Mount Bromo travel blog — The ultimate Mount Bromo travel guide on how to visit Mount Bromo

Referring to Indonesia — the country of ten thousands of islands, what do you think of? Sea, volcano, earthquake, tsunami, right?! The sea and islands I have discovered, the earthquake and tsunami, I do not expect to discover, the rest is the volcano, I will explore with you today. There are many volcanoes throughout Indonesia, today I will go with you to explore a very famous volcano in Indonesia, and most importantly… it is still active. It’s mount Bromo. So, what to do and how to go to Mount Bromo and how to visit Mount Bromo, Indonesia for the first-time? Let’s check out our Mount Bromo travel blog (Mount Bromo blog) with the fullest Mount Bromo travel guide (Mount Bromo guide) from how to get to Mount Bromo, best time to visit Bromo and top things to do to find out the answer!

Indonesia is located in the Pacific volcanic belt and is known as the country of ten thousand islands. There are many active volcanoes here, in which, two famous tourist destinations around the world are Bromo volcano and Ijen volcano. Talking about the journey to discover and conquer volcanoes in Asia, there is no place as attractive as in Indonesia.

Mount Bromo travel blog: Where is Bromo volcano, what is beautiful?

Indonesia is known as a country with a lot of volcanoes. Bromo volcano is one of them, located west of Java island and about 100km from Surabaya city. Bromo volcano is 2,392 m high, famous as one of the 5 most beautiful and active volcanoes in the world.

Mount Bromo is located in the east of Java, Indonesia. Not far from Bali, so often when going to Bali for a long time, it is recommended to spend 1.5 days to explore Mount Bromo, which is especially interesting. You can also spend an extra day if you want to experience the colorful nature of Bromo slowly.

What makes the unmistakable special and attractiveness of Mount Bromo to tourists is probably the pristine natural beauty. Coming here, you will be able to see firsthand the lava, fossils boiling fervently inside an active volcano. Coming to Bromo, you can also explore the View Point. This is considered a beautiful sunrise viewing spot on Mount Penanjakan.

This is an extremely active volcano and its unpredictable eruptions are unpredictable. The moon-like gray landscape around Bromo is the clearest indication of this erratic behavior. Lava destroyed everything around the crater and left a bleak landscape. However, it contrasts sharply with the lush green of the surrounding trees and plants that still rise strongly on the other mountains. The sunrise at the volcano is one of the most interesting and impressive experiences when traveling to Indonesia.

Bromo Volcano belongs to Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park covers an area of about 800 square kilometers… With a height of 2,392 meters, Bromo is not the tallest volcano, but it is a tourist destination attracting tourists from all over the world.

Mount Bromo guide: When is the best time to visit Bromo?

The climate of Indonesia is not like Vietnam when the rainy season is from May to October. In Indonesia, this is the time of the dry season with beautiful sunny weather and the freshest air of the year. Therefore, this is the most appropriate time for you to make the trip to conquer Mount Bromo.

If you go at this time, the journey to the top of Mount Bromo is not only easy bu you can also see the natural landscape here in the most clear way. At the same time, you won’t experience nasty rains or harsh storms. This will make your trekking journey easier and more convenient to see the fresh natural picture at Bromo volcano.

Mount Bromo travel guide: How to get to Mount Bromo, how to go to Mount Bromo?

There is no direct flight to Mount Bromo, so there are 2 ways to get here.

By road

By road is only applicable from Bali. From Bali go very far to the western end of the island to catch the ferry to Java and then continue to Bromo, very far. It’s both long and tiring, so I don’t advise you to go this way, take a domestic flight is much faster and better.

By plane

If your time is tight or come from far away, then take a flight is a good choice.

• Departure points: Jakarta or Bali
• Destination: Surabaya or Malang Airport.

Surabaya airport is very far away but has many arrival routes, and Malang is a small airport, not many direct arrivals. But from Bali and Jakarta, there are direct flights here.

If you want to explore around Surabaya, then come here or head straight to Malang to get to Bromo which is closer and more convenient way.

Coming to Bromo most of the time, it is best to come early in the morning to see the sunrise, so most of the tours take guests to the volcano by Jeep, or if you want, you can go for a walk.

If you don’t have time and don’t get tired, just like me: Take the tour for quickly. Tour prices also depend on where you stay. For example: going from Malang, departing at 12am and the price I paid was 500,000 IDR (if going with 3 people but don’t want to join a tour, it’s around 600,000 IDR).

Tips: Cemoro Lawang is the main “base” for excursions to Mount Bromo. Probolinggo is the best place to get to this village. It is best to take a bus from Surabaya to Probolinggo city, it takes about 3 hours, from Malang a little less than 30 minutes. There is also a bus route to Probolinggo from Yogyakarta, but the trip takes more than 10 hours. If you depart from Surabaya, you should take the train and then take the bus.

Or if you stay in Cemoro Lawang, very close to reach Bromo. Then where to stay?

Mount Bromo blog: Where to stay?

There are 3 places to stay:

Malang

Suitable for those who come from Malang airport, convenient to visit and explore some places in the city: But it’s far from Bromo, so take the tour is more expensive and must go from night (1am) – I chose to stay in Malang. In addition, Malang is also a fairly large city, the food is also diverse.

When I was in Malang, I stayed at the Grandmas Plus Hotel Legian (Agoda.com or Booking.com) – a pretty big hotel located in the city center of Malang, professional service, clean rooms. I didn’t pay attention when using the laundry service, they charged by each item, so I was charged a laundry fee of nearly $45 (while I thought, it was charged by kg). A not good impression, but it was my fault, so I still recommend this place, you can check out.

Check out more top and best hotels in Malang on Agoda.com or Booking.com.

Cemoro Lawang

This is a small town right next to the Bromo volcano viewpoint, this area is very beautiful (see photo) and very close to the volcano. If you do not explore Malang and do not mind traveling far, you can come here from Malang or Surabaya airport. From Surabaya to here is about 140km, Malang is about 50, 60km.

If your journey does not includes Malang, you should choose Cemoro Lawang as your place to stay. Peace and poetic beauty of Cemoro Lawang will definitely make your vacation combined with adventure more interesting!

Check out more top and best hotels near Bromo on Agoda.com or Booking.com.

Ngadas

This is a small village in the back of Mount Bromo (on the way from Malang). This place is called the back door of Bromo volcano by backpackers, so it is suitable for those who like to explore the volcano with “two legs”. From here, it is only about ten kilometers from the volcano, but the way is not easy and no matter where you are, you have to get to the viewpoint in Ceromo Lawang. So, I think you should stay in Malang and Ceromo Lawang. If you don’t mind going far, stay in Malang for a day and then come to Ceromo Lawang.

How to visit Mount Bromo & memorable experiences in Mount Bromo

This is my itinerary for you refer to when going from Bali because traveling to Indonesia people often think of visiting Bali first, but going to Bromo is usually a combination.

You can fly from Vietnam to Jakarta and then from Jakarta to Bromo (via Surabaya or Malang).

As for me: There is a direct flight from Bali to Malang, I had an afternoon in Malang to explore around, especially around Malang has the colorful village (rainbow village) of Jodipan (Kampung Warna-Warni Jodipan). This is like a slum in Malang, then suddenly the government planned by change its appearance houses with… paint.

So, now it looks quite eye-catching, a tourist destination. Pretty good idea to increase people’s income. But really when I visited it was still dirty and… slum.

Since, I only had an afternoon, I didn’t have much time to explore more, so I just walked around the hotel and booked a tour (I booked via my friend Dani who was very enthusiastic, renting a private car for 4 people only about 500,0000 IDR / person – Contact him via Whatsapp to ask and bargain: +62 856-3576-250), I went to bed at 8 o’clock at night because around 1am, the jeep picked me up at the hotel to Bromo in time for dawn.

My group was expected with 4 people, but 1 person could not go, so there were 3, not counting the driver and 1 tour guide. Actually, the guide did not give much guidance :)). About 3, 4 hours after going through a jugged long road, we also reached the top opposite Bromo to wait for the dawn.

This is the most beautiful viewpoint to watch Bromo and the sunset from above. At 6:30am, we went down, the tour guide took us to another viewpoint nearby which was also very beautiful and important, there was no one. Next was to cross the pass like a snake with clouds like a fairyland to go down to get closer to the volcano.

The first point (below) is the Black Desert (black sand desert).

You can judge for yourself by looking at the photos, but I don’t have anything to judge other than the word beautiful. After Black Desert, we climbed to Mount Bromo. From the parking lot, climbing to the top is quite far and high, if you are not in a hurry and afraid of getting tired, you can walk. I rented a horse with a price of about $5 per person both going back and forth.

Go to Mount Bromo to see with your own eyes how the volcano is, how it works and be especially careful not to fall back down, maybe gone. Note that there is a lot of volcanic ash around so clothes will be very dirty and remember to wear a mask.

After dawn and climbing the mountain, on the way back, you will pass through a valley called Savanah to take pictures. Actually, I didn’t find it very impressive, it was okay to look at, so I stayed for 5 minutes and then went home.

Arriving at the hotel in Malang is around 11:30am, packing up, lunch and then going straight to the airport to fly to Bali. That’s my Bromo combined itinerary, if your time is abundant, you can stay longer and go to a waterfall (don’t remember the name) on the way back, it would be nice.

Mount Bromo travel guide: Some notes before going to Mount Bromo

There are some notes for you to pay attention to when coming to Bromo

• For those of you who plan to trek with 2 “legs”, pay attention to physical training.
• And in common with all of you, be careful to dress warmly because don’t think that Indonesia near the equator, it is hot – Indonesia is quite cool and it is still cold in the morning when going up Mount Bromo. Mount Bromo is high, so the temperature is quite low, the average temperature in the morning is ~10 degrees Celsius.
• The last time I went, the Bromo volcano started to be active again, because it gave off a huge amount of smoke and it was not safe to climb, so the closest visitors to Mount Bromo are 1km away.
• But we were too lucky because the day I arrived was the first day the management assessed Bromo’s safety and began to allow again to climb Mount Bromo. Not only that, I went on the right day when the clouds covered the valley, it looked like a fairy scene.
• The necessary items to hike the mountain are extremely important in the trip. The weather at the top of Bromo is quite cold, usually ranging from 11 to 14 degrees Celsius. So you need to prepare a full set of warm clothes, gloves, socks, etc. You can also bring a little more dry food, snacks… to recharge while going up the mountain. In addition, personal items such as medicine, toiletries, power banks, etc. are also necessary for the climbing trip.
• If you’re planning on camping, finding for a tour with that experience or do it yourself. According to experience, you should still go through a travel agency to save money.
• Do not destroy as well as detract from the beauty of the environment when making the journey.
• Follow the regulations of Mount Bromo as well as the tour guide.
• Accompanying many people will help you reduce fatigue as well as help each other in the journey.
• Exercise physically and mentally before the trip to have the best health and spirit.
• The departure time to reach Mount Bromo is the most important. You should choose the right time to be able to fully enjoy the scenery here.
• The entrance ticket to Bromo volcano is 320,000 IDR for foreigners.

Conclusion, it was my 1.5 day Bromo volcano exploration itinerary and it was one of my most memorable trips in Indonesia.

Some best day tours, trips, activities and transfer services, tickets in, to and from Mount Bromo and Bali you can refer to

• Bali All Time Favourites Private Day Trip
• Bali Private UNESCO Heritage Sites Trip
• Nusa Penida Full Day Trip from Bali
• Bali Swing and Waterfall Full Day Tour in Ubud
• Bali Instagram Tour
• Private Ngurah Rai Airport Transfers (DPS) for Bali
• Private Sightseeing Custom Tour for Bali
• Private Sightseeing Custom Tour for Ubud & Surroundings
• Bali Private Car Charter
• 3G/4G Prepaid SIM Card (DPS Airport Pick Up) for Bali
• 4G Portable WiFi for Bali
• 4G Portable WiFi for Indonesia from Uroaming
• 4G LTE WiFi (MNL Delivery) for Asia
• Mount Bromo Sunrise Tour from Surabaya or Malang
• Mount Bromo Sunrise and Madakaripura Waterfall Tour
• Mount Bromo, Malang City, & Ijen Crater 4D3N Tour from Surabaya
• Mount Bromo Sunrise Tour from Malang
• Mount Bromo 4WD Jeep Rental
• Bromo Sunrise and Video Documentation
• Bromo Panorama Non Sunrise Private Tour from Malang
• Mount Bromo and Madakaripura Waterfall Private Day Tour from Surabaya

Are you looking for more Bali travel guide and top things to do in Bali: Tours, activities, attractions and other things? Read more: Bali travel blog — The fullest Bali travel guide blog for a budget trip to Bali, Indonesia.