Borobudur and Prambanan: 2026 tickets, sunrise, transport
Borobudur: 455,000 IDR (~28 USD) to climb the temple, sunrise 1,000,000 IDR with a 100-person cap. Prambanan 400,000 IDR, outer courtyards only on Mondays.
Two temples, two separate tickets. Borobudur costs a foreigner 455,000 IDR (~28 USD) for the ticket that lets you climb the structure, Prambanan 362,500–400,000 IDR (~25 USD at 400,000). The combined ticket for both, the 750,000 IDR one from last year's guides, was withdrawn in 2025; if someone sells it to you today, check ticket.borobudurpark.com before you pay. You book Borobudur online in advance, because the daily cap is about 1,200 people and dates sell out 3–5 days ahead. The rest of this post is the tariff, the sunrise (and its cheaper version), how to get there from Yogyakarta and how much time to set aside.
Borobudur: the 2026 tariff
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| foreigner, climbing the temple (guide, Upanat sandals and water included) | 455,000 IDR (~28 USD) |
| foreigner, grounds only, no entry to the structure | 412,500 IDR (~26 USD) |
| children 3–10 (standard ticket) | 227,500 IDR (~14 USD) |
| children under 3 | free |
| sunrise, adult | 1,000,000 IDR (~63 USD) |
| Indonesian / KITAS holder | 50,000 IDR |
The temple opens at 06:00, last entry 16:30, and that's every day: the Monday closure was dropped in 2025. The cap of about 1,200 a day is split into 8 sessions of about 150 people, which is why booking on ticket.borobudurpark.com is mandatory rather than advised. You climb the upper terraces only in the woven Upanat sandals handed out at the entrance, because ordinary soles wear down 9th-century stone. Shoulders and knees covered; sarongs are available on site.
The change that surprises people most: since 2025 there's a ban on photographing with your own equipment anywhere on the temple grounds, with no exception for a phone, a camera, a GoPro or a drone, and the staff enforce it. You shoot from the outer terraces or from the hills around. If you're going for the picture rather than for the 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues up close, that changes your morning plan (below).
There's little shade and the midday heat is brutal, so go in before 10:00 or after 15:00. The exit leads through a maze of stalls; add a quarter of an hour for that.
Sunrise: 1,000,000 IDR or a hill for 50,000
Sunrise on the temple itself went back on sale on 17 July 2025 and runs on its own rules: 1,000,000 IDR (~63 USD) per person, entry from 04:00–04:30, about 90 minutes before regular visitors, a cap of 100 a day, a guide mandatory. You buy through the Manohara hotel (manohara-borobudur.com) or ticket.borobudurpark.com; it sells out weeks ahead. A regular ticket gets you in from 06:00, so there's no turning up at 3:30 and getting in cheaper.
Worth it? Depends what you came for. The classic shot, the temple's crown rising out of a sea of mist with Merapi behind it, isn't taken from Borobudur's terraces but from the hill next door. Punthuk Setumbu sits ~2 km from the temple and 44 km from Yogyakarta (about an hour's drive); the foreigner ticket is 50,000 IDR, and from the car park you walk 15–20 minutes uphill on a path that's slick with dew at dawn. Visibility is best from May to August, though fog can blank out the valley in any month. Buy the ticket at the gate, not from the driver.
The second option, for anyone who doesn't need dawn specifically: arrive for 08:00, when the mist starts to drop and the volcanoes come out from behind the clouds. Photographers rate that hour as good as the sunrise itself, and you pay the regular ticket. What not to buy: the hotel's 500,000 IDR sunrise tour. Why is in 5 mistakes on Java that cost you money.
Prambanan: the tariff and the Monday trap
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| adult foreigner | 362,500–400,000 IDR (~25 USD at 400,000) |
| children 6–12 | 217,500 IDR (~15 USD) |
| Indonesian adult | 50,000 IDR |
| Prambanan + Ratu Boko combo | 675,000 IDR (~42 USD) |
The tourist price is pegged to the dollar, hence the range; the current rate is on prambanan.injourneydestination.id, where you buy online (Traveloka works too). The complex is open 07:00–17:00, ticket office from 6:30. Water is free with the foreign ticket, and an umbrella rents for 10,000 IDR, which is money well spent because there's almost no shade.
On Mondays you get the courtyards and the outer grounds only; entry to the main temples is closed. If your Prambanan day lands on a Monday, swap the days, because 400,000 IDR buys you a view of the towers from behind a rope.
It looks best at sunset. Arrive no earlier than 8:00 and leave before 11:00, or come back after 15:00; midday is the hottest stretch on shadeless stone. The main Shiva tower is 47 m, the Brahma and Vishnu temples about 33 m each, and some towers still stand in reconstruction after the 2006 earthquake. Don't skip Candi Sewu right next door: a fraction of the crowd walks it. The Ratu Boko combo includes the palace on the hill, open until 18:00, with a good sunset view. Drones are banned.
Getting there from Yogyakarta
| Route | Transport | Price | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yogyakarta → Borobudur (~40 km) | Grab / taxi | 215,000–250,000 IDR one way | 1–1.5 h |
| Yogyakarta → Borobudur | public bus from the Jombor terminal | 30,000 IDR (~2 USD) | 1.5–2 h |
| Yogyakarta → Borobudur | rented motorbike | 70,000–100,000 IDR per day (~4–6 USD) | you keep the bike all day |
| Yogyakarta → Prambanan (~17 km) | Grab / GoCar | 50,000–80,000 IDR (~3–5 USD) | 30–45 min |
| Yogyakarta → Prambanan | TransJogja line 1A from Malioboro, change to 2B | 3,500 IDR per ride | 45–60 min |
| both temples and the area | private car with driver (8–10 h) | 600,000–800,000 IDR (~38–50 USD) | all day |
A note on the Grab to Borobudur: older guides quote 80,000–120,000 IDR one way, 2026 data says 215,000–250,000 IDR. Budget for the latter.
How long it takes and how to fit it in one day
Borobudur is 2–3 h on a regular ticket, 3–4 h with the sunrise. Prambanan: 2–3 h. You can do both in one day and plenty of people do: Borobudur in the morning, before 10:00 and before the stone heats up, back to town for lunch, Prambanan after 15:00 for sunset. If you have 3–4 nights in Yogyakarta, which is the sensible minimum for Borobudur, Prambanan, the Kraton and Malioboro, split the temples over two mornings; the 13:00 heat on shadeless stone kills the pleasure faster than tiredness does.
The rest of Yogyakarta
Where to sleep (not on Malioboro) and what to eat in Yogyakarta are in separate posts. The whole Java route day by day, with two versions of the Borobudur morning, the viewpoints around the temple and a budget in IDR and PLN, is in Volume 1: East Java (128 pages, 22 chapters; the book is in Polish, an English edition is in preparation). If you're planning a first trip, start with the free 5-day Java plan in English.
FAQ
How much is the Borobudur ticket in 2026?
A foreigner pays 455,000 IDR (~28 USD) for the ticket that includes climbing the temple; a guide, Upanat sandals and water are included. The grounds-only ticket is 412,500 IDR, children aged 3–10 pay 227,500 IDR. Book online at ticket.borobudurpark.com; the daily cap is about 1,200 people.
How much is sunrise at Borobudur?
1,000,000 IDR (~63 USD) per person, entry from 04:00, a cap of 100 people a day; the Manohara hotel and ticket.borobudurpark.com sell it and it sells out weeks ahead. The cheaper version is the Punthuk Setumbu hill at 50,000 IDR, with the temple in the mist below you.
Is there a combined Borobudur + Prambanan ticket?
No. The combo for foreigners was withdrawn in 2025; you buy each temple separately: Borobudur 455,000 IDR, Prambanan 362,500–400,000 IDR. The Prambanan + Ratu Boko combo at 675,000 IDR (~42 USD) still exists, and the Ratu Boko palace stays open until 18:00.
How do I get from Yogyakarta to Borobudur and Prambanan?
Borobudur (~40 km): Grab 215,000–250,000 IDR one way, 1–1.5 h; public bus from the Jombor terminal 30,000 IDR, 1.5–2 h. Prambanan (~17 km): Grab 50,000–80,000 IDR, 30–45 min; TransJogja line 1A from Malioboro with a change to 2B, 3,500 IDR per ride, 45–60 min.