susiesan

Can anyone tell me if there is an airline that flies from Bali DPS to Malang MLG? I can't seem to find one. I see that Malang does have an airport.

On my vacation trip next August after a week on Bali I'm planning on a week on Java ending in Yogyakarta. I'm not that interested in Bromo. I don't want to be driven across Bali, take the ferry and then drive across java as it will take too long with too much time in the car. I thought flying to Malang first and then being driven to Yogyakarta via Solo might work. Or possibly fly DPS to SUB and go from there.

Akiestar

Wings Air, a subsidiary of Lion Air, flies DPS-MLG.

susiesan

Thanks. According to the Lion Air web site, there is one flight a day at 1:50 pm taking 1H 10M. I see a promo price of 450,500 rup, $46.80. Does this sound right? This could work if I decide on this routing to get over to central Java.

Any idea how far in advance one would want to book this to avoid a sellout? I'd be traveling in late August 2013.

If I decided to fly DPS to Solo, can you advise if any airline flies there directly? Wings Air does via Jakarta but I'd prefer not to do that.

jiejie

If you're not interested in Bromo, Malang's probably not that great a choice to fly into. Small place, flight may be subject to more delays or cancellation and no recovery options. Suggest you consider flying to Surabaya instead. Couple of years ago I went there to make a connection to Sulawesi, ended up finding the city and people unexpectedly likeable, and finding enough to do that I stayed a couple of days/nights. From Surabaya, you can either fly or take a Yogya-bound train. I did the day train in the Yogya-Surabaya direction in Eksecutif class and it was quite acceptable, not expensive, and felt safer than road trip. Solo is a stop on the way.

susiesan

Jiejie: I am following along with someone on Fodors who is going to the Malang area as a destination in November with a private driver who I plan to use. She is spending 4 days in that part of Java. After she writes a trip report I will have more ideas.

I could fly DPS to Solo, stay there for 2 days or so, then take the train to Yogyakarta. I could ask the driver to plan 2-3 days in the Solo area then either meet us in Yogya or hand us off to another driver/ guide associate.

It's not that I'm not interested in Bromo, it's that it seems like a lot of time, money and work to go see the sunset over a volcano. I'm actually more interested in Kawa Ijen, but that seems even more remote and time consuming to get to.

I know this trip is a long way off but you know from the China trip that I like to plan ahead, have an idea of where I'm going and what I'm doing before I arrive in country. At this point it is confirmed we arrive Bali Aug. 16 at 3:00 pm and leave Jakarta Aug. 31 at 10:00pm. It's the middle I have to fill in.

peasant

I like Malang a lot, Hotel Tugu Park is a wonderful boutique hotel. But driving from there to Solo/ Jogja - shudder.

Solo/ Jogja or vv is a much shorter drive. I would be tempted to fly DPS-JOG, then train/ drive to Solo.

The train Surabaya- Jogja is pleasant, but Malang is more pleasant (and more to see) than Surabaya