Well hello to you my reader chums! Indonesia is a country that was full of surprises and I adored every minute of travelling around the country for three weeks. With its level of diversity from the countryside, islands, and cities to religious significance, there's plenty to see and learn. I'd happily jet off to Indonesia again and explore more of the island scene, its history and sights.

If you're planning a long trip to Indonesia and want to explore a diverse range of locations, here's my 3-week itinerary to Indonesia.

1/2 nights in Bali/ Nusa Lembongan

Any trip to Indonesia begins with Bali and this itinerary is no different. I flew into Bali and wanted to explore the other islands around it as well as the island itself. If you're coming from the UK it can be a long flight, whereas I was coming from the Philippines as part of my backpacking trip. I landed in Bali, late in the night and stayed in a hotel close by to the main airport. The next morning, I took a boat to one of the tiny islands Nusa Lembongan and spent the night there. 

Nusa Lembongan is a tiny island, yet the perfect place to soak up a taste of chilled island life, eat smoothie bowls, cycle around and see famous landmarks such as the Devil's Tears. It's a great base to start your time out in Indonesia as you can relax and ease yourself in for three weeks around the gorgeous country. Nusa Lembongan is also a popular day trip from eastern Bali as it's only a half-hour boat ride away.

3/4 nights in Ubud, Bali

Get the boat back from Nusa Lembongan to Bali, hire a taxi, and head up to Ubud. Ubud has to be my favourite part of Bali because it has that hipster, quirky appeal with DELICIOUS food places and endless things to see and do. 3-4 days is a good amount of time to see the main sights, slowly travel around, soak up the vibe and hit up the many restaurants. Like any place, you're more than welcome to spend longer in Ubud if you fall in love with it - I could have happily done so.

Ubud features the Monkey Forest, rice terraces, plenty of nature walks, markets and many historic temples you'll fall in love with. It's a place that just keeps on giving and has that familiar sense to it you'll fall in love with.

2/3 days in the Gili Islands OR stay in Bali

My plan altered when I was travelling due to Silent Day in Bali where everything shuts down on the island and I decided to visit the Gili Islands first before roaming around the rest of Bali. I have to admit I wasn't the biggest fan of the Gili Islands because it was overcrowded and overhyped and the damage to the reefs was pretty apparent. Despite that, I only properly saw Gili T and don't want to make assumptions about Gili Meno and Gili Air as people rave about those two islands more.

If you choose to visit the islands, 2-3 days is a great amount of time to lap up the beaches, go on a snorkelling tour, eat delicious brunches and spend as much time possible in the water. It's up to you which of the three islands you stay on and which you visit, depending on what you want to do.

2 nights in Labuan Bajo/Komodo Island

Saying goodbye to Bali is always a sad moment as I could easily spend more time on the island, however, it's your chance to see more of Indonesia. From Bali, fly to Labuan Bajo in preparation to do the Komodo Island tour. Komodo Island has to be one of my favourite experiences in Indonesia and a must-visit. You can do tours that span from a day to several nights long, depending on your budget and what you'd like to see. I flew into Labuan Bajo because many of the day tours begin there and 2 nights gave us a chance to rest up before the long tour, enjoy the tour and rest up that night before you explore more of Indonesia. 

2 nights in Malang

The next stop is heading over to Malang and whatever way you can go about it can be long. In hindsight, I wish I had done an internal flight rather than flying back to Bali and getting an 11-hour car ride to Malang (which ended up being 18 hours long). Like Labuan Bajo, I headed to Malang for a tour of the incredible Mount Bromo. I'm happy I booked 2 nights here because it gave me a chance to rest up before the midnight start of the tour and revel in the beauty of it. There's not loads else to Malang, however, you can visit the Jodipan village and embrace the local life of the city. I found Malang to be one of the cheapest places to eat in all of Indonesia.

4 nights in Yogykarta

Yogyakarta is the last stop on the trip before jetting home and a city I absolutely adored in many ways. As your last stop, 4 days is a solid amount of time to make yourself at home, see the sights, travel here and eat all the delicious food. The train journey from Malang to Yogyakarta is around 6 hours long and an easy route.

Thank you for reading <3