granaries, still lived in, where floors are traditionally packed with buffalo dung. Guided visits support the community.
Lombok and the Gilis
Museums, parks, and neighborhoods are on the full Indonesia itinerary, sequenced into a realistic day-by-day plan with transport between cities.
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