How do I get around Yogyakarta?

Gojek and Grab are the whole system for a first-time visitor to Yogyakarta. Download both before you land and link a card to at least one of them. A GoCar or GrabCar from Jalan Malioboro to the Prawirotaman cafe strip usually costs Rp 20,000 to 30,000, which is roughly US$1.10 to $1.70 at 17,795 rupiah to the dollar. The bike versions, GoRide and GrabBike, cost about half that. They're also faster when traffic backs up on Jalan Mataram at 5pm. Drivers can't always stop on the pedestrianised stretch of Malioboro itself, so walk to a side street such as Jalan Sosrowijayan and drop your pin there. On 24 September it was 35.8°C and humidity sat at 26%. In that heat, a 15-minute walk between the Kraton and Taman Sari has you sweating through your shirt, and an air-conditioned Rp 15,000 ride is worth it.

The airport is the first thing that catches people out. Yogyakarta International Airport (YIA) sits in Kulon Progo, about 45 km west of the city, not in town. The KAI airport train runs from the terminal to Tugu Station in about 40 minutes and costs around Rp 20,000. Tugu is a 5-minute walk from the north end of Malioboro. Buy the ticket at the machines in the arrivals hall or in the KAI Access app, and don't book the Rp 200,000-plus taxi that the arrivals-hall desks push. A Grab from YIA to Prawirotaman takes 60 to 90 minutes and costs less than those desks charge, and still loses to the train unless your hotel is far from Tugu. A few smaller domestic flights may still use the old Adisutjipto airport (JOG), about 8 km east of the centre, so check your boarding pass.

For Prambanan, the KRL Commuter Line from Tugu to Solo is the right call. It costs about Rp 8,000, stops at Brambanan station in roughly 20 minutes, and you pay by tapping a bank card: Mandiri e-money or BCA Flazz both work. From the platform it's about 1.5 km to the gate of the Hindu complex, which dates to 850. Take a GoRide for that last stretch; the road has almost no shade. Borobudur, 40 km northwest, has no rail line. The answer there is a hired car with driver, around Rp 500,000 to 700,000 for the day. Book a sunrise Borobudur run and add Prambanan in the afternoon: one fare, no bus timetables. Trans Jogja buses charge a flat Rp 3,600, but the routes are hard to read and the shelters sit on raised platforms in full sun. Most first-timers should skip them.

Treat the rest of what's on the street with caution. Becak drivers along Malioboro who offer a Rp 10,000 tour around the Kraton, the palace compound dating to 1756, often end the ride at a batik gallery that pays them commission. Agree on a destination, not a tour, or walk away. The andong horse carts near Pasar Beringharjo smell of hay and dung and clop loudly over the asphalt. Ride one for the photo, not for transport. Scooter rental runs about Rp 70,000 to 100,000 a day, but police checkpoints near Tugu Yogyakarta ask foreigners for an International Driving Permit with a motorcycle endorsement, and the fine is paid on the spot. Walking works on the redeveloped Malioboro promenade and inside the Kraton walls. Elsewhere, the gutters are open and parked motorbikes block the pavement.