Private Tour from Semarang Port to Borobudur Temple

Thanks: appreciated! I'll do some checking.

Does anyone know of any Independent Tour operators from Semarang Port to Borobudor Temple?

 

Cheers,

Sue:)

Semarang: The massive Borobodur Buddhist temple is the reason ships go to Semarang, book an independent tour via BINTANG INDONESIA (info@bintang-indonesia.net) and you get a private tour with lunch, coffee and toilet stops without “squatty potties”. Bring toilet paper. No prepayment required! No tenders at Semarang, so you can get off without chancing it with tenders. Princess did not go to Ujung Pandang (Makassar) due to a storm, so any prepayment for independent tours is dicey.

The temple has a long access way with steps and without steps, but the temple itself is not climbed easily due to very high stepping stones, so seniors beware! On the return your private guide will bypass the souvenir shops (running of the gauntlet) for you and take a shortcut if you are not too well on your feet. You get a private guide for the temple and bring a tip along for her! Say "Saya miskin" or "I am destitute" and hope persistent souvenir sellers laugh so much to leave you in peace!

August 2016: I suspect police escorts were necessary before because a toll road (jalan toll) had not been built. There are stories of Princess excursions coming back very late due to traffic. These days the toll road bypasses two large cities and police escorts are no longer necessary.

I would never do a private tour in this area. I am so glad we did the ships. Distance is vast, traffic horrendous safety on road scary.

Need I say more they gave the ships busses a police escort and that still was a very long tough ride.

I would never do a private tour in this area. I am so glad we did the ships. Distance is vast, traffic horrendous safety on road scary.

Need I say more they gave the ships busses a police escort and that still was a very long tough ride.

If total safety is your concern, then the ship's tours are the best choice, especially if the operator demands prepayment. We only saw one dented car and once a woman fell off the motorbike. The toll road makes travel very fast from Semarang to Borobodur and back.

Contrary to what we normally do, we took the ship's tour. And it was a good decision.

The traffic on the way back to the ship was heavy and rain was torrential in places. Despite a three car police escort with blues and twos, we were late back to the ship. Being on a ship's tour meant that the ship waited for us. Had we been on a private tour it would not have.

Contrary to what we normally do, we took the ship's tour. And it was a good decision.

 

The traffic on the way back to the ship was heavy and rain was torrential in places. Despite a three car police escort with blues and twos, we were late back to the ship. Being on a ship's tour meant that the ship waited for us. Had we been on a private tour it would not have.

Pre sunrise on a cruise ship itinerary that doesn't include an overnight stay?

Interesting that some independent providers also offer a police escort. Bearing in mind the additional cost to the client, I doubt they would if it wasn't 'desirable'.

Bus or not, anyone, including those in vans, would have been back late in the torrential rain we experienced for most of the journey back to the port. The roads were awash for miles outside of the port and the entrance to the port was axle deep in water.

Anyone wanting to take the risk of getting back (too) late should bear this kind of event in mind. The ship will not wait.

Pre sunrise on a cruise ship itinerary that doesn't include an overnight stay?

 

Interesting that some independent providers also offer a police escort. Bearing in mind the additional cost to the client, I doubt they would if it wasn't 'desirable'.

 

Bus or not, anyone, including those in vans, would have been back late in the torrential rain we experienced for most of the journey back to the port. The roads were awash for miles outside of the port and the entrance to the port was axle deep in water.

 

Anyone wanting to take the risk of getting back (too) late should bear this kind of event in mind. The ship will not wait.

Even without an overnight a private party of 2 to 4 people can move much more nimbly than a bus load of people. With a ship excursion you are moving at the pace of the slowest person on your tour. Not exactly identical, but to give similar insight we had a stop in Probolingo which is frequently on cruises that do Semarang. Probolingo is a tender port. Since we were a private party we had to wait till the ship's tour people got on the first tenders. When we made it ashore the ship personnel were still sorting and herding folks onto buses. Our private driver was waiting on the pier with a sign and we hopped in the SUV for our trip up the mountain road. We quickly passed all the ship tour folks who were in slow moving buses. The buses were also required to stop much further down the mountain requiring a longer jeep ride. Once they got off the bus there was more sorting and herding people into jeeps. We went at least a mile or two further up the mountain where our jeep was waiting and after a quick trip to the loo we were on our way into the national park. Since we weren't waiting on anyone else we moved at our pace across the sea of sands and up the volcano. By the time we were heading down the volcano the first of the ship tour were making their way up.

Everyone has to assess there own level of comfort with private tours and risk. We used a reputable tour operator. The majority of people who miss the ship has nothing to do with a private tour operator but with independent travelers who go out roaming with no plan and lose track of time. Operators are risking their reputation and have big incentive to get you back on time.

Not exactly identical, but to give similar insight we had a stop in Probolingo which is frequently on cruises that do Semarang. Probolingo is a tender port. Since we were a private party we had to wait till the ship's tour people got on the first tenders. When we made it ashore the ship personnel were still sorting and herding folks onto buses. Our private driver was waiting on the pier with a sign and we hopped in the SUV for our trip up the mountain road. We quickly passed all the ship tour folks who were in slow moving buses. The buses were also required to stop much further down the mountain requiring a longer jeep ride. Once they got off the bus there was more sorting and herding people into jeeps. We went at least a mile or two further up the mountain where our jeep was waiting and after a quick trip to the loo we were on our way into the national park. Since we weren't waiting on anyone else we moved at our pace across the sea of sands and up the volcano. By the time we were heading down the volcano the first of the ship tour were making their way up.

Which was exactly our experience in Probolinggo. You may have missed my 'Contrary to what we normally do, we took the ship's tour' comment at the start of my post.

Everyone has to assess there own level of comfort with private tours and risk. We used a reputable tour operator. The majority of people who miss the ship has nothing to do with a private tour operator but with independent travelers who go out roaming with no plan and lose track of time. Operators are risking their reputation and have big incentive to get you back on time.

Agreed, but anyone intending to visit Borobudur in the future needs to be aware of what may happen if they go with an independent operator and the consequences. Especially with relatively little time in port.

I actually found LOVELY BOROBUDUR TOURS from this thread. Bintang Tours don't do these tours anymore and they redirected me to Lovely.

Our guide from Lovely Borobudur Tours who speaks good English, was right on time waiting for us at the gate when we disembarked from our cruise ship. Since there were 8 of us, we took 2 MPVs. The 6 seater Isuzu was clean, roomy and comfortable. The drive was 'interesting' and the driver was very skilled at negotiating the narrow and crowded roads. The scenery was breathtaking at times and the driver stopped for us to take photos of the terraced rice fields.

We arrived long before the big buses, but even then, it was crowded as it was a Sunday.

The entrance fees included a guide from the temple and he was very informative and gave us a good history lesson. Borobudur is amazing and you just have to see for yourself. We spent a couple of hours there and had to leave because of the heavy rain.

All in, we were very happy with the tour and would recommend them as they were very professional and the most important thing was, they made sure we did not miss our ship! The guide and driver were very efficient, friendly and pointed out interesting things along the way and even bought us snacks! Their price was also very reasonable.

Their website : ww.lovelyborobudurtours.com

Does anyone know of any Independent Tour operators from Semarang Port to Borobudor Temple?

Cheers,

Sue:)

Yes, Bersukaria Tour: bersukariatour@gmail.com

I just returned from Semarang January, 2017. I realize your post is quite old, however I thought others searching for info might find this helpful. You can learn more about Bersukaria Tour on Facebook. I highly recommend the guides, they are professional and you will be in good hands.

Bersukaria Tour also provides tour options for cruise passengers in Semarang. They are top notch, we shared a wonderful day with them while the Seabourn Encore was in port (January, 2017). You can contact Dimas at BersukariaTour@gmail.com or message him via Bersukaria Tour on Facebook.

Yes, Bersukaria Tour: bersukariatour@gmail.com

We spent the day with them when in port cruising on Seabourn Encore, they will customize a Semarang City Tour for you at a great price. They are top notch, no worries you will be in good hands.

Does anyone know of any Independent Tour operators from Semarang Port to Borobudor Temple?

 

Cheers,

Sue:)

Yes, Bersukaria Tour offers private tours from Semarang. Police escort is additional cost.

bersukariatour@gmail.com

We used cruise line tour and so glad we did as traffic was crazy and they had a police escort. It was well done not hoarding like cattle, got us in fast a put on an outstanding lunch. Very impressed as it is a long way from port.

Does anyone know of any Independent Tour operators from Semarang Port to Borobudor Temple?

Cheers,

Sue:)

Yes, Bersukaria Tour. Be VERY cautious about heavy traffic and the time you have in port.

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BE CAREFUL WITH PRIVATE OPERATORS. Firstly, the tour we booked, the operator didn’t show up....we shared with another couple, tg. We ended up getting a driver outside the gates, big mistake. Very seedy, a long arduous drive, humid and uncomfortable. We felt unsafe. Go with the ship on all Indonesian tours.

We had some wonderful private tours on our Indonesia cruise last year - we didn't do any ship tours.

In Semarang, I organised a trip to Borobudur through our roll call with Borobodur Discovery Tours (http://www.borobodurdiscovery.com). We had an excellent guide and driver and paid $85pp inc admission and lunch (for a group of six). We didn't have a police escort but on the return journey, the first police escort that passed us, we joined the convoy!

Contact details:

Email sastia@borobudurdiscovery.com

BE CAREFUL WITH PRIVATE OPERATORS. Firstly, the tour we booked, the operator didn’t show up....we shared with another couple, tg. We ended up getting a driver outside the gates, big mistake. Very seedy, a long arduous drive, humid and uncomfortable. We felt unsafe. Go with the ship on all Indonesian tours.

As stated up thread our tour was amazing, personal and very informational. We had a driver and a guide who both polite and safe.