Malioboro Street
The axis linking the sultan's palace to the volcano, and batik sold by the metre.
Duration
1 hr 30 min – 3 hrs
Best time
Early evening
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
Malioboro is not just any street: it belongs to a sacred axis laid out by the first sultan, running dead straight from the Southern Ocean through the kraton and the Tugu monument to the Merapi volcano. Palace, city and mountain are aligned on purpose.
Today it is Yogyakarta's commercial artery, a kilometre of covered pavement selling batik — the city is Indonesia's capital for it — by the metre, by the piece or as a shirt. Beringharjo market, halfway along, gives over a whole floor to it.
Getting there
In central Yogyakarta, between Tugu station and the kraton. All walkable over a kilometre.
Rules on site
Touts announcing a "batik exhibition closing today" lead to commission workshops: choose batik at Beringharjo market, where prices are marked.
