Travel To Bromo Mountain

The most popular and well known of East Java's tourist attractions is undoubtedly Bromo Mountain. The pre-dawn departure across the mountain's famous 'sand sea', to watch the sunrise at the crater rim, has become something of a ritual, enacted daily by local people and tourists.

If you want to go there by plane, the nearest major airport would be Surabaya. From there, it is four hours away by car. If you want to use a bus to get to Bromo, then you'll have to depart from Probolinggo (it's a larger town on the north coast of Java). Take a 'Damri' shuttle bus from the Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, to go to the Bungurasih bus terminal(terminal Purabaya). Then, take an express Patas air-conditioned bus for a 2-3 hours ride from Surabaya to Probolinggo.

If you want to experience sunrise there, you'll have to wake up very early. For your info, sunrise in East Java is very early, around 5:30 AM, which means you'll have to be ready at least 3:30AM. Remember, it's 2 hours ride from Probolinggo to Bromo. As for the sunset, it is soon after 5 PM.

If you're an advanced traveller, and wish to go to Mount Bromo on foot, you can pick the left fork at Cemoro Lawang's solitary crossing, then head down the ramp into the caldera and then across the caldera to the Hindu temple at the foot of the mountain. From the temple a steep path of 250 steps leads to the edge of the crater and a precarious meter-wide ledge from where to gaze into the volcano. The walk from the tourist centre to the top of the mountain should take no longer than 1.5 hours by foot, and is about 3km. It's not that long, but local jeep-hirers will tell you otherwise to make you hire their jeep, so be careful, okay?