i spend 1 night in Solo and 3 night in jogja.. i went there with my family, kinda do-it-myself travel arrangement. our flight by kl-solo as we get very cheap rate during airasia promo, only rm200 return for 6pax.   

for traveling, i just rented a big van for 3days that cost us only rm400.. the driver was very nice, and he bring us to all attraction and any place that we want to go, even he did not charge for extra hours..

for hotel, ibis solo and ibis malioboro in jogja is highly recommended as it location was very strategic.. ibis malioboro is just beside a shopping mall and in front of shopping street of malioboro, so you will have no problem to shop for souveniours or looking for eating places.

our itinerary :

day 1 :
- reach solo airport at noon and transfer to our hotel by taxi (only rp55k to town)
- after check-in we went to pasar klewer by taxi (only rp15k). not recommended place to shop for batik although very cheap, the quality is lousy. cannot stand the messy condition inside the market.    . we didn't buy anything there. masjid agung and keraton just beside the market.
- we went to kampung batik to a shop named batik benteng. very good batik sold here.
- try nasi gudeg.. very nice

day 2 :
- 7am our driver already pick us to pasar triwundi antique market and keraton mangkunegara, palace opened to public while the ruler still lived inside.
- check-out and proceed to jogja, 1.5 hour journey.
- stop at prambanan temple. luckily my little sisters bring their student card, so pay only half of the entrance ticket.
- lunch bebek gulai, visit silver shop at kota gede (cheap silver jewellery) before check-in to hotel

day 3 :
- 6am our driver already pick us at the hotel. went to kampung batik for batik shopping.
- visited keraton yogyakarta.
- 1hour journey to borobudur. once again, half price entrance ticket for student   
- on the way back, visit the leftover from the recent merapi erruption
- spent remaining evening with batik shopping.
- night, walk along the malioboro shopping street.

day 4 :
- free n easy day. spent walking around malioboro area until pasar brinjo.. n shopping

day 5 :
- check-out morning as our driver pick us at 7.30
- last minutes city tour before proceeding to solo airport of 1.5hour journey.
- afternoon return flight. need to pay rp100k per person airport tax.

hope the above can help u guys for your upcoming travel   

Wow..so many people going to jogja..I went there around this june last year.

If you wanna go to merapi,makesure u go there in the morning..n if it juz rained,u will most likely will not see the top of the mountain.

U dunt have prob on transportation there. When u arrived at the airport,there are people that rent their vehicle and it is cheap. Ask them to provdie you with driver. Last time I rent an innova with a driver for 2 full days n it only cost us aroung rm50 per person if i'm not mistaken..there are 8 of us.

For further information, go to yogyes.com  there are tonnes of information there that i used before going there. It helps alot. They also have numbers for really cheap hotel there. I recommend that you stay along malioboro street as most activities are there..

I'll upload some of my photos later..juz to poison all of you..hehe

I did a 4d/3n tour in 2008.
I went via Solo cos ticket was cheaper.
I stayed near Borobudur for 2 nights and 1 night in Solo.
I used this travel agency in Jogja: yogyatours
Stay in Jogja, travel to Borobudur, Merapi, Solo, Prambanan and back to Jogja
Or stay 1st night in Jogja, 2nd night in Solo and 3rd night in Jogja again.
Shopping at Marioboro St. in Jogja, market near Palace in Solo

Best to hire a van for 8 people - cheaper and more convenient.
Should be able to do it once you're there, through hotel.
Hope it helps

yup.. i rent the vehicle together with driver, and the cost also cover the parking fees and petrol.. actually we only required vehicle that can fit 6pax of us, but they give us a large van that even can fit 9pax with baggage space at  same price of small van quoted by others. just pm me if you want his contact detail..

we stayed at ibis malioboro.. quite cheap as we got discount from website promotion.. normal rate will be around rm160++. room quite big to fit 3person.. highly recommended for the convenient and location.. shopping complex connected to the hotel, malioboro street just in front of hotel, and a lot of eating places around the hotel..

i spend 1 night in Solo and 3 night in jogja.. i went there with my family, kinda do-it-myself travel arrangement. our flight by kl-solo as we get very cheap rate during airasia promo, only rm200 return for 6pax.   

for traveling, i just rented a big van for 3days that cost us only rm400.. the driver was very nice, and he bring us to all attraction and any place that we want to go, even he did not charge for extra hours..

for hotel, ibis solo and ibis malioboro in jogja is highly recommended as it location was very strategic.. ibis malioboro is just beside a shopping mall and in front of shopping street of malioboro, so you will have no problem to shop for souveniours or looking for eating places.

our itinerary :

day 1 :
- reach solo airport at noon and transfer to our hotel by taxi (only rp55k to town)
- after check-in we went to pasar klewer by taxi (only rp15k). not recommended place to shop for batik although very cheap, the quality is lousy. cannot stand the messy condition inside the market.    . we didn't buy anything there. masjid agung and keraton just beside the market.
- we went to kampung batik to a shop named batik benteng. very good batik sold here.
- try nasi gudeg.. very nice

day 2 :
- 7am our driver already pick us to pasar triwundi antique market and keraton mangkunegara, palace opened to public while the ruler still lived inside.
- check-out and proceed to jogja, 1.5 hour journey.
- stop at prambanan temple. luckily my little sisters bring their student card, so pay only half of the entrance ticket.
- lunch bebek gulai, visit silver shop at kota gede (cheap silver jewellery) before check-in to hotel

day 3 :
- 6am our driver already pick us at the hotel. went to kampung batik for batik shopping.
- visited keraton yogyakarta.
- 1hour journey to borobudur. once again, half price entrance ticket for student   
- on the way back, visit the leftover from the recent merapi erruption
- spent remaining evening with batik shopping.
- night, walk along the malioboro shopping street.

day 4 :
- free n easy day. spent walking around malioboro area until pasar brinjo.. n shopping

day 5 :
- check-out morning as our driver pick us at 7.30
- last minutes city tour before proceeding to solo airport of 1.5hour journey.
- afternoon return flight. need to pay rp100k per person airport tax.

hope the above can help u guys for your upcoming travel   

wow, thanks a lot for the reply bro~ 

Yes, I would, reviews on TripAdvisor are good except for few bad ones about room condition.

The rooms were clean while I was there.
I really enjoyed my stay there. 

The advantages:

1.  Free-of-charge unlimited admission at anytime for different snapshot of the temple
    Need to pay if staying outside.

2. Can get to temple early (opens at 6:00) before the busloads of tourist and students arrive.
    Cooler and very tranquil in the early morning. Few people around at that time.
    Go before breakfast

3. Fantastic view from the hotel (breakfast area). Can see all those people going up the temple while having breakfast.  
       
4. Nice compound and garden

is there a hotel/homestay inside the borobudur temple itself?
i heard from my friend that there's only got 1.
may i know the name of the hotel / homestay?
thanks

Currently doing abit of research on my trip there nxt mth...I think this time abit too long 5D4N and I'm thinking of doing a day trip to Semarang too visiting Cheng Ho Sam Po Kong and also the chinatown there..Anyone been to Semarang via Jogya b4 & return on the same day? from the maps not really far ~ 120KM away.

My rough 5d4N itineraries probably:

Day 1 - Jogya local attractions, Paratitis beach & arranging transport to Borobudor nxt day
Day 2: Borobudor &  Dieng Plateu
Day 3: Prabanam & all temples surrouning that area
Day 4: - Semarang??? or Solo - towards Mt Lawu attractions such as Suwuh pyramid -erotic temple & Balinese style Chetto temple?
Day 5: Rest & Relax bck to M'sia
Do comment esp the pack Day 2 itineraries to Borobudor & Dieng Platieu..

I'm going to yogya at the end of next month.

Assuming i stay at malioboro street, how far is it from Prambanan and Borobudur?

Also, if i were able to go to one place only, is it better to go to Solo or Dieng Plateau?

Thanks!

I come back I tell you lor.

Got.  If you take the more expensive room at the back, I think got ensuite shower with heater.  If you take the cheaper rooms, Rp70,000, you get hot water from a tap into a bucket in the common bathroom, and mix it with some cold water.

We took the bus to Dieng.  Change four or five times!  Didn't rent any cars - took motorbike or bus or taxi or becak all the way, so I can't give you any information about car rental.

I think a 1300 cc car will be ok going up to Dieng, as long as you don't get carried away and buy too many of those buddha statues, pagodas and other stone stuff made of volcanic rock when you drive through Muntilan.  Lots of motorbikes on that road, and the road surfaces are all ok.  If your car can go up Genting, it can get you to Dieng.

Went to Candi Sukuh today.  Highly recommended, in some ways better than Borobudur and Prambanan.  It's got a glorious setting high up on the side of the volcano and you drive through some really beautiful scenery to get there - tidy little villages, vegetable plots, groves of trees, and tea plantations, much, much nicer than those at Cameron Highlands.  On a clear sunny day like today, the experience can be quite stunning.  Candi Sukuh looks really weird in Indonesia - it looks just like an Inca or Aztec pyramid.  even the bas reliefs look Inca-Aztec-Mayan.  And there are three huge turtles there much like the ones you find in Chinese temples, those holding up stone tablets.

But wait, there is better yet to come.  Go further up the mountain to Candi Seto.  This one is even better in my opinion than Candi Sukuh and fewer people got here because it's more isolated.  The setting is really spectacular and the temple itself is really something.  Steep roads, and some bumpy bits.

Don't miss these two, I would say they and their surroundings were the highlight of my entire trip.

I'm also thinking of covering both Dieng & Borobudor within a day but probably will be very rush bcos to Dieng already ~3hrs journey & probably spend 3 hrs there b4 rushing to borobudor for sunset (~ 4.30pm) By the time reach Jogja probably 9pm dy..

1 stone kill 2 birds haha. So your timing probably abit hard..bcos..Arriving at Jogja at 8:35 am..but passing thru immigrationg & baggagese + looking for transport will be another 1-1.5 hrs wated. and going direct to Dieng +3hrs & etc..yopu probably back to Jogja by midnite dy. 

To Chetto & Suwuh temples probably OK..

The problem is...& wth other volcanopes in Indon as what I experienced b4.. You need to reach there early in the Morning or b4 Afternoon. Otherwise by Evening or after 1-2pm, the whole area will be blanketed wth thick mist/cloud just like Genting & you see nothing!!

So better plan to go Dieng in the Morning and cover it b4 the cloud covered teh whole area. Borobudor, probably thereafter.

Anyway, If you thinking of staying there overnite than shoulod be OK..bcos you can go Borobudor 1st & by the time Dieng already Evening ..just sleep & visit those attractions nxt Morning kua?

I have not been to Jogja yet. What I mean based on my Bali, Medan, Bandung & Jakarta experiences haha

I'm also in the midst of planning...

My idea:

Day 1: Check-in after arriving at Jogja @8:35am (For sure you are not even step out of airport by atleast 9:30am!). Reaching hotel ~ 10-11am. Either check-in or put luggages at hotel.. Thereafter look for car rental..(Can be at airport or outside hotels/hotel)

Round - Jogja, Parantitis Beach

Day 2: Dieng platiue start at 5am. & thereafter to Borobudor

Day 3: To Prabanam & surrounding temples (there are atlest 3-4 more interesting temples there

Day 4: To Slo Suwoh & Chetto temples

Day 5: back to KL

Hi PangurBan, normally people saying "Merapi Volcano", what can be done? shall we set this place to go? because i don't find you mention this place? is it a necessary? thanks.

Wah.. me thinking of Dieng & Borobudor already super rush.and you add Sujuh & chetto tigether...walau eh..can kah? On on the east & another far west...From Dieng to Suwuh & Chetto probably will take 6hrs liao wor.. 

thanks for the recommendation on hotel.. looks good and they have a 'package' consisting of free tours. i just submitted an enquiry for a stay from 17th may to 21st may.. hope to hear from them soon.

What interesting souvenirs can we get there