Java travel guide: temples, volcanoes, when to go and which route

Yogyakarta, the island's cultural capital and the seat of a still-active sultanate, is the base for the two great temples. Borobudur, an 8th-century Buddhist monument of stupas, caps the number of visitors at the top and requires booking; Prambanan, a 9th-century Hindu complex of tall towers, is visited in the late afternoon with a Ramayana ballet in the evening. In town: the kraton, the Taman Sari water castle, the batik workshops and Malioboro street. Three days is enough.

West of Yogyakarta, the volcanic Dieng plateau sits at 2,000 m: cold air, the boiling Sikidang crater, the coloured Telaga Warna lake and the small Arjuna Hindu temples, eighth century, among the oldest on Java. Sunrise at the Sikunir viewpoint is over a sea of clouds. Further south, the Magelang area, around Borobudur, rolls out rice fields and hills and lets you stay right by the temple to see it at dawn.

Eastern Java holds the country's most-visited volcanoes. Mount Bromo, in the Tengger caldera, is viewed from a lookout reached by jeep before dawn, then on foot across a sand sea to the smoking crater. Ijen, further east, is climbed around midnight to see the blue sulphur flames before daylight, then its turquoise acid lake in the light. Semeru, the island's highest peak, is for experienced hikers over several days. From Ijen, a one-hour ferry reaches Bali at Banyuwangi.

Jakarta, a capital of over ten million people, is passed through more than visited: the colonial old town of Kota Tua, the national monument and a few museums fit into a day between flights. Bandung, three hours by train in the highlands, offers cooler air, tea plantations, the Tangkuban Perahu crater and a noted food scene. Further west still, the Ujung Kulon park shelters the last Javan rhinos.