Indonesia isn't one trip, it's about twenty of them stitched together by ferries and cheap flights. This is the exact route I did — the one that starts soft in Bali and gets progressively wilder until you're standing on the rim of an active volcano at 2am. I spent a month on this route and it never dragged — if you have four weeks, this is one I'd recommend to anyone.
Bali, to land softly
I started in Bali, and I think that's the right way to begin. It gets a bad rap for being overrun, and parts of it are — but it's also the gentlest possible introduction to Indonesia: easy transport, English everywhere, good coffee, somewhere to get over the flight before the real travelling starts.
I didn't linger long the first time round. A couple of nights to adjust, sort a SIM card and some cash, and then straight out to the islands. Bali works better as a hub you keep coming back to than as a place you try to "do" in one go.
Nusa Penida — three nights
The fast boat from Sanur gets you to Nusa Penida in well under an hour, and it feels like a different country. Dry, rugged, dramatic cliffs dropping into impossibly blue water. Three nights was exactly right.
Rent a scooter — but take the roads seriously, some are genuinely rough. The west coast has the postcard spots (the T-rex-shaped cliff at Kelingking, the natural infinity pool at Angel's Billabong), and the east is quieter with the best snorkelling. If you're lucky with the season you can snorkel with manta rays just offshore, which was the single best hour of my whole trip.
Three nights let me do a slow day each side of the island and still have time to do nothing. Two would have felt rushed.
Lombok — the step up
From Nusa I island-hopped over towards Lombok. Bali's bigger, quieter neighbour is where the trip changed gear. Fewer crowds, bigger landscapes, and Mount Rinjani — the second-highest volcano in Indonesia — looming over everything.
You don't have to summit Rinjani (it's a hard multi-day trek), but even the lower waterfalls and rice-terrace country around it are worth the trip. The Gili Islands sit just off the coast if you want a few days of no-motorbikes, turquoise-water downtime — easy to fold in here.
Back to Bali, then the East Java overland
From Lombok I looped back through Bali — which is where having it as a hub pays off — and crossed by ferry to Banyuwangi, the eastern tip of Java. This East Java overland stretch was the best part of the whole month, and I did nearly all of it on a rented motorbike.
Ijen — one night. First stop straight off the ferry. I based myself near Banyuwangi and did the Kawah Ijen trek that night: a pre-dawn hike up to a crater that does two things nowhere else does so easily — electric-blue flames from burning sulphur gas in the dark, and a stunning turquoise acid lake once the sun comes up. Surreal, a little punishing, completely unforgettable.
Probolinggo — and a bike for five days. From Ijen I moved on to Probolinggo and rented a motorbike for five days. It was the single best decision of the trip — it turned East Java from a series of booked tours into my own road trip.
Bromo — one night. I rode straight to Mount Bromo and stayed a night so I could be at the viewpoint before dawn, watching a whole caldera of smoking cones emerge from the mist, then riding out across a literal sea of volcanic sand to the crater rim. I spent the day looping the viewpoints around the caldera. It looks like another planet.
Tumpak Sewu — on the way to Malang. Riding west toward Malang I stopped at Tumpak Sewu, a vast curtain-shaped waterfall you first see from the rim and then scramble down into the gorge to face head-on. It's the stop most people skip between Bromo and Malang, and it's one of the most spectacular things in Java. Don't skip it.
Malang — two nights. I reached Malang and stayed two nights, using the cool highland city as a base to explore — the rainbow Jodipan village, the cafés, the surrounding hills. Honest low point: my backpack got stolen here. Petty theft is real in busy spots — split your cash and cards, keep your passport on you, and don't leave a bag unattended even for a second. It stung, but it didn't ruin the trip.
Back to Probolinggo, then Surabaya. With the five days up, I rode back to Probolinggo to return the bike, then carried on to Surabaya for a night — Java's big, hot, no-nonsense second city, more of a transport hub than a sight.
Surabaya to Jakarta, and the bullet train
From Surabaya I made the long haul west to Jakarta. The capital is a huge, chaotic, sprawling megacity — not really a backpacker "sight" so much as a place to eat well and decompress before flying home. The fun finale was riding Indonesia's new Whoosh bullet train out of Jakarta — Southeast Asia's first high-speed rail, hitting 350 km/h on the run down to Bandung. A very modern full stop to a very wild month.
What I'd tell you before you go
- Treat Bali as a hub, not a destination. Looping back through it twice sounds inefficient but it's actually the easiest way to reach the islands and Java.
- Book Nusa Penida for three nights, not a day trip. The day-trippers see two viewpoints and a queue. Staying over is a different island.
- Rent a motorbike for East Java. Picking one up in Probolinggo for the Ijen–Bromo–Tumpak Sewu–Malang loop turned booked tours into my own road trip — the best call of the month.
- The Java volcanoes mean early starts. Ijen and Bromo are both pre-dawn. Sleep before the hike, not after.
- Watch your bag. My backpack was stolen in Malang. Split your cash and cards, keep your passport on you, and never leave a bag unattended.
- Ferries and inter-island logistics eat time. Give yourself buffer days; the sea doesn't run on your schedule.
That's a full month, and it still barely scratches Indonesia — there's Flores, Sumatra, Sulawesi and Raja Ampat all still out there. But as a first loop it's hard to beat: it starts easy, ends epic, and every leg feels different from the last.
Planning your own version? Here are the best places to visit in Indonesia — drop the ones you want into farpacker and it'll build the route and the days around them.